A huge thank you to Elmhurst Magazine, and to co-authors Laura Michaud and Melissa G. Wilson, for capturing the story of our recent Freedom Sings collaboration. Laura, a founding member of ECPA and ECPA’s Board Secretary, brought her firsthand perspective as event co-chair to this piece, alongside Melissa’s talent for storytelling.
The article walks through how Nashville’s Freedom Sings paired professional songwriters with local veterans for an extraordinary one-day process: intimate morning sessions where veterans shared deeply personal stories, followed by a live evening performance where those stories became original songs, debuted on stage and dedicated to the veterans who inspired them.
Veterans including Christine Seagrave and Staci Boyer spoke to how profoundly the experience affected them, and the night closed with the audience calling for the event’s return next year.