SongWriter: Jeremy Welch + Maia Sharp

August 24, 2021 4:42 am

SongWriter is a podcast of stories and “answer songs” featuring David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, Joyce Carol Oates, Mary Gauthier, Roxane Gay, and Amanda Shires.

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In the new episode of SongWriter, veteran Jeremy Welch talks about his time in the military.

“Twenty years, two months, and twenty-nine days,” Jeremy says. “You don’t really know what you’re getting into. It’s kind of like getting married, or having kids.”

Jeremy worked as a translator in the army. He says that his tours in Afghanistan and Iraq dispelled any ideas he may have had about good guys and bad guys. The insurgents that Jeremy’s unit was fighting were often desperate people with few choices.

“We need food, shelter, water, and boy, I would do anything to get that for my family,” Jeremy says. “Would you transport this explosive device in a car across a couple of state lines? Well, yeah, if it meant that my family is safe and they can eat.”

Trying to do the right thing, and often seeing horrifying, violent consequences as the result did a lot of damage over the years. Jeremy began abusing alcohol, and became suicidal. At his worst moments, he constantly considered different ways of killing himself.

“I found myself consumed for a week, week and a half of those thoughts. Every day, all day,” Jeremy says. “I hit rock bottom, and I just thought, ‘I’m going to do it.’”

Fortunately, Jeremy sought help. As part of his recovery, Jeremy took part in a SongwritingWith: Soldiers retreat. The nonprofit organization uses collaborative songwriting to build creativity, connections, and strengths for the veterans and their families. At the retreat Jeremy attended he was paired with songwriter Maia Sharp. Maia has been working with the non-profit for four years.

“[Soldiers] are trained to go out and handle the gunfire and defuse the bomb. They’re not trained for how to come home,” Maia says. “How do you see what they’ve seen and then stand around a barbecue talking to your neighbor about the lawn?”

Jeremy and Maia wrote a song called “These Boots,” about the equipment that is handed from soldier to soldier, and the common emotional experience that veterans share.

Ben Arthur is the creator and host of SongWriter. He’s @MyHeart on Twitter, and his newest song is “If You Need Me.”

Forgiveness After Genocide: Laurence & Aloys + Solange & Vedaste – SongWriter turns stories into songs

In this episode Niyonagira Laurence recounts her experience of the Rwandan genocide. She talks about the process of forgiving Mutiribambe Aloys – a neighbor who killed members of her family – after he returned to the village from prison. Aloys speaks how terrifying it was to return to the village, and what happened when his son fell in love with Laurence’s daughter. Dr. Valentine Ngalim speaks about his research on forgiveness in Kenya. Laurence’s daughter Uwizeyimana Solange remembers processing her understanding of the genocide as a child, and how she decided to marry Aloys’s son, Uwizeyimana Vedaste. Vedaste describes the song he wrote about their story, “Imboni Y’ibyiza.” To read an English translation of the song, you can go to the SongWriter episode page.Chapters:00:02:25Laurence and Aloys' story00:21:48Dr. Valentin Ngalim's perspective on forgiveness00:38:52Solange and Vedaste's storySongWriterPodcast.comInstagram.com/SongWriterPodcastFacebook.com/SongWriterPodcastTikTok.com/@SongWriterPodcastYouTube.com/@SongwriterPodcastSongWriter is a music and songwriting podcast that turns stories into songs. Host Ben Arthur invites writers, poets, and musicians to share a story or poem, then pairs it with an original song written in response. Along the way, the show explores the creative process through intimate conversations and performances. Guests have included Questlove, Susan Orlean, David Gilmour, Joyce Carol Oates, David Sedaris, and George Saunders. Distributed by PRX, SongWriter also appears on the syndicated radio program Acoustic Café and in Paste Magazine. Learn more at SongWriterPodcast.com. Season seven is made possible by a grant from Templeton World Charity Foundation