Caitlin Nicole recently released the single "Differently Abled Man" for Autism Awareness and we asked Lisa Satira Brozek to tell us about the song. Here is the story:
Imagine not being able to express your thoughts or feelings on a daily basis. Imagine how frustrating it would be to lack the communication you need to have a basic conversation with another person, not being able to get your basic wants and needs heard. This is my son's life everyday, my kind, gentle son, Christopher who has Autism. On one particular day, Chris was becoming agitated and on the brink of a meltdown because he was having trouble expressing himself to me. I was feeling his frustration and just felt so bad for him that I thought, if he were able to express himself and tell me and the world what he was feeling, what would he say? So I began to write, and I wrote a song for Christopher. After I looked at what I wrote, I thought it could be something special, but it wasn't until almost 8 months later that I decided to send it to a friend of mine, Kelsey Roche, who went to school for singer/songwriting. She loved the lyrics and said she would work on it. About a month or so later, she sent me a recording of her singing my lyrics while playing the piano to the most beautiful melody. I was hooked and thought it would be cool if I could add more instruments to what Kelsey came up with. While Chris was growing up, his sister Caitlin was his best friend, protector and a lot of times his voice. She would get him to be more verbal by singing with her, so I definitely knew that she should be the one to sing this song for her brother. Christopher himself is an amazing drummer who plays in the band, Spectrum which consists of other young adults with Autism. He is amazing on the drums, can read music and play by ear so he should be the one to play the drums on his own song! All I need now is to add piano and guitar and to find someone to record and produce it!
I turned to my friend, John Vento of Band Together Pittsburgh who loved the song and suggested I take it to David Granti to produce it. Our first meeting with David was wonderful. He asked Christopher to keep a beat on the drums along with the melody and was blown away by him. Chris can keep perfect tempo and even tell you the tempo of a song just by listening to it! It was an amazing experience and over the next two months, David added bass and electric guitar while his brother, Hermie Granati played the keyboards. We would add or change certain sounds along the way, Caitlin sang her heart out with her beautiful soulful voice and Christopher felt the song as he added his own amazing drums fills. Where words fail, music truly does speak. The finished product was beautiful, something special that my children and I created together, a keepsake to cherish and pass down to the generations. Little did I know that it was meant to be heard by more than just my family.
I was approached by John Vento and Ron "Moondog" Esser, also of Band Together Pittsburgh who loved the song and it's message. They offered to help promit the song with portions of the proceeds going to their organization to help raise awareness for Autism. I was onboard and very excited to help with this wonderful cause. Before I knew it, they arranged to have a music video filmed. We asked other families with children/young adults on the Autism spectrum if they would like to be part of this video, and we were overwhelmed when we showed up for filming and saw all the families that came out to support us. Kay Bey of Grind City Media was absolutely wonderful and did an amazing job of capturing all the emotions of everyone in the video. I am so pleased with the finished product, so thankful to everyone involved and very excited to share this video with the world!
Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself right here!
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