“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13 (KJV)
On April 15, 2013 there were people willing to lay their lives down not for friends… but for strangers. The Boston Marathon bombing showed us both the worst of humanity and the best of it… after the explosions strangers ran into the danger zone to help others: Whether or not they knew it, they were displaying the love of God. They were showing this verse in action, they ran back in the danger zone without any knowledge of whether or not another bomb would go off. They could have easily been killed going back in, not to mention how many more people would’ve died if they wouldn’t have. This was truly a miracle what these people did. When I watched on television, the bombing itself made me lose faith in humanity… but a few minutes later the people risking their lives to save strangers restored that faith. What a glorious display of God’s love!
After I saw all of this on television, it brought my family and I to tears. I wanted to do something for these people, but I wasn’t there and we had no money. So, I remembered what Christian songwriter, Lara Landon told me when I asked her for songwriting advice. I wanted to go to the next level as a songwriter, so I asked my friend Arthur Payne (Dreamin’ Out Loud Ent.,) if he could get me in touch with someone who could give me some advice. He got me in touch with Lara Landon through e-mail. One of the things she told me was that other than lots of practice and a very good technique she shared, I should write about something that brings some type of emotion out in me. The Boston Marathon tragedy did just that and I didn’t know any other way to share what I was feeling with those who inspired me that day. We just wanted to do something positive for these people and maybe return some of the inspiration that they gave to us.
I think that so many of us have been desensitized by the violence we see on television, the news, etc… I have a confession to make. When I first started watching the news that day, no deaths were announced yet. I thought to myself, “At least nobody is dead,” but when I saw some of the injuries and they were so horrific that I knew that some of them may never be the same. After that, the first death was announced and it was an 8 year old little boy. That’s when it hit me, “one death is way too many.” Sometimes when we watch the news we go off the numbers, we may even think “at least only one person died.” One is too many and one death also means that an entire family and the victim’s friends are all affected, they’re all hurting. One death is too many, especially when it never had to happen. And the name of the boy who died that I’m talking about can’t go unsaid… his name was Martin Richard. Pray for his loved ones and the loved ones of all those lost: Martin Richard, Krystle Campbell, Lingzi Lu, Sean Collier and an unborn child announced days after and pray for those countless people who suffered severe injuries and or trauma. I remember thinking about Lingzi Lu too… her parents sent her here from China for a better life, to go to college and now she will never return home. That is deeply sad, people shouldn’t pay such a price for wanting the best for their children.
So, we started writing some lyrics and they were flowing out. Nathan Brumley later told me that we had like 10 minutes of lyrics, so he had to do some condensing when he co-wrote the song. That brings me to the next part: When the lyrics were done on our end, I knew that we needed a co-writer for this song… it wasn’t something that we should work on alone, it needed to be perfect and not something we just spew out. We needed someone with a special skill set and honestly we aren’t experienced enough as songwriters yet to do it ourselves. I didn’t know Nathan Brumley really, I only knew him because I had just recently done a review of his self-titled EP, “Nathan Brumley.” But guess what? Nathan Brumley immediately sprung to mind, he was the first and only person I wanted for the job for some reason. My wife, Krista wasn’t sure yet… but she trusted my conviction and after the song was done, she said, “This guy is awesome!” Hate to tell you I told you so Krista (hate's probably not the word,) but I get so few opportunities to say it. So, I sent him an e-mail and like other featured artists that we work with… I offered to give him some type of payment for his work. Guess what? He refused to accept payment; he was honored to be doing this song for the victims and heroes and expected nothing in return. The type of production value that he brought to this project is something that we might normally pay over $1,000 for. He brought in some of his friends (Nashville session players,) and also his friend Shay Watson to help with the production. In my opinion, the song turned out better than I could’ve hoped for. It also gave me the opportunity to see what kind of person Nathan is and I have to say… if you haven’t checked out his music, you really should. You will not find someone with a more kind and humble heart. He doesn’t build himself up, but he is a tremendous songwriter and performer. He won’t tell you that though, but now that he knows me, he will have to occasionally be reminded. If you will not brag about yourself, I will brag for you sir! I do PR work for Katelyn McCarter and she’s the same way, so that’s what I do, haha: I brag for the bragging impaired. Nathan also does vocals for the band, ‘The Bitter Selway,’ check them out too.
The reason I shared some of the information here about Nathan is that I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea… Nathan didn’t take part in this project for money; he did it only out of the good intentions of his heart: I think that’s very important for people to understand, because it will help you appreciate his music. When you listen to his music, you don’t have to wonder, “Is this guy the real deal?” He is the real deal personally and professionally. Between the love of God we saw through the heroes in Boston and the kindness of Nathan Brumley, Shay Watson and others who worked on this project we were really blessed and touched. By the way, I say “others who worked on this…” because they are friends of Nathan and I don’t know who they are to be honest. Whoever they are, thank you and thank you Nathan and Shay Watson!
Artists mentioned in this blog post with links to their music (For those interested in listening for free):
Nathan Brumley,
The Bitter Selway,
Shay Watson,
Lara Landon and
Katelyn McCarter.
If you were affected by the tragedy or just want to make a tribute video or anything, you can download Shine on Boston for free here:
https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/nbrum7770 (CD Baby also offered their service for free for this cause.)
Any way, I've been wanting to write this for awhile now for some reason... I hope that at least some of you found it interesting. Below you can click the link to play the song, "Shine on Boston (feat. Nathan Brumley)." If you would like to help us get this song on Twitter Music, you can copy the text below as well and tweet it:
#NowPlaying @TydeMoore - Shine on Boston (feat. Nathan Brumley) #music #ShineonBoston
http://rd.io/a/QQi52SVP7w/
You can also help Nathan Brumley get on Twitter Music by tweeting his music @nbrum7770. Here's an example you can copy and paste it too if you'd like:
#NowPlaying @nbrum7770 - Breath of My Soul #music #NathanBrumley
http://rd.io/a/QQi52SVP7A/ (This is one of my favorites from him, it's great!)
God bless you all and thank you for your support.
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