Image Credit: YouTube/NIKITA GRAHAM
June 25, 2020 - 2:30 PM
Listen closely and you can hear a West Kelowna musician’s part in a Vancouver singer’s video effort to raise money for charity.
Nikita Graham published the song I’ll Be Your Hero, June 22 and it features musicians from across B.C. including Dave Genn with 54-40, Clay Hill from Trooper, Tim Neuhaus with Ear Art Music Studios and West Kelowna’s Mike Schell with Uptown Hornz.
During the COVID-19 crisis, Graham reached out to the musicians and the result is a harmonized message reminding frontline and essential workers that there are millions of people standing behind them, according to a news release.
“My whole business for the whole year was decimated completely,” Schell said, referring to when COVID-19 hit. “Basically it was just an outlet for me to keep playing and keep active. I felt this was a good cause and it had a good story and a good message.”
Schell, the former West Kelowna Warriors director of entertainment and game day operations, handled the string and brass sections of the song but doesn't show his face in the video.
“There’s some heavyweight players on this track and just to be included is fantastic,” he said.
Charities supported by the project include: Doctors Without Borders, HelpAge Canada’s COVID-19 Emergency Appeal and Honouring Indigenous Peoples’ COVID-19 Relief Fund.
“We’re supporting the international and exhaustive effort of Doctors Without Borders because the entire world has been affected by this pandemic,” Graham said in the news release. “As for HelpAge Canada, seniors are the demographic hit hardest by COVID-19.”
Graham said she is supporting the Aboriginal charity because “being of both European and Aboriginal decent, I wanted to support things close to my heart.”
On YouTube, the song is accompanied by a video tribute made up largely of crowd-sourced video taken by healthcare workers themselves.
The song is also available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and Google Play Music.
To donate visit Canadahelps.org. The fundraiser, which ends on Sept. 22, has a goal to raise $5,000.
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News from © iNFOnews, 2020