March 17, 2025
As he has for the past several Januaries, Andrew led a series of free songwriting workshops for any interested middle and high school students in Frederick County, Maryland as part of the Chords of Courage Step Up Frederick! songwriting contest. The contest seeks to honor and elevate heroes both famous and ordinary who through great personal struggle and sacrifice made a difference in the lives of others. While workshop attendance is not required to enter the contest, Andrew helps interested students work through the basic elements of crafting structure, melody and song dynamics as well as refining their work as they go.
After the last workshop, the students submit their songs to be evaluated by a panel of judges, and the best works are awarded an impressive array of prizes at the Awards Concert in mid-March, where their songs are performed in public for the first time by professional musicians. Among the prizes are scholarships, a guitar, and a considerable suite of resources to further explore their musical interests donated by more than a dozen sponsor organizations and individual supporters. While they don't know in advance where they place, the winners get to work with the musicians in advance to craft the finished version of their song for the show; even though many submit just a melody and lyrics.
Once the students leave the last workshop, Andrew's work is done. As he puts it, “I have no idea how any of it turned out, if any of what I showed them was helpful, nothing. I'm a spectator at the concert, but it's really cool to see kids I've gotten to know up there on the stage amazed at hearing the likes of Heather Lloyd (ilyaimy), Jillian Matundan and Mike P Ryan debuting their songs. But each year, I do notice that I know more and more of the winners!”
This year's concert featured performances of the top four songs in the High School and Middle School categories. Additionally, two of the people who inspired winning songs were in attendance at the celebration; profoundly moving moments for everyone in the audience as well.
And for the first time, Andrew had worked with ALL of them at least once. “It's just an incredible experience to see them finding something exhilarating in crafting a song from scratch. You see their reactions as they hear one of my friends under the lights interpreting their song, and there's the legendary Derek McGinty MC-ing the show and interviewing them about their song. It's such a potent reminder of the power of creativity and the sparks of young adults discovering something in themselves.”
You can help support next year's contest, and perhaps bring it to a county or city near you - please visit the Chords of Courage website for more information.
Photo © Jojanna Ochoa, used with permission.