Music is the Language of Love

I am about to sit down to watch the One Love Manchester benefit concert on TV. I've been looking forward to it all week and I wasn't sure, given the nature of things, whether or not it was moral to look forward to such an event. But I am so excited to see people coming together and using music to unite in love and compassion for what happened almost 2 weeks ago. 

 I don't want to talk too much about the terrorist attack. 

 I don't feel it's necessary at this point to create more attention to those that find pride in carrying out such heinous acts. This post today is to celebrate what music is and what it provides us with and to support tonight's event. 

 As a musician, I play gigs regularly and nothing can compare to the feeling of playing music for a crowd of people who share that passion for songs. I play acoustic music. My audiences are usually small and intimate. It's a connection I cannot explain, playing songs to people and seeing them enjoy it. I get to play songs that I have written and watch people connect with my lyrics. Music is a kind of language that isn't specific to any country, religion or race. Music is the one thing we have that connects everybody. 

 Music is art and vulnerability and growth and change. 

 I am so uplifted by the lineup for the concert tonight because I feel we have a lineup of artists who can convey this. 

 Miley Cyrus who has grown up before our eyes and just released the most beautiful song about finding yourself. Katy Perry who writes fun lyrics and has fun on stage no matter what people say about her. Niall Horan who has just departed from the biggest boy band in the world and has embraced the music he is passionate about rather than what would make the most money. And, of course, Ariana Grande who had one of the most traumatic events unfold at her concert and is going to brace the stage again to empower those who were affected. 

 I can only imagine what having a tragedy like that unfold at one of your performances would feel like, what it would take away from you. It would be so easy to never sing again for fear of making the wrong move. 

 All of the musicians I have mentioned are people I have listened to here and there but they haven't been a permanent artist on a playlist or records I have on my shelf; but the respect I have for them for what they do and their artistic integrity is infinite. 

 Tonight isn't just about raising money for the victims; although that should be a priority on everyone's list. Tonight is about refusing to step down. 

 Unfortunately, these people took daughters away from their mothers. They took excitement away from children at their first concert. But they can never take away what music does for us. Tonight is about defending our rights to sing, to dance to laugh and to perform. 

 Whether you connect with music by singing it, by writing it, by dancing to it or by drinking to it, music is yours and no one can ever take that away. 

 Tonight we stand up and we say that we wont let it be taken away.
 And tonight we restore the memories that those wonderful children should have taken away from the Ariana Grande concert that night. 

 I hope you all watch, even if just for a few minutes. My love is with everyone affected and my love is with Ariana for emerging stronger and bringing such joy to her fans this week; both those in hospital and those back home. 

 Donate if you can, but more importantly, keep singing.