Whirlwind doesn’t seem to really describe this last week and the event we did for Songs for Heroes. Zach Henard and I left Wednesday morning at 7AM from Nashville, TN to O’Fallon, MO, and I don’t think we stopped moving till we got back home.
The first stop once we got into town was one of my absolute favorite places, the Mid America Veterans Museum. I saw old friends and was even interviewed to be in the museum (an absolute honor btw). For those that haven’t followed this journey, my first visit to the museum in 2022 is what inspired the concept for the first Songs For Heroes session.
Next, we landed at Old Herald Brewery and Distillery and got a behind the scenes tour from the owner Derek. The space used to be home to the Collinsville Herald Newspaper and its rich history is prevalent throughout. I don’t think we had a single bad thing there (killer Agave Spirits, btw)!! If you find yourself in Collinsville,IL, definitely check them out.
Then, it came time to get down to the main goal of the week back at the museum: writing 4 songs with 4 veterans. It takes a lot of trust to bare your soul to strangers, but that’s exactly what these brave men and women did and it means the world to us. There were some tears, there was some laughter and out the other side came 4 songs.
As soon as we finished the last song on Friday evening, we rushed to set up our equipment at Tim Bunfills’ Two Shamrocks Public House (killer food and the absolute best people) and then rushed back to the museum to perform the National Anthem (the MOST terrifying song in the world, IMO) for the Mid America Veterans Museum 5th Anniversary. I was beyond honored to have been asked to do this
Immediately after the National Anthem, we headed back to Two Shamrocks and got to have a blast playing a bunch of originals and covers for some great folks the rest of the evening.
On Saturday morning, we had a coffee tasting at Minas Espresso in Edwardsville, IL. What a killer experience that turned out to be! (I could write a whole other post about it) I’m a huge coffee addict and getting to learn how different beans taste and why they have more or less caffeine and all the other info was just killer (Collaborations coming from that tasting, BTW…Stay tuned!).
Saturday night was the big show at Friendship Brewing Company Fli-Hi. We got to play the new songs we wrote with our four veterans and a few from the first Songs For Heroes event in 2023. These shows are always emotional. Some of the vets got up and told stories about how these songs helped them or touched them, (one even told us how he didn’t have to hate himself anymore after letting go of what he had been holding in). It was a great night all around and we couldn’t have asked for a better evening.
After the show, we got to bed pretty late again (per usual) and up early (Per usual) the next day to head back home to Tennessee. When we started Songs for Heroes, I said that if it helped one person or touched one heart we had accomplished this mission. We have now done that and more and I look forward to watching this continue to grow into something even more special.