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Tuning Up: CLOUDS
By ritalovestowrite
For this, the second in the Tuning Up series here on ritaLOVEStoWRITE, I'm presenting CLOUDS by Zach Sobiech.
Sobiech was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, at the age of 14. After 10 surgeries and 20 rounds of chemo it became apparent that the end game was at hand. His mother, Laura, asked him to write farewell letters to the people who were important to him. He found that difficult, but he was able to write music. He penned CLOUDS.
The song was recorded and released on YouTube where it has been seen by 11.8 million viewers.
Here's the original with Sobiech on vocals and acoustic guitar. The session was produced by Karl Demer and engineered by Merritt Benton. With John Lynn on piano, Zach Miller on drums, Sean O'Hea on bass and Matt Vannelli electric guitar
The song reached #1 on iTunes and charted on the Billboard Hot 100.
After his death a local radio station held a tribute concert with 5000 people — a mix of school choirs, church choirs, and fans — singing the song at the Mall of America.
Sobiech's hope in releasing the song was to promote awareness of Osteosarcoma and help others with the disease. His family established The Zach Sobiech Osteosarcoma Fund at Children's Cancer Research Fund.
The sheet music is available here for free. (click on the image at the bottom of the link for a pdf download). A request for a donation to the Zach Sobiech Osteosarcoma Fund is recommended.
I've done this song with several of my voice students. I love the message of the song and that it lets us, as performers, look beyond ourselves to a greater need.
Here is my Monday Night Trio, (Ellie, Meg and Emily) singing the song… (It is a little quiet)
Zach Sobiech's 'Clouds' Reaches No. 1 On iTunes After His Death
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Teen who penned web-hit farewell song dies
Clouds by Zach Sobiech
About ritalovestowrite
Freelance writer, graphic designer, musician, foodie and Jane Austen enthusiast in Northern Baltimore County, Maryland. As a writer I enjoy both fiction and non fiction (food, travel and local interest stories.) As an advocate for the ARTS, one of my biggest passions is helping young people find a voice in all the performing arts. To that end it has been my honor to give one-on-one lessons to elementary, middle and high school students in graphic design and music. And as JANE-O I currently serve as the regional coordinator for JASNA Maryland and am working on a Regency/Federal cooking project.	View all posts by ritalovestowrite
This entry was posted on Sunday, August 31st, 2014 at 9:35 pm	and tagged with Clouds, Music, Zach Sobiech and posted in Uncategorized.	You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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