PASADENA, Calif. – Capt. Matt Pratt and his wife Lisa lived the dream of the Army Family Covenant on Feb. 1 in Southern California.“It’s like it has come full-circle for us. There are a lot of emotions that are going into it, but I couldn’t be happier seeing her doing what she’s good at doing and what she loves doing.”
Lisa Pratt earned an all-expenses-paid trip to record a three-song demo CD at DMI Music’s Firehouse Recording Studios in Pasadena by winning the 2009 Operation Rising Star singing contest, one of hundreds of programs the Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command provides for Soldiers and their Families.
After her first session in the recording studio, Pratt sang the praises of the Army Family Covenant, which pledges to support Soldiers and their Families with resourced programs that deliver a quality of life commensurate with their service and sacrifice to the nation.
“The Army Family Covenant, this is what it is,” Lisa said before departing the recording studio to attend The Jay Leno Show in Burbank, where she got to meet one of the world’s most famous comedians. “It really is awesome. It gives the Families high-quality programs at home and around the world.
“I never knew that Operation Rising Star was going to open all these doors for me.”
For Lisa, the journey to serve as an ambassador for FMWRC’s Army Entertainment Division had just begun. For Matt, who redeployed from Mosul, Iraq, last autumn and accompanied his wife from Fort Carson, Colo., to Hollywood, the Operation Rising Star winner’s journey reaffirmed his belief in the Army’s promise to support Soldiers and Families.
“I’m trying to take it all in, but it’s an emotional time for me because I get to see Lisa do what she absolutely loves doing,” said Matt, a 2006 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. “For the past year while I was in Iraq, she was supporting me and what I was doing. Now the Army has provided me the opportunity to sit here and support her with what she does.
Matt never had the opportunity to sit back and watch his wife of nearly four years perform until she took the stage to compete in Operation Rising Star, a program best described as American Idol for the military.
“In church, I play the guitar and she sings,” he said. “But to see her under the lights and me be on the receiving end as part of the audience, I’d never had the opportunity to do that. I’ve always been out on a field exercise or deployed. So when I came out to see her at Fort Belvoir and be there when her name was announced as the winner, that was the first opportunity I’ve had to be there, no kidding, instead of hearing about it on the Internet or seeing it in photos.”
Matt knew that Lisa had won a recording gig, but he had no idea what level of professionalism awaited them in Pasadena.
“To come into a place like DMI Studios and see the setup they have – the professional musicians and the services they are providing – it’s all sort of unraveling real fast what is really involved,” he said. “That’s part of the magic. It’s overwhelming to see the level that she’s at and to see her basking in it. It still seems very surreal.
“I asked her, ‘Is this really happening?’ And she said, ‘I don’t think it is,’ so I think both of us are sort of caught in some sort of hyper-reality right now.”
Lisa is not the only Pratt singing the praises of the Army Family Covenant.
“I told my Soldiers the day before we flew out here to Los Angeles that for the next week I was going to be in Los Angeles with my wife and she’s going to be in a recording studio and we’re going to get to enjoy the sights and take it all in,” Matt said. “But we’re not just going for a vacation; the Army’s sending us. So if anybody ever tells you the Army this-and-that and there is a downside, you know, there’s also an upside to it.
“So here we are in sunny Los Angeles right now, and the Army Family Covenant is the reason we’re here, and I couldn’t be more grateful.”
The Pratts believe it is only a matter of time before more Army Families will experience the promise.
“For folks like Lisa and I, we understand that it’s real because there is something tangible for us to touch right now,” Matt said. “For those that it hasn’t impacted yet, it sort of seems like another ad campaign. But I would say as time goes on and more people buy into this Army Family Covenant, especially people in key leadership positions, I think more Soldiers will figure out the realness of it..
“I’m at a battalion level right now and I say it’s getting there because Lisa and I have been able to tell people about it … as opposed to just being another thing that looks good on paper and preaches well at the Pentagon.
“It’s making its way down, I think, slowly but surely. As more programs touch more Soldiers, you’re going to find it making its way into everybody’s vocabulary.”
Matt said this was the Pratts’ best Family experience since they said ‘I do,” and he redeployed from the Middle East.
“The only thing I would compare this to, as far as the level of emotion I feel, was walking into the gym and seeing Lisa for that first time after I came back from Iraq,” he said. “This is up there. It’s on par with that sort of feeling of surreal. This is one of the most exciting times since Lisa and I have been together.”
