The day could’ve been another workday for seven Nashville songwriters and another co-writing assignment in an MTSU experiential learning course for seven advanced commercial songwriting students.
By teaming up with seven Midstate veterans, Oct. 28 instead became an opportunity for healing. The daylong “Operation Song” songwriting session at MTSU culminated in new friendships, seven unique songs and a mini-concert filled with cheers, tears and standing ovations.
âThis was the first time I got a chance to speak to someone who truly listened to me, not trying to âfixâ me or trying to know whatâs wrong,â said U.S. Marine Corps veteran Juan Davila of Antioch, Tennessee, a senior computer science major at MTSU.
Operation Song, established in 2012 by Nashville songwriters, helps retired and active-duty veterans and their families sort out their experiences and emotions by sitting down and telling their stories, which are then turned into song.
The organization offers weekly programs for veterans at Murfreesboroâs Alvin C. York Medical Center and five more area sites as well as songwriting retreats around the country.
The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, which works with Operation Song, reached out to Odie Blackmon, director of MTSUâs Commercial Songwriting Program in the Department of Recording Industry, this fall about a possible event with the university. MTSUâs Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center invited local veterans.
The MTSU âOperation Songâ results ranged from âMy Mission is You,â a vow of gratitude by retired U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Darryl Leach, an information technology specialist for the recording industry department, to âThings I Canât Take Back,â a somber remembrance of a lost U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division comrade from Capt. Shane Smith of MTSUâs Department of Military Science.
Nick Ferzacca, a senior audio production major who lives in Murfreesboro, offered âAinât Dead Yet,â an anthem culled from his years as a master gunner with the Armyâs 1st Cavalry Division. Blake Pickel, another Antioch resident and 101st veteran, explained in âScreaming Eagleâ how his âlife changed in the blink of an eyeâ during Operation Dragon Strike in Afghanistan.
U.S. Army veteran and musician Ian Wagner of Goodlettsville, Tennessee, performs often with Operation Song but never wrote with the volunteers before his MTSU visit.
Admitting that heâs one of the few âto be pinned with a Purple Heart at Arlington (National Cemetery) and walk away,â Wagner, who served with the 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan and Iraq, crafted âBroken Purple Heartâ to honor those beneath the hallowed ground.
He worked with senior Laura Short of Atlanta and Marc Beeson, co-writer of Blake Sheltonâs recent single âSheâs Got a Way with Words,â in an Ezell Hall writing room.
âWhat an amazing experience this has been,â Beeson said. âAt the end of the day, the only one I need to know is happy is the soldier. Itâs his story, his truth. Weâre just two more instruments in the room.â
U.S. Navy Seabees veteran Kevin Quarles of La Vergne, Tennessee, a senior music business major, turned his disorientation on resuming civilian life into âGet Back to Yourselfâ during his day with senior Lauren Wilson of Bremen, Georgia, and Nashville songwriter George Teren, co-writer of Tim McGrawâs âReal Good Man.â
Blackmon said the âdifferent components in this project, including service learning, are awesome for my students. Not only are they learning from Hall of Fame songwriters, theyâre learning something about people who gave so much to all of us. Iâm glad that they (Operation Song) wanted us to be a part of it.â
Students in MTSUâs Master of Fine Arts in Recording Arts and Technologies recorded the performances at dayâs end in the Bragg Media and Entertainment Buildingâs Studio A for CDs for each of the veterans.
âPeople kept bringing me these CDs that Operation Song produces and saying, âYou need to do this!ââ said Hilary Miller, director of the Daniels Center. âThis is such an act of courage by our veterans.â
The songwriting trios also included:
Davilaâs co-writers of âTrue Soldier,â Grammy-winning producer and pedal steel guitarist Steve Fishell, whoâs working on his bachelorâs degree in university studies at MTSU, and Regie Hamm, composer of âI Surrender Allâ for Clay Crosse.
Freshman Cory Fisher of Nolensville, Tennessee, who wrote with Smith and Operation Song co-founder Don Goodman, co-writer of âOlâ Redâ for George Jones and Shelton.
Abe Jacobyansky, an MTSU senior from Freeport, Pennsylvania, who worked with Ferzacca and songwriter Roxie Dean, co-writer of Jamie O’Neal’s No. 1 single “When I Think About Angels.”
Jaclyn Johannsen, a senior from Chattanooga who wrote with Pickel and Steve Dean, composer of âIt Takes a Little Rainâ for the Oak Ridge Boys.
Commercial songwriting major Morgan Redmond of Cleveland, Tennessee, who wrote with Leach and Operation Song co-founder Bob Regan.
âI am thoroughly impressed,â Regan said. âIs this worth doing again at some point down the road? Well, spread the word and weâll make it happen!â
For more information about Operation Song, visit http://www.operationsong.org. For more information on the Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center at MTSU, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/military.
For details on MTSUâs Commercial Songwriting Program in the College of Media and Entertainment, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/programs/commercial-songwriting.