HOPE GIVES A VOICE EP - A Voiceless Instrumental serving Alabama Tornado victims.
From Dunn & Wilt: "In April of 2011, a series of tornadoes ripped through Alabama towns and cities, and surrounding states, leaving families mourning in their wake. As artists, we are committed at our core to bringing social and societal healing through all that we create, and in the ways that we handle our resources. This instrumental release, with the new opening lament/prayer Hope Gives A Voice is a next step in serving our local community with our creative work."
Hope Gives A Voice is a "voiceless instrumental" EP DOWNLOAD of our current body of demo work, without lyrics or voices. 100% off all proceeds go to tornado relief in Alabama.
The title track, Hope Gives A Voice, is an instrumental lament/prayer dedicated to those who lost loved ones, homes and livelihoods in the devastating tornadoes that ripped through Alabama, Tennessee and the southeast where we live. From this "voiceless" starting point, we give hope and prayers a voice with a series of the current instrumental demo tracks behind our songwriting.
Again, 100% of all proceeds from the purchase of the Hope Has A Voice instrumental EP on this page will go to serving the victims of the tornadoes that recently ripped through our part of the country, leaving altered lives in their wake.
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What Is The Full Story Behind HOPE GIVES A VOICE and Alabama Tornado Relief?
Living and working in the heart of the southeast US, we are intimate with the sounds of tornado sirens, and the dark, speeding clouds that hover and loom over our homes in this part of the world.
In April of 2011, our lives were spared as a series of powerful tornadoes formed and wreaked havoc in this area of the country. In Alabama and other parts of Tennessee, the lives of many fellow human beings were utterly altered by the force of these wild twisters tearing through neighborhoods and leaving inhabitants mourning the dead (and their losses) in flat, empty ghost towns.
We are partnering with ImmediateRelief.org to bring care to those devastated by these events. This group is getting on the ground resources directly to those who need help the most through Crosspoint Church Decatur, who has established the Immediate Tornado Relief Fund. All proceeds from your contribution (of any amount) to buy this instrumental recording will go directly to serve these people.
On The Ground With Amy
Jeremy's (the "Dunn" in Dunn & Wilt) wife Amy joined with 53 friends from Cross Point Community Church in Nashville, to serve those broken by this cataclysm.
In a small town 20 minutes from Cullman, Amy and her team were unprepared for what they would see. Driving winds had forced massive trees to crush houses and cars, their roots plucked from the ground like weeds. Wandering around the streets, the team cut up trees for many. At one point, they came to a home where an elderly woman's husband had died in December. Every tree on her lawn was flattened, but no harm came to the sweet bench bearing the couples' names in their yard. She was so grateful for their labor and love in the face of her ongoing loss.
Tuesday, the team went to Rainesville, thinking it couldn't get much worse than what they had seen. To their stunned surprise, very few houses were left standing on what had been highly populated streets. Miles and miles of debris lay strewn in front of them. Only some foundations and holes in the ground remained. Houses were completely gone. Rainesville lost more people per capita than any other tornado-hit area.
On Barren Streets
On one barren street where homes formerly stood, a sheriff sat in his car with a homeowner and his brother sitting in a truck. Their story is penetrating.
In their 40's, the owner had 10 people in his house at the time the tornado hit. With everyone piled in the bathroom and hallway, their house was struck by lethal winds. They were deafened as the entire structure was ripped into the air, piece by piece, all around them. Their mother was killed, and the owner's daughter was picked up and dropped (alive) into a field behind their house. The others survived. We can then imagine their horror when they found their neighbors across the street, all 3 of them, dead in the field behind their house. Only one wall was left standing of what had been their home sweet home. Everyone, they recounted, wandered around in shock.
"What can we do for you?" was the team's question. The answer from the man was astounding.
"The thing about it is, I am so blessed...." The team was astounded by these words. "All of this is just stuff. If you can look around and find pictures, that would be great." Though he had lost his mother and others dear to him, the team was deeply impacted by the fact that these survivors were filled with an undeniable hope in the face of utter destruction.
They meant the words they said, and the team felt it. Businesses and livelihood's were destroyed as well in the wake of the winds - yet still hope gave them a voice in this wordless, voiceless time.
Most of the people that Amy spoke to had lost someone they loved in the twisters. And yet, the most tangible sense of hope and gratefulness seemed to mark her conversations with each one. Their furniture lay splintered across miles of landscape, yet their eyes were filled with hope in the midst of their grief and questions.
"The helpless feeling for us as the team was overwhelming," Amy said, "But the destruction of property seemed so insignificant, according to those who lived through it, compared to the loved ones right in front of us."
Will You Join Us In Helping The Victims Of The Alabama Tornadoes?
We want to help them rebuild their lives, and make it easy for you to participate as well. You can join us by purchasing this EP download above.
We will make sure that all resources get immediately to The ImmediateTornado Relief Fund - and into the lives of those affected by the storms.
Purchase the Hope Gives A Voice EP by choosing the price you would like to pay above, and help us serve Alabama families.