30 May, 2022Print
Veteran-Written Tune Offers Timely Reminder of the Price of Freedom with “Last Call”
In honor of Memorial Day, Nashville-based nonprofit CreatiVets and Big Machine Label Group pay tribute to the service members who lost their lives fighting for our freedoms with the release of the veteran-written tune, "Last Call," available now.
Written by veteran Xavier DeLeon alongside songwriters Luke Pell, Andrew Albert and CreatiVets co-founder Richard Casper, the poignant tune serves as a timely reminder of the sacrifices our servicemen and women make every single day, with some never returning home from their fight. "Last Call" is a prime example of what is created during CreatiVets' lauded songwriting programs, which pair combat veterans with songwriters in Nashville to help them learn to use music as a form of therapy. Earlier this month, this innovative program was featured in a tearful, two-part segment on The Kelly Clarkson Show, leading to Kelly awarding the veteran-run nonprofit with a check for $10,000. Watch it HERE.
"'Last Call' was my first opportunity to write with a veteran as part of the CreatiVets songwriting program," says Pell. "The level of truth and freedom in the room as we heard Xavier's story and began to put it into lyrics and melody was incredible."
"When we wrote with Xavier that day, he poured his heart out to us and told us about his whole experience in the military," Albert continues. "He told us about losing his close friends in combat and how he gets together with their families every year to remember his fallen brothers. This is his story and his truth, we just helped him put it to music. I hope when other veterans out there hear it they can relate and know that if they are going through something similar, they aren't alone in it."
Recently featured in PEOPLE Magazine (check out the story HERE), CreatiVets has helped more than 1,000 combat veterans since its founding in 2013 — with more than 400 veterans participating in its songwriting programs to date. The organization’s utmost goal is to end veteran suicide by offering alternative ways to cope with trauma, using the arts as a therapeutic cornerstone in the road to recovery. Serving as a connector for opportunities that magnify CreatiVets within the entertainment space, Big Machine Label Group continues to contribute to CreatiVets' operational initiatives through Scott and Sandi Borchetta's Music Has Value Fund and through Big Machine Music, which serves as the co-publisher for CreatiVets.
About CreatiVets
CreatiVets' is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to provide wounded veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury with opportunities to use art, music, and creative writing to heal their unseen wounds of war. Their goal is to empower veterans with tools they can use for the rest of their lives and enable them to see their own capacity for success in an arena outside the battlefield. Learn more at creativets.org.
About Big Machine Label Group
Led by CEO and Chairman Scott Borchetta, HYBE America’s Big Machine Label Group encompasses Big Machine Records, The Valory Music Co., BMLG Records, Big Machine/John Varvatos Records and publishing company Big Machine Music as well as its own digital radio station, Big Machine Radio. BMLG artists include superstars Tim McGraw, Florida Georgia Line, Sheryl Crow, Thomas Rhett, Rascal Flatts, Brantley Gilbert and Lady A; chart-topping acts Justin Moore, Eli Young Band, Brett Young, Midland, Carly Pearce, Riley Green, Aaron Lewis, Badflower and Ayron Jones; renowned industry icons Wanda Jackson and Ray Wylie Hubbard, plus rising artists Danielle Bradbery, Tyler Rich, Laci Kaye Booth, Heath Sanders, Callista Clark, Jackson Dean, Brock Gonyea, Conner Smith, Tiera Kennedy, Abbey Cone and Kidd G in partnership with Rebel Music / Geffen Records. Big Machine Records recently released the multi-genre film soundtrack for Netflix’s The Ice Road, featuring songs from Jason Isbell, Miranda Lambert, The Cadillac Three, L.A. Rats, John Carter Cash, Gary LeVox and more. BMLG artists have received multiple GRAMMY, CMA, ACM, AMA, CMT, Teen Choice, MTV, Billboard, People's Choice and Brit Awards. Big Machine is the first-ever American label to align with terrestrial radio for performance royalty rights for its artists and is an industry leader in fighting for artist, songwriter, publisher and record company rights. Big Machine Label Group created the Music Has Value Fund to provide assistance to nonprofit organizations that make music, aspire to make music, and access and appreciate music. Visit BigMachineLabelGroup.com for more information.