Matt then hustled away and drove Lisa to meet Leno.
Frederick (Fred) Henderson
“I am an all around Artist. I’m a trumpet player with an art major and am involved in dance.
My first love is Jazz, however big band and concert sits well with me. From a musical perspective jazz has shaped me.
My second love is drawing, sketching and adding color to my work.
When not busy drawing; I continue to refine my musical skills, playing classical and R&B music.
I am a fan of Chris Botti, Herb Alphert and the Duke.
My greatest inspiration comes from Miles Davis. I draw and play for the joy of expression”.
Soldier Up!
(Click Photo)
Bio: Rob Blackwell,
My father kept a 1960’s Epiphone acoustic guitar stowed away in his room. On Saturday mornings I would sneak into his closet and drag it out to play. Morning grew
into night as I became consumed with the sounds born from each strum. The Beatles, Beach Boys, Merle Haggard, and Temptations kept me company as I fell in love
with the music.
I have traveled across the US and two different countries playing and singing. I have been very blessed to write and sing. I am on a journey to share my heart and my
soul with anyone who will listen. I want to share the soundtrack to my life and remind people we are more alike than we are different.
(Click On Photo)
The Lazarus Covenant: A Thriller By John Fenzel
About the Author
John Fenzel is a senior Army Special Forces officer who has served on our nation’s battlefields throughout Europe and the Middle East. He has served as a military assistant on the personal staff of the Secretary of Defense, as a Special Assistant to the Vice President, and as a White House Fellow during the Clinton and Bush administrations.
He commanded the Special Forces Training Battalion at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and an Army brigade at Fort Knox, Kentucky. In the wake of the September 11th attacks, he served as Staff Director for Tom Ridge in the Homeland Security Council. He was the principal architect of The Homeland Security Advisory System, our nation’s color-coded alert system.
In his 25 years of military service, John has served in numerous command and staff positions around the world. During Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, he commanded a Special Forces “A-Team,” training, equipping and advising a Kuwaiti Battalion and accompanying them during the liberation of Kuwait. He has commanded three Special Forces companies, leading the first Army deployments to Pakistan and the Baltic States. In Bosnia, he commanded the special operations teams in the U.S. and British sectors, working closely with the United Nations to secure the indictments and convictions of those responsible for war crimes in Srebrenica. He is the only active duty American military officer to testify at The Hague in support of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
John is a graduate of the Naval War College and the National War College. Born in Iowa and raised outside Chicago, John lives with his wife and three children in Washington, D.C. The Lazarus Covenant is his first novel.
Book Signing: Barnes & Noble, Fayetteville, NC. Friday, 27 November 2009
AMY DOWNING
(Click On The Photo)
Amy has been singing for as long as she can remember. One of her first memories of performing to an audience was with her Great Grandma at church singing “Jesus Loves Me”. Growing up she was always involved in the choir and tried out for anything that had to do with singing.
Some of Amy’s accomplishments include: singing the National Anthem for the Kansas City Expos, making it to the top 10 on a Wayne Brady Show singing competition in 2003, and singing for many change of command ceremonies, dedications and other Army events.
In November of 2008 Amy represented Fort Carson in the top 12 of Operation Rising Star, the Army’s version of American Idol at Fort Belvoir, VA. She fulfilled a life long dream in Nashville in June of 2009 when she recorded her first album, “Amy Downing: Soldier’s Wife”.
The title track, “Soldier’s Wife” was born when Amy decided to start writing a song that would describe how it feels to be an Army wife. She had heard many songs on the radio that paid tribute to and supported our troops but had heard none that told the story of how it feels to be a “Soldier’s Wife”.
With the help of her husband Will, they wrote the touching song that is a tribute to all of the wives and spouses who are proud of who they are as they stand by their soldier.
During her husband’s last deployment Amy and her friend and fellow Army wife of a
deployed soldier, Stephanie, were moved to write more songs about being the spouse of a soldier. Her self-titled CD consists of 6 songs that will take you on a journey from meeting her wonderful husband to post deployment and everything in between.
Join the Amy Downing Fan Club, at www.facebook.com search Amy Downing Music.
Chad Kneller
Stand up, Hook up, Shuffle to the door
Mission: Operation Rising Star
Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. Show your support as one of your very own jumps into the show.
