Thirty musicians, one guitar: Local singer-songwriters produce album to benefit homeless shelter

It began on a rainy night in 2013, when a group of friends and musicians gathered for their weekly songwriting group at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Aquebogue. Only a handful of members showed up that night, and on a whim, they decided to take turns playing their songs on only one acoustic guitar.

“We were set up right in the middle of the church,” said Don Bracken. “The sound of the room was so beautiful, and we all loved how the guitar and the room came together and we said – hey, we should really record in here sometime.”

A year later, Bracken heard about a grant being offered by the church’s insurance company, Thrivent. The theme was “living generously.”

“We had to come up with an idea to do something great with the money,” Bracken said. “And I remembered how great we all sounded playing on my guitar, and I knew then what we were going to do.”

So in December, Bracken put out a call on Facebook for fellow singer-songwriters on the East End. Just as they had on that rainy night a year prior, the musicians would play their original music, enhanced by the natural acoustics of the church – all on Bracken’s 1961 Gibson guitar.

All proceeds from the resulting CD would be donated to Maureen’s Haven, a homeless shelter and outreach program in Riverhead.

“It was Christmas week, so I figured we’d only get a dozen people to do it,” Bracken said. “But to my surprise, we got some 25 responses right away.”

On December 27, two days after Christmas, 30 local musicians gathered at the church to share their music for the project. They came from all over the East End, with large groups hailing from Our Redeemer and the First Presbyterian Church of Southold.

The recording session started at 8:30 in the morning and lasted late into the night.

“It was so amazing that all these people came together,” he said. “It was a real community event. That energy has carried all the way through. We knew a lot of people, but we also met a lot of new people, too. It ended up being a great group.”

Each musician was allotted 20 minutes to play two original songs each. “I figured I’d have 10, maybe 12 good songs for the CD. But they really screwed up,” Bracken said. “Every single one was great.”

He ended up needing to produce a double CD, with 29 songs altogether.

The project features a variety of genres, including blues, pop, folk and Americana. “I wanted to keep it interesting,” he said. “I didn’t want a CD with the same song 30 times.” And that was part of the beauty of the project, Bracken added – how differently each person used the same guitar to make their own music. “Some people played it very hard. Some people did a lot of picking and playing it softly. It’s a very good variety of sounds.”

Once the recording was finished, Bracken and his fellow musicians needed to raise enough money to produce the CDs. He created a Facebook page asking for donations, and was shocked to discover that after only three weeks, they had already raised $4,000 toward production costs.

The decision to choose Maureen’s Haven as the project’s beneficiary was a “no-brainer,” Bracken said. The charity has a special place in Bracken’s heart because he has volunteered there in the past.

“You can’t judge,” he said. “Every person has a different story. They might have a nice cell phone, but they need it to go to work. That doesn’t mean they’re making enough money to put down security on an apartment.”

Bracken added that volunteering at Maureen’s Haven revealed to him just how pervasive the problem of homelessness on Long Island really is.

“It was really very surprising,” he said. “You see these people all the time and you’d never know they’re homeless. You think they’re just regular people walking down the street. You may have passed them a million times. And then you see them in the program, and your reaction is just… shock.”

The group will hold a CD release concert at the Vail Leavitt on Main Street in Riverhead on May 21. The concert will start at 7 p.m., and the cost of a ticket – $30 – includes one double CD with the collection of original music from local singer-songwriters.

“There is so much talent out here that people don’t really know about,” Bracken said. “There’s such a great sound that comes out of here. I’m a big believer that it needs to be exposed.”

All proceeds from the concert and the CD sales will be donated to Maureen’s Haven. Tickets for the concert are available for purchase online.