Benefit for the Asbury House CD

Jenn Cohen | May 1, 2012 | 0 Comments

by Max Giffin

On April 7, five talented Fort Collins artists came together at the Alley Cat Café to play a show with a noble cause in mind: raising money for the Asbury House. The show alone raised over a hundred dollars in donations, but wanting to make a larger impact, the musicians decided to record the show, and sell a compilation CD of their music with 100% of the proceeds donated.

The Asbury House is a holistic rehabilitation center for women struggling with addiction. Their goal is to be more than a 30-day program; an all-encompassing program that lets women stay as long as they need to actually recover. The Asbury House is currently raising money so that they can buy the building they are located in.

TJ Vazquez is My Sister’s Brother. His music is indie folk with clever lyrics and some fast strumming on an acoustic guitar. Vazquez’s songs cover a variety of different themes; some are happy and upbeat, while others breach harder subjects such as growing up and loosing faith. He calls My Sister’s Brother, “Music for people who love music.” His sounds are so fun that it’s impossible not to enjoy his music. Vazquez is producing the CD, and has a lot of passion for what he is doing. What Vazquez wants to accomplish through things like this, is creating community through local music so that smaller artists can have the support and love that larger touring acts receive when they play Fort Collins.

Case Philip, another contributing artist, plays Americana folk. He describes his music as being based off growing up in the Bible Belt and his travels in the Navy. His music is written from the standpoint of where he’s at physically and emotionally, and has a lot of geographical influences. His music is uplifting and optimistic, sending positive and beautiful messages. Philips says, in good humor, that his music is, “a lot happier than TJ’s. You don’t want to cry and drive through the mountains when you listen to [him]; you just want to dance.” Like Vazquez, the main instrument featured in Philip’s music is guitar, although his recordings incorporate more instruments giving it a full band sound.

Red Light Hero is Rich Carlson’s project. He strives to have songs that are both acoustic, with only him and his guitar, as well as songs that embody a full-band sound, rich with different instruments. He considers his music to be fast-paced blues. Music is Carlson’s outlet for his emotions; as a result, many of his songs reflect his struggles. He does, however, have some positive songs, showing the different sides of him as a person. His contributions to the CD will not be from the live show, due to an unfortunate accident the day of the show. However, previous recordings will be included.

Will Giglio is a blues singer songwriter. He personally added that his songs are a little, “thug and gangster,” but it’s up to the listener to determine if this is true. Most of what he’s writing is based from his personal experiences. Although some of his music is rather dark, Giglio says that he writes songs to better understand himself and his feelings. He writes songs, not with the hope that it will become mainstream and popular, but so that he can get something out of it himself.

Adam Fuller is the Body Farm. He plays alternative rock that Vazquez praises as being, “very unique.” Vazquez says that it’s “thumping, dark, and intense,” music that he personally loves. While Fuller is the only member of the Body Farm at the moment, he is searching for an open-minded drummer to join him. His music has a range of percussion unheard in any other bands. Fuller’s vocals are deep and soulful, sometimes similar to a melancholy chant.

The CD featuring several songs from each of these artists will be released May 15^th on both iTunes and CD Baby for $10, all of which will go towards the cause. According to Vazquez, the artists “went into this knowing they weren’t going to make money,” but says that their payment is people listening to their music.