The Band Perry helped kick off the fifth annual ACM Lifting Lives Music Camp with a songwriting session Monday morning at Nashville’s Vanderbilt University. The camp is open to individuals with Williams syndrome, a genetic disorder that that leads to intense musical ability or musical interest. That ability was on full display as the campers tossed out song lyrics and ideas with The Band Perry to write a song called “Bright Eyes.” The Perry siblings were inspired by the campers’ wiliness to just toss out ideas.
Kimberly Perry tells ABC News Radio, “Honestly, whether it’s with family like we do here in The Band Perry, or with some co-writing friends, yeah, you are kind of checking your ideas that you toss out, at least, I know I do that, but they were full-throttle. It was like, from the get-go, we had, like, a title and exactly what they were thinking and feeling.”
That willingness to be honest rings true with The Band Perry’s approach to songwriting lately.
“One thing that that we’ve really been trying to work on our songwriting is, you can write a pretty lyric, but is it honest? Do you truly believe that?” says Reid Perry. “So, it was really interesting seeing them. They had no filter and therefore, were very honest about what they wanted to say and what it made them feel.”
The campers were also honest when they didn’t love a song lyric or idea, too.
Kimberly says, “I remember one gentleman just say, ‘Hey, well just try it again. Just try it again, but maybe just a little different.’ I appreciated the honesty. That’s [the] number-one key in a songwriting session is being honest.“
The campers have a full week ahead of them as they record “Bright Eyes” with Lee Brice at Nashville’s Ocean Way Recording Studio on Wednesday. They’ll end the week singing the song on the Grand Ole Opry Friday with up-and-coming country star Chris Janson. Wynonna, Brett Eldredge, Casey James and The Swon Brothers are also spending time with the campers this week.
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