Transparent Christian Magazine

It has been awhile since Brad Reynolds graced our pages with his thoughts or an update on his award winning CD “In The Real World.” Recently we discussed a new song Brad wrote called “The Diary” and the impact that this important song is having on a local family!

TCM: I noticed you have a person that this song is helping right now. Tell me about her.
Brad:Her name is Alicia Garcia. I don’t really know her that well on a personal level, but she worked as a stylist at the place that I used to go when I lived in Hermitage TN. She worked in the chair next to the girl who cut my hair so we knew each other a little through small talk over the course of a couple of years.

TCM: What happened?
Brad: She was apparently in a very volatile relationship with her husband. They were separated but he would stalk her and make threats etc… She had just filed for an order of protection a few days prior, but on June 17th he showed up at the salon and shot her 5 times, including twice in the chest and once in the neck, then he turned the gun on himself and ended his own life. It was a bad situation. She miraculously survived but was in critical condition for a few days and she has to wear a “halo” to keep her neck and spine steady until September because they couldn’t remove the bullet in her neck, and if it moves it could paralyze her.

TCM: How is she healing?
Brad: From what I hear she is doing fairly well under the circumstances. I’m getting all of my information through my former stylist and news reports. I haven’t been able to get in touch with Alicia directly, but I am sure she is a little busy trying to put her life back together.

TCM: What does she need?
I’m sure she would appreciate the prayers of everyone. There is also going to be a financial need since, as a self employed stylist, she did not have insurance at the time of the incident. There has been a secular benefit concert/biker rally at a bar near the salon that helped raise some money, but I know the medical bills will be in the thousands of dollars and with two kids she can use all of the help she can get.

One way that I am trying to help raise some money is by selling downloads to a song I wrote called “The Diary”. All of the proceeds will go to a trust fund that was set up at Pinnacle Bank in Middle TN. Donations can also be made directly to the bank with checks made payable to the “Alicia Garcia and Children’s Trust Fund”.

TCM: What inspired you to write “The Diary” originally?
Brad: “The Diary” was a song that I started writing shortly after I moved to Nashville. Honestly the inspiration was another song that I heard a local songwriter perform… It was a song that personified a napkin that someone scribbled a note on and then left it on a table in a bar. The napkin had a story to tell… I can’t remeber that story, but I always thought it would be cool to write a song that gave a voice to an inanimate object and when I heard that it gave me the nudge I needed to give it a try. So I thought what better object to bring to life than a diary? It contains the secret details of a life, the struggles, the questions, the good times, as well as the hard specific truths that have to be dealt with based on that persons own unique circumstances. A diary literally and figuratively represents the story of a life. I had the first verse and chorus written and then I set it aside for a while. After a few weeks I brought it out again and took it to a co-write with my friend Jamie Prosser and my brother Matt. They helped push it along a little and after about 3 months it was finished.

TCM: How did the song evolve recently, and who helped you put this together?
Brad: When I heard about what had happened to Alicia I wanted to help. I had been told by a couple of ladies who had suffered through past abusive relationships, that the song really spoke to them. So I thought this would be a good opportunity to try to use the song to help someone that I knew that was obviously in that same situation. I also thought that if the song got out there on a wider scale maybe it would encourage others in a similar situation to seek help. So I asked a few friends if they wanted to make a recording of the song for this purpose. I knew the song needed to be sung by a female for it to work, but it had to be the right voice. That voice was Felicity Combs from the group The Sum out of Athens GA. She has such a pure and soulful sound and I knew she could give the song the vibe it needed. She also played the piano on the track. Her husband Chris is a great producer and musician. He tracked the vocal and piano and then sent it to Cord Phillips at Gasoline Production Inc. here in Nashville to finish up the mixing and mastering. Everybody donated their time and they were very excited to help the cause.

TCM: What has happened since this went live on Indieheaven?
Brad: As of 8/15 we have raised a little over $300. Each download can be purchased for $3 each on my Indieheaven page http://www.indieheaven.com/artists/bradreynolds – I’d like to encourage everyone to purchase more than 1 download so we can up the dollar amount. I had one gentleman purchase 16 downloads for a donation of $48. You dont have to download it more than once, you can just populate the quantity field with the number you wish to purchase as a way to give more than $3 for a single download if someone wishes to do that. I also am updating the daily progress on my NEWS tab on that same page. There is also the full story in that same section as well. We are going to see how much we can raise by the end of August and then determine where to go from there. I would ultimately like to see her bills taken care of and future funds going towards a domestic violence shelter.

Transparent Christian Magazine has never requested any type of donation, but this story was so powerful, we wanted to do anything we could to help. Please go to Brad’s Indieheaven Page and download a song. Maybe you can fast from one Starbucks Latte to buy a song for this family. The blessings you and the family will receive will be well worth a $3 investment. Also, you will get an excellent song!