For complete details on Chad, and others set to sing for a chance at winning it all vist the mysoldierup.com event calender or
www.oprisingstar.com
Tyrone Basnight
Is set to battle it out in the Operation Rising Star Talent Show
Basnight, is stationed in Germany.
For complete details on the event visit the mysoldierup.com event calender or visit the following website:
www.oprisingstar.com
Thea Agnew
(Click) Thea Agnew Finalist Video
Thea Agnew, is a contestant in the Operation Rising Star Talent Show
For complete details on Operation Rising Star visit the event calender at mysoldierup.com
Double click one of the event dates for complete details on the show.
Sam Tang
(Click) Sam Tang, singing Run to You
Singer Sam Tang will be competing in the Operation Rising Star talent competition which is held at Wallace Theater, Fort Belvoir, VA
Sam Tang is a U.S. Army Spouse who won in her local event and will now reach for the stars as she looks to win it all on 20 November 2009, at Ft. Belvoir, Va.
For complete details visit the mysoldierup.com event calender and click on Operation Rising Star for complete details and to see others who will sing for the Ultimate Recording Experience.
(click) Bobby Pinson, Video Don\’t Ask Me How I Know
Bobby Pinson was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma but raised in Panhandle, Texas.[1][2] Influenced by poet and songwriter Shel Silverstein, Pinson began entering writing and storytelling contests, and by high school, he began writing songs as well, citing Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen and Steve Earle as influences.[1] Because his father was a football coach, Pinson was moved throughout the state of Texas, and played football himself in high school.[2]
After graduating from Claremore High School in Oklahoma, Pinson served in the United States Army, in which he served for three years.[1] While in the Army, he founded a band which began playing at local venues in California. In California, he met songwriters Larry Boone and Paul Nelson, who suggested that he move to Nashville, Tennessee, which he did in 1996.[2] Pinson worked several odd jobs in Nashville, including delivering phone books and loading railroad ties for the Santa Fe Railroad.[2]
By 1999, he was signed to a publishing contract with Sony/ATV Music. Artists who recorded his material included Blake Shelton, Marty Stuart and LeAnn Rimes.[1] His first single release as a songwriter was Tracy Lawrence’s 2000 single “Unforgiven”, and three years later, McHayes (a duo composed of Wade Hayes and Mark McClurg) charted with “It Doesn’t Mean I Don’t Love You”, which Pinson co-wrote with Trent Willmon. Pinson also co-wrote Marty Stuart’s 2003 single “If There Ain’t, There Ought’a Be”, and Willmon later charted with one of Pinson’s songs, “The Good Life”, in early 2005 from his self-titled debut album.
After playing at several artist and songwriter showcases, Pinson was discovered by producer Joe Scaife, who helped him sign to a contract with RCA Records Nashville. His debut single, “Don’t Ask Me How I Know”, charted in early 2005 and reached a peak of #16 on the Billboard country charts. This was the first single from his debut album Man Like Me. The album’s second single, “Way Down”, peaked at #58, and by the end of 2005, Pinson exited RCA’s roster. He did, however, re-release an independent album originally recorded in 1994 called I Mean Business.
Despite the loss of his record deal, Pinson continued to write songs for other singers. Lawrence charted another Pinson co-write, “If I Don’t Make It Back”, in 2006. His first Number One as a songwriter came in late 2006, when Sugarland topped the Billboard country charts with “Want To“, which he co-wrote with the duo’s members, Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles. Trent Tomlinson also released a Pinson co-write, “One Wing in the Fire“, in late 2006. He released a third album, Songs for Somebody, in 2007 on an independent label. This album included his own rendition of “If I Don’t Make It Back”. That same year, two more songs that he co-wrote entered the charts: “What I Did Last Night” by Catherine Britt and “We Weren’t Crazy” by Josh Gracin.
In 2008, Pinson also began writing for Toby Keith, including the singles “She’s a Hottie“, “She Never Cried in Front of Me“, and “Lost You Anyway“. The latter two were released from Keith’s 2008 album That Don’t Make Me a Bad Guy, on which all but three songs were co-written by Keith and Pinson. He also has several cuts on Sugarland’s 2008 album Love on the Inside, including its first three singles: “All I Want to Do“, “Already Gone” and “It Happens“, all of which were also Number One hits. Pinson and Terry McBride also co-wrote Brooks & Dunn’s 2009 single “Honky Tonk Stomp.”
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