Country Music Stars Team-up to Help Developmentally Disabled

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The 2nd Annual ACM Lifting Lives Music Camp – a week-long residential program open to campers nationwide with developmental disabilities, talented in music – will start start on Monday, June 27, with a number of stars lining up to help.

Superstars volunteering time to participate include Gary Allan, Little Big Town, Darius Rucker, Carrie Underwood and Wynonna, along with hit songwriters Odie Blackmon and Brett James, and renowned producer Mark Bright.

The Camp has a dual purpose of studying Williams syndrome and other developmental disabilities and providing music enrichment through performance and education. ACM Lifting Lives funds the costs of the Camp, enabling the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities to advance its mission of improving the lives of individuals with developmental disabilities and their families through research, training and service.

Campers will participate in a songwriting workshop and recording session, culminating in a live performance at the Grand Ole Opry. At the Opry, campers will reprise their 2011 ACM Awards hit Music from the Heart and share an original song they will write at this year’s camp. Throughout the week, campers will also gain the invaluable experience of visits from top-tier country music veterans. Prior camps have featured artist visits from Kix Brooks, Julianne Hough, Eddie Montgomery, LeAnn Rimes and more.

Beating the Odds, and the Drums

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - He was born with a rare genetic disorder that could make living his everyday life difficult, but instead Seth Link is beating the odds and taking chances leading him to the national spotlight.
In this journey we call life, Seth Link is beating the odds stacked against him at birth with music.
This 21-year-old was born with a rare developmental disability called Williams Syndrome.
"There's things called chromosomes and we are missing a few chromosomes on a gene" explained Seth.
Even with his disability, Seth said greatness has never been out of reach. He just took those frustrations and made music with his drums.
"You're able to use that negative energy to let it go and to be able to make something positive happen out of it," Seth said.

Singers with Disabilities to Perform at Academy of Country Music Awards

The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center will take center stage in a special performance at the 46th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards April 3 at 8 p.m. on CBS. Chart-topping country music artist Darius Rucker will join 25 young adults with developmental disabilities for a once-in-a-lifetime musical event to benefit the Kennedy Center.
The musical guests are participants in the ACM Lifting Lives Music Camp held each summer at the Kennedy Center for people with Williams Syndrome, autism and other disabilities. ACM Lifting Lives, the philanthropic arm of the Academy of Country Music, sponsored the Kennedy Center’s six-year-old music camp for the first time in 2010.