Emmylou Harris, Dave Matthews, Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller, Patty Loveless, Kathy Mattea and a couple of special yet-to-be-announced guests are teaming up for Music Saves Mountains, a benefit for the National Resources Defense Council.

Tickets for the May 19th event, which will take place at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium, go on sale March 5.

Prices begin at $45, with $75 and $95 seats available, as well as VIP ticket packages that include premium seating, a VIP cocktail party, meet & greet, limited edition poster and a gift bag. Fifty premium seats will also be sold via online auction with a minimum bid of $300.

The Appalachian Mountain range – which primarily runs through the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and North Carolina – has fallen victim to a particularly destructive form of coal mining over the past decade, with 500 peaks already leveled.

The process, which is used to reach thin seams of coal buried underground, involves clear cutting large sections of forest, planting explosives to loosen the earth and then literally scraping the tops off of mountains.

Harris and Mattea, two of the campaign’s most ardent members, have also covered Utah Phillips’ tune about the mountains of West Virginia, “Green Rolling Hills,” as a show of support for the region.

“The mountains of Appalachia are responsible for countless folk, country and bluegrass songs,” Harris told The Tennessean last year. “Now, the home of that rich tradition is being destroyed.”

Other artists lending their support to the Music Saves Mountains campaign, but not necessarily involved with the upcoming benefit show, include Sheryl Crow, Gloriana, Michelle Branch, Tift Merritt, Big Kenny and Ben Sollee.

For info on VIP packages, contact Jessica Esposito at [email protected].

For more information on the Music Saves Mountains campaign, including photos and videos illustrating the destructive practices of coal mining companies in the Appalachian Mountains, visit MusicSavesMountains.org.