Blues Songwriting Behind Bars

Описание: This is a "deeper dive" video for anyone who would like to get a closer look at the Blues songwriting workshops we do. Featured are two co-facilitators, Sally Reilly Robinson and JL Marsh and there are examples of songs that were written in the workshops.

Sally, JL, and I describe the interactions with inmate participants, how the process works and what the impact is on both the inmates and on us as facilitators. We cover some of the "why" here: why Blues, why songwriting?

There will be another video about the "God factor" in this program, but still we touch on that as well. This would be of interest to anyone who is a pastor or a Christian songwriter who might be looking for a way to deeply impact the lives of people who have had a broken life experience.

This project falls into the category of what is being called "Socially Engaged Art." The basic idea of "S.E.A." is too use the power of art to collaborate with people who are in socially distressed situations. The goal is multi-faceted: to bring creativity to the people who maybe don't have the opportunity, to create community and relationship, to draw attention to issues which need to be addressed, to contribute to positive change in society.

We have had participants discover talent they did not know they had by being part of the creative songwriting process. We've seen individuals bring very insightful content that headed other inmates. And we have grown personally from hearing the stories and getting to know people we most likely would never meet in the course of our normal rhythm of life.

It is that exposure and personal growth that we want to try to share when we bring this music to audiences outside of a correctional facility. By subscribing to the Blues Behind Bars YouTube channel you will have access to new music as we post monthly uploads. We encourage you to check out our website as well: bluesbehindbars.org.