MELODIC CARING PROJECT TO RELEASE MULTI-ARTIST COMPILATION ALBUM
TO RAISE FUNDS FOR BRINGING MUSIC TO HOSPITALIZED CHILD PATIENTS
“Raise a Record,” Due September 24 via Rogue Island Records,
To Support Streams of Live Music Events to Critically-Ill Children
Melodic Caring Project (MCP), the Seattle-based non-profit that brings the healing power of music directly to critically ill children, will release RAISE A RECORD, its first annual compilation album to raise funds for the continuing work of the two-year-old charity. Arriving on September 24, RAISE A RECORD highlights the music of fourteen artists, including Melodic Caring Project founder Levi Ware, whose song “Hey Hey” is produced by Grammy®-winning engineer Neal Cappellino.
RAISE A RECORD joins an impressive list of recent Melodic Caring Project events that have brought comfort and encouragement to dozens of stricken children. More than 100 live music performances have been streamed from Seattle area venues directly to children in their hospital beds; through a live-chat feature, patients’ family, friends and well-wishers can send messages of support and inspiration to the participants. The album will follow the September 6 streaming of the Raise the Roof 2013 concert, the fifth annual fund-raiser for singer-writer Brandi Carlile’s Looking Out Foundation.
In accordance with MCP’s mission of “bringing genuine love and compassion together with the medically proven healing properties of music and sharing them with children in need,” the 14-track album presents an array of soulful—and tuneful—selections from a geographically and generically diverse gathering of artists. If RAISE A RECORD has a unifying theme song, it would be Levi Ware’s “Hey Hey,” (produced by Grammy®-winning engineer Neal Cappellino, whose work includes Alison Krauss & Union Station’s Paper Airplane and recordings by Dolly Parton, Brad Paisley, Vince Gill and Joan Osborne). Newly recorded by Ware, a former member of the band Vast Capital, the piece is an arresting, irresistibly catchy ode to resilience and positive outcomes. It has become the theme song of MCP.
Among other key cuts are “You Make Me Feel Quiet” by Seattle world-soul-pop band Luc and the Lovingtons (Luc Reynaud’s “Freedom Song” was covered by Jason Mraz); “Shine,” an uplifting composition by Hawaii singer-songwriter Donavon Frankenreiter; and “African Girl,” the touching autobiographical saga of Kenya-born-and-raised Naomi Wachira.
Motopony, Daniel Blue’s electro-pop band from Tacoma, contributes “King of Diamonds,” Southern California duo Ultimate Bearhug delivers the daydream-y “Sunshine,” and the rootsy Massy Ferguson offers “Apartment Downtown.” Other ensembles represented are Audrey Zoli and Matt Hart’s Local Strangers (“Uptown”), the Seattle trio Hannalee (“Never Been to Memphis”) and Ware’s former band Vast Capital (“Thank You”). Solo performers include Tyrone Wells (whose music has graced such series as Grey’s Anatomy and The Vampire Diaries), who turns in the moving “A Beautiful Place to Be”; singer-songwriters Tommy Simmons (“Joseph”) and Kris Orlowski (“Mountains”); and neo-soul singer Mycle Wastman (“Ricochet”).
RAISE A RECORD will be released by Rogue Island Records and will be available through various online and retail outlets as well as via the Melodic Caring Project website: www.melodiccaringproject.org.
The Melodic Caring Project (MCP) was conceived in 2011 when Levi Ware was asked to play a benefit concert for Kaydee, an 11-year-old Burlington, Washington, girl who had recently been diagnosed with leukemia. Ware organized a concert for her family, friends and classmates; some 300 people attended the concert in support of Kaydee, but Kaydee herself was unable to attend as she was undergoing chemotherapy at Seattle Children’s Hospital. In an 11th hour inspiration, Ware live-streamed the concert to Kaydee in her hospital room, using the camera on his Mac laptop. During the concert, he was able to dedicate songs to Kaydee and let her know there was a crowd of people at the concert supporting and thinking about her. After the concert, Levi called Kaydee and her mom in her hospital room; both were crying because the experience had meant so much to them. It was a revelation for Ware. He left the concert feeling he had discovered the purpose for his music and, ultimately, his life. Ware and his wife Stephanie founded the Melodic Caring Project shortly thereafter and have been streaming live concerts to kids in Washington, across the country and around the globe since that time.
Technology adds extra benefits to MCP’s streaming concerts. The online capacity means “There’s no limit to how many people can ‘attend’ and enjoy the show with the hospitalized kids,” Ware explains. “We want to create a community of support for the kids and a place for their family and friends to rally around them. The Project gives the patients’ loved ones an opportunity to support the kids while focusing on something uplifting and fun, rather than on the illness or condition. Watching the conversations take place on the live chat is really touching.”
All of the artists that contributed tracks to RAISE A RECORD have also played shows that have been streamed via MCP. Additionally, MCP has recently streamed shows by artists such as Richard On of OAR, Walking Papers (featuring Duff McKagan of Guns ‘n Roses), Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, Vicci Martinez and Bobby Long as well as other national touring musicians through its association with the Seattle Living Room Shows concert series and through its partnership with the Seattle Theatre Group to stream live performances from three of Seattle's premier theatres—the Paramount, Moore and Neptune.
“Our hope is that the release of RAISE A RECORD will raise awareness for the Melodic Caring Project among both the artist and patient communities. We want everyone to know that it’s easy for them to get involved in this program and impact the lives of these amazing kids in a truly profound and lasting way.”
* * * *
To view upcoming (and past) MCP events or to make a donation, visit:
To view archived and live Melodic Caring Project streams, go to www.ustream.tv/melodiccaringproject
Visit: www.rogueisland.com