Austin Attebery had a dream of becoming a successful songwriter. He never imagined that his dream would carry the hopes and dreams of thousands of children around the world.
Attebery, then 27, had finished college and decided it was time to pursue his dream. He moved to Nashville, TN, the nation’s music capital. As fate would have it, a beautiful girl moved in next door. When she asked him to accompany her to the children’s hospital where she worked, Attebery couldn’t say no.
Meeting the kids
She was a child life specialist working at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. Attebery brought his guitar along and played songs for the children as he moved from room to room.
“When I’d walk into a room, the kids would ask for me to play a Taylor Swift song,” Attebery recalls. “At that time, I didn’t know any songs by Taylor Swift. I didn’t want to disappoint the kids. So I figured I’d have to give them something to do. The one thing I was good at was writing songs. That’s when I got the idea to ask them to write a song.”
That first day at Children’s Hospital changed the course of Attebery’s life. This was the day the rest of his life’s focus was born. He later established a foundation (together with the girl next door) based on this idea.
A child’s hopes and dreams
“6-year olds don’t know anything about writing songs, but they know how to tell a story,” says Attebery. “I ask them to tell me their stories. It can be about anything they can think of. I then turn the stories into songs.”
Attebery began writing songs inspired by the stories that the children told him. He presented them to a group of his friends who were musicians. “It was strange. I was in my late twenties playing songs that told stories of monsters in closets,” he recalls. “My friends all wondered how I came up with these songs.”
His friends were all interested in getting involved when they discovered the source of the material. He then established Sing Me a Story Foundation. The organization is a network of songwriters and children from all over the world. The stories submitted to the foundation’s website are written and illustrated by the children. Songwriters who are part of the project turn these ideas into songs which they send back to the children.
All the proceeds from the songs are used to support and grow the program as well as partnering organizations. The program has attracted over 1,500 songwriters from all over the world.
And just in case you’re wondering, Attebery married that beautiful girl next door.
