NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A group of teens got to work with some top notch musicians. In this case, it was even more than a grand opportunity. This was a chance to tell the story of their own journeys.
A group of teens gathered into a recording studio. The teens included two who will just be referred to as Ash and Reese.
"It's so exciting," Ash said. "I've never experienced anything like this!"
"It turned out phenomenal," Reese added, listening to an early version of a song.
Like a lot of songs, there comes a deeper appreciation of this one once you know the story behind it.
The teens were part of a group home in Youth Villages. Youth Villages works to find foster and adoptive homes for children in the foster care system.
"I was like, 'wooow,'" Reese said, looking around the studio. "This is actually a real recording studio!"
"You ever been in a studio like this before?" I asked.
"No, I actually haven't," Reese answered. "This is new to me."
This is something called the NashFilm Living Reel Project. It happens each year as a partnership between Youth Villages, Moraine Music Group, and the Nashville Film Festival.
"I want them to have this therapeutic experience through writing a song," said songwriter Erin Kirby.
Songwriters Kirby and Kyshona Armstrong wrote this song with the teens, starting with having them journal some of their feelings.
"The journal is the doorway to first get everything out of your head," Armstrong explained. "I call it therapeutic songwriting."
"We were ready!" Reese said about the writing session. "We were prepared! It's everything we needed."
A film about the creation of the song will debut at the Nashville Film Festival. At the time of my studio visit, the song wasn't done.
"So excited," Ash smiled.
The teens filed into a room and gathered around a microphone at Moraine Music Group.
In the writing session with Kirby and Armstrong, the teens had to draft up an idea for their song.
"You can't love somebody else if you don't love yourself first," Kirby explained about the song's theme.
The teens recorded their vocals as part of the chorus.
"The pop that we needed was the group," Ash nodded. "We did need the group."
The full song will be debuted at the Nashville Film Festival.
"To have a song written by you, and you put your work into it, it's amazing," Ash said. "It's so exciting, and I love it. This is like home here."
"People care about you," Reese said. "People love you. No matter what you're going through, they do care."
The vocal session was complete for a group of teens who call themselves The Overcomers.
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
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