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A collaborative of artists works with veterans to tell stories of war through song.
Celebrate a unique collaborative of professional artists working with veterans and families to tell stories of war and the return home through lyrics and song. This concert special celebrates music with the power to heal and bring diverse people together.
Celebrate a unique collaborative of professional artists working with veterans and families to tell stories of war and the return home through lyrics and song. This concert special celebrates music with the power to heal and bring diverse people together.
![Radney Foster "Waiting on the Boom"]()
Radney Foster "Waiting on the Boom"
Radney Foster performs the song "Waiting on the Boom."
Radney Foster "Waiting on the Boom"
![Gary Burr "Something Ain't Right"]()
Gary Burr "Something Ain't Right"
Gary Burr performs the song "Something Ain't Right."
Gary Burr "Something Ain't Right"
![Bonnie Bishop "Lion of Fallujah"]()
Bonnie Bishop "Lion of Fallujah"
Bonnie Bishop sings "Lion of Fallujah" a song she wrote with Gold Star parents.
Bonnie Bishop "Lion of Fallujah"
Providing Support for PBS.org
Providing Support for PBS.org
Photos from Songwriting with Soldiers
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Songwriters Bonnie Bishop and Radney Foster opening the "Songwriting with Soldiers" show with “I Am A Soldier.”
John Partipilo
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Songwriters Bonnie Bishop and Radney Foster opening the "Songwriting with Soldiers" show with “I Am A Soldier."
John Partipilo
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"Songwriting with Soldiers" contributing songwriter and band leader Will Kimbrough.
John Partipilo
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Maia Sharp sings “Strumming Hand,“ an amazingly deft and ironic song on the aftermath of one veteran’s injuries sustained in combat.
John Partipilo
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Gary Burr sings “Something Ain’t Right,” a beautiful but difficult song on the transition from the combat zone to life back home.
John Partipilo
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Veteran Josh Geartz joins Mary Gauthier onstage for their song, “Still On the Ride.”
John Partipilo
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Writers Beth Nielsen Chapman and Mary Gauthier perform “The War After The War,” a truly poignant song of soldiers’ return home as co-written with Army wives.
John Partipilo
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The full complement of "Songwriting with Soldiers" writers on stage for the finalé reprise of “I Am A Soldier.”
John Partipilo
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Songwriters Bonnie Bishop and Radney Foster opening the "Songwriting with Soldiers" show with “I Am A Soldier” in Nashville’s historic War Memorial Auditorium.
John Partipilo
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With a chorus of colleagues, "Songwriting with Soldiers" co-founder Darden Smith performs, “Holding God’s Hand,” co-written with James Monk.
John Partipilo
About the Show
"Songwriting with Soldiers" gathers GRAMMY award-winning singer/songwriters, war veterans and active service members in a powerful night of music within Nashville’s historic War Memorial Auditorium.
This one-hour special’s chart-topping songwriters include Radney Foster, Mary Gauthier, Darden Smith, Bonnie Bishop, Gary Burr, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Jay Clementi, James House, Will Kimbrough, Georgia Middleman, Gary Nicholson, and Maia Sharp.
SongwritingWith:Soldiers (SW:S), is a unique, fiercely dedicated collaborative of professional artists and returning veterans who salve the wounds of war through music’s power to heal and bring diverse people together.
Illuminating the SW:S process, “Songwriting with Soldiers” features songs of combat, suicide, resilience, fear, the pride of soldiering, and turmoil of transitioning out, works of war and remembrance that are powerful, transformative and demanding. This beautifully shot show offers viewers well-crafted windows into the lives of those we ask to fight our wars.
The creative songwriting process can be life-changing for participants, both writers and veterans. In the words of SW:S co-founder Mary Judd, “The soldier is watching their story become something beautiful. It’s a work of art that is being created out of their story.”
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