Singer and songwriter Kristy Jackson was helping an Afghan woman and her three children get settled locally earlier this year and thought they could maybe use a little diversion.
She offered up one of her old keyboards. It proved to be a dud.
But one member of the family, a 19-year-old named Hamid, asked if Jackson played guitar.
“And I said, ‘Not well.’ In fact, I just started taking lessons,” she said. “I didn’t have an extra guitar. But I said to him that I have a lot of musician friends. So, I decided I was going to put this out on Facebook, to see if anybody had an extra guitar sitting under their bed.”
Within about a week, she had six guitars. Over the next few months, she would get another two dozen, plus three small amplifiers, along with straps, stands and offers of lessons. The Guitar Resettlement Project was born.
People are also reading…
Jackson, probably best known for penning the 1992 Reba McEntire hit “Take It Back,” has a history of helping musicians. In 2011, she helped found Triad Musicians Matter to help local artists in need.
In a recent interview, she spoke about the Guitar Resettlement Project, as well as about using songwriting as therapy, her love of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and what happened when she agreed to play at a dueling piano bar.
How did you get interested in music?
Well, I kind of grew up around it. My parents were very musical, so there was music in the house from the day I was born. They weren’t professionals. But mom was a great vocalist and keyboard player. Dad was an amazing trumpet player, and they played in bands all my life. They always had something on the side they were doing. It was a big part of our family.
Who were some of your musical influences?
For songwriting, it would have been Carole King, early Elton John, early Billy Joel, James Taylor. As a keyboard player, Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, also Carole King. Bruce Hornsby. They were my heroes. That’s who I studied to learn how to write and learn how to play.
How would you describe your music?
It just kind of depends on who I’ve been listening to. If I’ve been listening to Bonnie Raitt and some blues artists, it’s going to have a little more blues to it. If I’ve been listening to Lewis Capaldi or straight-up singer-songwriters, it tends to be a little more reflective, more lyrically driven.
Who I’ve been listening to will always come out in whatever I write after that. I might go from a lyrically driven ballad to a Steely Dan-kind of syncopation.
How would you describe your creative process?
As I get older, I tend to write more reflective stuff, just because I think I’m getting more serious on the back half of this ride.
The lyrics usually come first. I tell students to write what you know. And right now, I know that the world is messed up. If I don’t have something specific to say, I don’t write. I don’t write just blocks of instrumental music. I might, every once in a while, write some chord progressions and record those for later. But usually, I’ve got something to say, and then the process will kind of go from there. And of course, the lyrics will determine the direction of the music.
I don’t write a lot of happy songs, sadly. This is truthfully my outlet. It’s my therapy. And I don’t need an outlet when I’m happy.
How did the Guitar Resettlement Project come about?
I was part of a team that sponsored an Afghan family and provided a house for them. There was a mom and three adult children. And they’re working on getting jobs, on getting into English classes.
But until all this falls into place, you have three adult children, who are probably really bored. They don’t have friends here yet. They don’t even speak the language very well yet. I thought maybe if I brought a musical instrument in there, they would pick it up.
As a keyboard player, I’ve got a couple of keyboards here in the house. So I brought one over to see if they would gravitate to it. And it was met with mixed reaction. Mom now tinkers on the keyboard.
But the youngest, Hamid, who was 19, asked, “Do you play guitar?” Well, I put up a little post, and it lit up. Hamid got the first guitar. And it snowballed.
I show them the app I use for tuning. I can play a few songs, and I say, “I’m going to play a song for you, and it’s a song that everyone knows the melody to.” And then I break out “Happy Birthday.” Everyone knows it, just in different languages. And then I do “Walking After Midnight.”
Do you keep in touch with them?
I follow up with everybody in about two weeks, just to see if they’re keeping their guitar in tune. Because, if they don’t tune it, the one chord they learned last week will sound awful. So I say that every time you pick up your guitar, you tune it first.
I always ask if I can take their picture with their guitar, and post it on Facebook. Some I can, some I cannot, because they still have family members in Afghanistan, and this might put them at risk. But some look like rock stars walking up to the stage. Most have been guys, but I’ve got two girls now.
The last gentleman I gifted worked in special forces with our Army, and his wife and three children were still over there. He didn’t know yet when they were coming. But he and his roommates, all they wanted was for me to take pictures of them with the guitar. And they were taking pictures of each other with the guitar, they were so excited. But since he was special forces, I decided to not post any pictures of his face on Facebook.
Do you ever sing karaoke or sing in the shower, and, if so, what do you sing?
I really don’t. I sing in the car. I’m listening to classic rock ‘n’ roll in the car, half the time, and I just sing along to whatever comes on the radio?
If you could open a show for any artist, who would it be and why?
I would say James Taylor, but I think I would be so overwhelmed, that I would cry through my entire set. So I don’t know if that would be a good one.
Bonnie Raitt would be fun. And Bruce Hornsby, I love his writing, and love the way he plays. I don’t know that I could pick just one. I’d have to have them maybe do a fundraiser, so they could all be on the same bill.
Do you have a favorite song that you like to perform?
“Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” I’m usually out doing original material, but I love to sing that song, and that song is very special to me. I’m not sure why. I’m sure a therapist could find out. It’s got some poignancy, and just this sweet element that gets me every time.
What’s the funniest or weirdest thing that has ever happened at one of your shows?
I was playing a dueling piano gig, might have been at the dueling piano bar on Elm Street — it wasn’t around long — and a drunk came up and sat on the bench with me. They encouraged audience interaction, but in fairness not that much. ... Anyway, the guy jumped onstage, plopped down beside me on the bench, leaned back laughing, and the bench went over backwards and us with it. That was the last time I did one of those gigs.
What’s next for you?
Right now, I’m learning guitar. I’m looking at writing in a different direction with different melodies and different rhythms.
I’m excited to continue the Resettlement Project and excited to see where it goes.
I’m also recording in the studio again. Just some songs that never made it on to my old records. But I like them, and really wanted to get them out.
