The Sequestered Songwriters Relief Fund was an idea born out of the COVID-19 pandemic. A group of songwriter friends gathered virtually to participate in an online guitar pull to celebrate Merle Haggard on his birthday. The following week, John Prine passed, and the group again gathered virtually to pay tribute to him. None of the songwriters wanted to stop, and the fans were just as excited, so the weekly tributes continued. Fans started asking about how they could financially support the endeavor. As none of the musicians wanted any kind of compensation for the amount of fun they were having online each week, the idea to start a nonprofit that would benefit songwriters in future financial crisis seemed like the perfect solution.