The Gift of Music

On January 17, 2012, Anthem Lights (Alan Powell, Caleb Grimm, Chad Graham and Kyle Kupecky) released their much anticipated Acoustic EP. The hours leading to the release of this album had me thinking and praying a lot. Just before midnight, I tweeted to Anthem Lights that I wanted to gift their Acoustic EP to 20 fans who couldn't afford it. Once word got out in the Twittersphere, people started reaching out to me. Here's my blog to explain why I decided to gift the EP.

Let's back up and tell you how I discovered Anthem Lights. In June 2011, my husband and I took a road trip from Rhode Island to the Alive Festival in Mineral City, Ohio. I have been to a lot of concerts through out the years, but have never been to a Christian Festival and was really excited for my first one. There were a lot of artists that I was excited to see, such as TobyMac, Switchfoot, Chris August, Tenth Avenue North, Hillsong United, for King & Country, but most of all, I went to see Kris Allen, American Idol season 8 winner. They were are amazing! Definitely a very uplifting experience for me.

Before the main acts on the main stage in the evening, there were smaller acts at other stages during late morning/early afternoon. One of those days, I was at the Woods Stage when I was introduced to the music of Anthem Lights. I had never heard of them, but I was instantly hooked by their harmonies as they started to perform. I was totally mesmerized by their whole set, which in my opinion, was way too short. I got to meet the guys by the merch table after their set. They were all super sweet, signed my CD and took a picture with me. What a nice group of guys! So genuine and on fire for the Lord!

Over the next few months, I saw Anthem Lights gain popularity. I started hearing their music and interviews on Air1 and K-Love radio. Even though I have their album and can listen to the songs anytime I want, I still get excited every time I hear one of their songs on the radio. Guess that's just the fangirl in me. Fast forward 6 months and it's time for Anthem Lights to release their Acoustic EP.  I bought the EP as soon as I got home the night of the release. I listened to it on repeat that night and just felt the need to share this amazing EP with others. I prayed about how to best share this. From what I've seen on Twitter and Facebook, majority of the fanbase (also know as the Lightbulbs) appear to be in their teens or early 20s, at least on these social media sites. Not that other people can't be fans because I am (sadly) no longer in my 20s and yet, I'm proud to call myself a Lightbulb. I know that when I was at that age, I couldn't always afford the music I wanted. I tweeted to Anthem Lights that I wanted to gift 20 EPs to fans who couldn't afford it. Alan was tweeting through the Anthem Lights Twitter account at that time and retweeted my tweet.

Over the next few hours, I gifted everyone who tweeted me to ask for the EP to be gifted to them via iTunes or Amazon. Mind you, I had to be at work for 7am Tuesday morning, but since people kept tweeting me, I just kept on gifting. I was on a spiritual high, reaching out to all these Lightbulbs, that I just couldn't bother with sleep. When 5am rolled round, I think I had gifted over 30 EPs already, which is more than the initial 20 I said I'd gift. Even though I received more than 20 requests, I just couldn't say no.

I ended up napping for about an hour before making some coffee and heading into work. Despite only 1 hour of sleep, I had one of my best days at work. I didn't encounter any major problems that day. One of my co-workers even bought pizza for lunch for a few of us. The whole time, I just kept thinking that God is good and that He always provides.

I have been the recipient of music and other gifts from other people (strangers, included) at various points in my life. I've seen some people on my Twitter feed gift music or match donations, etc. I wanted to share the beautiful music in this EP. So, I went on a gifting spree. So much so that iTunes actually suspended my account for a while because PayPal wouldn't pay them since they kept submitting for the same amount. Eventually, I got it cleared up and was able to gift again. By the end of the day on Tuesday, I had gifted 44 EPs. I have had a few more requests since then, and now the grand total is 53 EPs! I'm not sharing this information to boast what a generous person I am. I do not have an endless supply of money. I have a great full-time job working in the field I went to college for. I'm sharing this because I feel extremely blessed and wish to inspire others to pay it forward. You may not be able to do so today or tomorrow, but someday, you will. It may not be in the form of gifting EPs to everyone who asks you, but it could be something as small as buying someone coffee, or baking cookies/brownies, or maybe shoveling someone's driveway.

Thank you for taking the time to read my first blog, ever! I would love to see Anthem Lights in concert and meet the guys again someday. Lightbulbs, I pray that I have inspired you to pay it forward, however and whenever you are able to. God is good. And in the famous words of Alan, that is all.