Today, October 30, 2014, on AXS Entertainment TELL THE WIND IM CALLING INTERVIEW with SHANE and Charlene Chamberlain (We are thankful!) Local artists experience the miraculous healing power of musicIn the past, music therapy was thought of strictly as alternative medicine, relegated – along with pseudo-scientific practices like aromatherapy, acupuncture, and massage – outside the mainstream of conventional medicine. More recently however, traditional medicine has acknowledged the healing power of music and has integrated music therapy into its treatment regimen. Londons Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy has been training music therapists since 1974. A branch facility for treatment, training, and research was founded on the campus of New York University in 1989. Hospitals around the country are using music therapy as a way to ease a patient’s pain, lower blood pressure, and reduce anxiety and depression. Studies have shown music therapy beneficial in the treatment of autism, learning disabilities, dementia, and pain management during labor and birth. Two local musicians who believe wholeheartedly in the healing power of music are Charlene Chamberlain and singer-songwriter Shane. Together, they have shared what they consider to be a divinely inspired example of the power of faith, music, and friendship. In a recent telephone interview, they talked about their experience. Based in Merchantville, New Jersey, Charlene Chamberlain is a multifaceted music industry veteran who has worked with Capitol EMI, Richman Brothers Records, and Universal. An actor and dancer, she has directed and performed with many theatrical organizations throughout the region, and works as a commercial actor and voiceover artist. Currently shes the producer and host of the livestream show Front Row for the Internet radio station WTER. On the show, Chamberlain interviews a variety of music and entertainment industry guests including musicians, film makers, songwriters, directors, and choreographers. She is also the Public Relations Director for BRE Presents, the regional concert company that produced the summer concert series at the Sun Studios in Aston this year. Chamberlain met Shane a little over a year ago at 2013’s “BomberJam,” an annual end-of-the-summer barbecue and jam session for musicians that raises money for brain tumor research. “I was there to interview Eddie Berner from the band A Flock of Seagulls for my livestream show,” Chamberlain says. “Eddie was there with his Rockin Road Grill tour bus. Shane happened to be one of the people taking a tour of bus. I remember we just looked at each other and I said, ‘I want to talk to you. Stay here.’” “Charlene looked like she was a sharp woman with a good head on her shoulders,” Shane says. “She said to me, ‘Who are you and how come I dont know you?’” Shane wound up sitting in on Chamberlains interview and the two have been the best of friends ever since. Haddon Heights, New Jersey native Shane has an extensive background in music, which she calls her “special gift from God.” She began playing piano at the age of 4. At age 14 she won her first USA National Talent Competition, cut a record with Capital Records and was awarded a scholarship for music by the Juilliard School of Music in New York. In her early 20s she began honing her talent as a singer-songwriter and actress. “I joined the American Guild of Actors and Composers in New York City. In the course of my writing career, I was asked what I was going to call myself on my album. They didnt think my real name would sell albums. One day on my way to a meeting, I stopped into a hat shop and bought a cowboy hat that I wore to the meeting. They started teasing me saying ‘Come back Shane,’ which is the famous line from the classic cowboy movie ‘Shane.’ I thought [changing my last name to Shane] would make a good professional name, but they convinced me to just go with Shane.” Shane put together a top-40 band that played area clubs and casinos. She continued writing and even recorded some of her songs at Philadelphia International Records. Unfortunately, like many up-and-coming musicians, she found that she wasnt able to make a full-time living from music at the time. She switched careers for nearly 20 years, but eventually realized that creating and performing music is what she is meant to do. Last January, Chamberlain invited a group of her friends to get together at a restaurant for a girls’ night out. One of the invitees was Linda Stepler, a longtime friend who works as a first grade teacher at Haddonfield Friends School. “Linda is one of the girls that usually comes out for dinner,” Chamberlain says. “I also invited Shane because she was in the middle of yoga training and it was right down the street from the restaurant we were going to.” Both Linda and Shane both showed up at the restaurant about a half an hour early. “I had left the yoga studio very relaxed and happy inside,” Shane says. “When Linda arrived at the restaurant, one of the first things I said to her was, ‘I see that there are angels around you.’ She looked at me and said, ‘Tell me about those angels.’ I said, ‘You think it’s crazy, right?’ And she said, ‘No I really want to know.’ So for the next half-hour we talked about faith and God and angels. I remember remarking to Charlene that night and several times afterwards that there was something special about Linda and what happened that night, and that I would never forget her.” Two months later, Chamberlain received the shocking news that her otherwise healthy friend Linda had suddenly been rushed to the hospital with a strange and debilitating condition that had left her paralyzed. “By the time she got to the emergency room, she had lost all movement in her body,” Chamberlain says. “She was completely paralyzed, could not speak, and could only blink. She was eventually diagnosed with Guillain Barre Syndrome, in which your nervous system is attacked by your immune system, resulting in a complete shutdown. She was a prisoner in her own body – aware of what was happening, but unable to communicate. She could only blink her eyes – one for yes, two for no.” Several days after Linda was admitted to the hospital, Chamberlain was taking her daily walk, trying to at least momentarily clear her head of the tragic events that had recently taken place. “I kept hearing this voice and melody line in my head, ‘Tell the wind Im calling.’ I just couldnt shake it.” Later that day, Shane came over to Chamberlains house and Charlene told her the story. “I sat down at the piano and kept playing softly as I was listening,” Shane says. “Charlene said, ‘I kept hearing, “Tell the wind Im calling,” I think maybe its a song about Linda,’ and I said, ‘I know.’ When Shane went home that night, she sat down at her own piano and worked on the song. She returned several times over the next few days to Chamberlains house and the two would continue to write. “We could not get this song out of our heads,” Chamberlain says. “It was haunting us. Ive never had that happen. Ive been in the music industry my whole life, but Ive never had a song stuck in my head that way. It was like a loop playing over and over in my brain.” “Normally, I would never think of writing with someone else, because when I write it seems like the words and the music come from above,” Shane says. “Im like a secretary taking shorthand. I try to just write and play whats coming straight through and keep myself out of it. When we first came together praying for one of our friends, I didnt think about us writing a song together. The music came through my heavy heart. Words began to come, and Charlene and I both realized that the words we were singing were actually the words of the prayers that we were praying to God to please help our friend.” When the song was finished, Chamberlain and Shane went to visit Linda in the hospital and played “Tell the Wind Im Calling” for her. Little by little she began to recover. After weeks in the hospital she was released to a respiratory rehab center where she learned to breathe on her own. Then she was sent to another rehab facility where she learned how to use her hands and her limbs, and learned to walk again. She came home in July but was housebound for nearly two more months with therapists providing treatment in her home. Remarkably, Linda Stepler is expected to make a complete recovery. Currently, shes back at school teaching on a part-time schedule. In January, shell be back full-time. Shane recorded “Tell the Wind Im Calling” and included it on her six-song EP “Come Back Shane” which was released in September and is available on CD Baby. “Tell the Wind Im Calling,” along with three other songs on the EP, were accepted for Grammy Award consideration for the 57th annual awards ceremony, which will take place early next year. “Our prayers were answered,” Chamberlain says. “We hope that ‘Tell the Wind’ will serve as an inspirational song for anyone and everyone, as it was written from the depths of our hearts.”
Posted on: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 16:40:13 +0000
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