As seen in The Tennessean

Music for the Soul consoles those in pain
By BRIAN LEWIS
Staff Writer

Steve Siler says he is trying to bridge the gap between the type of songs he wrote as a professional Christian songwriter and the tough issues people face in their daily lives.

Through his nonprofit ministry, Music for the Soul, he's seeking to connect music directly with people's emotional and spiritual needs.

His first two projects are More Beautiful, a CD for breast cancer survivors and their families, and Heroes Unsung, for police officers and firefighters struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder.

He's about to release several other projects, including songs for parents of children with disabilities, for people grieving a suicide and married couples struggling to stay together.

Siler, an award-winning Christian songwriter, left his job in the industry to start the new venture.

''We want to go to the people that are in pain and let them know that they're not alone,'' he said.

Each of Siler's releases includes a song, poems, meditations and instrumental pieces designed to help with healing. There are also articles written by Christian therapists and lists of resources.

Siler said he hoped to work more with local therapists and possibly hold concerts in his office in the future.

Kyle Matthews, another local songwriter, says Music for the Soul is an exciting concept. And even though Siler is taking a big financial risk, Matthews says, he thinks his colleague can make it work because of his background in the industry.

''There's a lot of idealism and there's especially a lot of idealism among creative people and people of faith,'' Matthews said. ''But it's not usually grounded in any kind of real-world experience or market-savvy.''

Music for the Soul is the culmination of a music career that was first inspired 40 years ago.

Siler's desire to be a musician, like that of many other young boys, started with a memorable TV moment. When he saw The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show and heard all the screaming fans, he knew what he wanted to do.

He played in garage bands throughout high school and worked his way up the music industry. In 1988 the first major radio single he'd written, The World Just Keeps on Turning, got on the radio. When he heard it broadcast, he was not impressed.

''I thought, 'Nobody will remember this in six months, including me,' '' he said. ''It was just so derivative.''

That night, he went to the church he'd been attending, the Little Brown Church, in Studio City, Calif.

The sanctuary was open 24 hours a day and his song was so depressing that he needed some time to think and be alone.

''Let my life count for more than this,'' he prayed.

Less than two weeks later, a man who had heard him sing in church told him about a musical play he was writing about childhood sexual abuse. The man told him he thought Siler was ''supposed to write the songs.''

Siler didn't know anything about the topic, but he researched it and wrote four songs for the project, I Can't Talk About It.

''That was the opening of a huge door,'' he said. ''I didn't know music could be used to help heal people from deep, deep pain.''

That experience was so powerful for Siler, he developed a mission statement for his career.

It reads: ''My music will reveal the healing and compassionate nature of Christ.''

In 1993 Siler moved to Nashville to work as a Christian songwriter. He's been successful, written hits and won awards. He's stayed true to his mission, but he's also felt like he could do more.

A few years ago, he read Reviving Ophelia, a book about the identity crisis among teen girls. He thought it would be good to write a Christian musical ''that told girls they don't have to look like Cindy Crawford.''

A supervisor said, ''That's a great idea. We can't do it.''

What that meant, Siler said, is that it didn't fit into the company's business model. They sold Christmas and Easter musicals to churches.

Siler knew Music for the Soul would have to be a nonprofit. His driving question is not, ''Is it marketable?'' but, ''Will it minister?''

''There are a lot of real specific topics that he wants to take on and write songs and create products that speak to people that are going through them that aren't necessarily a radio type topic,'' said Tony Wood, a songwriter who recently co-wrote a song with Siler about grieving a suicide. ''It's hard to craft a pop song that would have any chance at radio around a topic like that.''

For Siler, the task now is to conduct research, reach out to people in need and produce music people can use. ''When people are walking through a difficult place, they can tell a pretender from the real thing,'' he said.