ACM’s charity arm, Lifting Lives, has a music camp every year, and it’s probably the coolest camp you could ever dream of going to. This year, 30 campers ranging from 16 to 50 years old, all with a developmental disability called Williams Syndrome, got to visit Nashville for this once-in-a-lifetime experience. During the campers week-long stay, they received music education and performance experience, all while the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center was able to study this unique disability.
The program started with a writing session, where campers wrote a song called “One Voice” with Kip Moore and hit songwriters Ross Copperman (“Drunk On Your Love,” “If I Told You,” “American Country Love Song,”) and Jon Nite (“We Were Us,” “Tip It On Back,” “Whatever She’s Got”). They took that to the studio, where Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott helped them record it and answered their questions about the music business. And, as if that wasn’t cool enough, they took their new song to the Grand Ole Opry, where they got to perform it with Craig Morgan.
Other activities included karaoke with Brandon Lay, visiting Seacrest Studios with Cassadee Pope, and meeting and/or greeting with Danielle Bradbery. In my job, I get to do a lot of cool stuff, and even I’m envious of the week they had!