The country music community considers themselves one big family and that was apparent this week when Lee Brice, Brett Eldredge, The Band Perry, along with other artists participated in the 5th Annual ACM Lifting Lives Camp. The camp is a week long program that is open to individuals who have Williams syndrome, and who are also talented in music. The Lifting Lives Camp has a dual purpose of studying Williams syndrome and also provides music enrichment for the participants who come from across the US.
Monday was the first day of camp and featured a song writing session with the Band Perry. The following day the group met with the Swon Brothers and shared stories about the ACM camp experience. Wednesday was reserved for studio time to record the song they wrote on Monday. Lee Brice and producer Ross Copperman were present for the recording session. That night Brett Eldredge and Wyonna joined in for karaoke at Winner’s. The music making continued on Thursday with a trip to the legendary Bluebird Café with Casey James and a dinner with JT Hodges that night. The last and final day of camp ties the week together as they will perform the song they wrote, “Bright Eyes” at the Grand Ole Opry with Chris Janson.
Although the time spent with the campers was brief, it truly left an impact on the artists. “I’ve been here for 30 minutes and I feel like my heart is overflowing. They’re so positive and so excited about being here and working all week on the song and then singing it on Friday,” said Brice. Wyonna echoed the statement saying she gets more out of the experience than the campers.
This was Eldredge’s second stint with the camp as he was part of the song writer series part two years ago. “I told all my friends that it was one of the happiest points of my life. It’s such a moving experience,” Eldredge explained.
Other artists who have participated in the ACM Lifting Lives Music Camp include Lauren Alaina, Luke Bryan, Jerrod Niemann, Jake Owen, Darius Rucker, and Carrie Underwood.
For more information on the ACM Lifting Lives campaign, visit: http://www.acmliftinglives.org/welcome.html