March 4, 2019, Issue 642
Music Providing In New Ways
For 10 years, Henry has lived in a nursing home as one of the estimated 5.7 million Americans with Alzheimer’s. A man who once loved singing and dancing, who would regularly take his kids on walks to perform “Singin’ In The Rain” – complete with jumping and swinging around poles – was reduced to barely speaking. That changed the day Music & Memory set up an iPod program at his nursing home. Launched in 2006, the New York-based program is on a mission to bring personalized music to the elderly and infirm nationwide. Not surprisingly, the country community has jumped in with support. Little Big Town headlined a 2017 ACM Lifting Lives event benefiting the non-profit organization. “The reason we all fell in love with music in the first place is because it reaches you at a depth that nothing else does,” noted LBT’s Jimi Westbrook at the time. To that point, back to Henry, whose once unresponsive face lights up with expression upon hearing his favorite music. (A 2012 video clip went viral. See it here.) The effect lasts beyond taking the headphones off, as Henry is able to recall listening to music and learning dances when he was younger. “Cab Calloway was my number one guy,” says. The results are more than anecdotal. “In some sense, Henry is restored to himself,” says Dr. Oliver Sacks, a neurologist. “He has remembered who he is and he’s reacquired his identity for a while through the power of music.” Music & Memory Founder Dan Cohen witnessed similar reactions in dementia Dan Cohen patients one after another but, when he started, none of the 16,000 long-term care facilities in the U.S. were utilizing iPods. So, he personally volunteered at a local nursing home, creating personalized playlists for patients. “After watching nursing home residents ‘light up’ after re-connecting with their music, I was motivated to work towards every person, no matter how challenged cognitively or physically, having access to their favorite music,” Cohen says. (continued on page 9)
A Bout Time: WKHX/Atlanta’s Scott Gaines (l) and Pearl’s Chris Waters (r, who won) leave it all in the ring at the 15th Annual Ringside: A Fight For Kids gala Friday (3/1).
Rumble Delivers The Hits
The 15th Annual Ringside: A Fight For Kids gala was held Friday (3/1), and as Saturday Night Live’s Stefon would say, “This place has everything!” Boxing matches, formal wear, Adam seated dinners, a DJ spinDavis ning ‘80s hits, a giant disco ball, silent auction items, an open bar, a cigar lounge, Jason Aldean without a hat, the guitarist from Matchbox 20 and kids dressed as Michael Jackson were all gathered in one room to raise money for The Charley Foundation,
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