A Better Place
“A Better Place” was written by then music teacher of the Oneida YMCA, Mathew Beadle, a Central New York-based country artist who performs regularly throughout the region in a collaborative effort with a team made up of Jeff Aderman and Pam Jardieu from Big Blue North Studios, Utica, NY; Hank Leo, CEO of the YMCA of the Greater Tri-Valley and Zainep Abdelaal, who sings lead vocals. All contributing artists wrote and performed their respective parts to the song. 3-Time Grammy winners, the Soweto Gospel Choir and Uganda’s Watoto Children’s Choir, sing backing vocals. Mitchell Player and Criston Oates play upright and electric bass respectively, with Justin Smithson on electric guitar. Liberty Devitto plays drums, with Mbaalu Fred on thumb fiddle. Gloriah Umanah performs the spoken word piece, written by Justin “Jay” Tull, a Christian spoken word artist. The song was recorded primarily at Big Blue North Studios by Jeff Aderman, mixed by Jason Brown in Atlanta and mastered by Arian Carr.
Better World Blues
``Better World Blues`` was written as a companion to a children's book of the same name, written by author and YMCA CEO Hank Leo, for the overall project and is performed by Kimbrough Sr. in his father's Cotton Patch Soul Blues style, a rhythmic, mesmerizing infectious style of Delta Blues from the northeast corner of Mississippi, a blues mecca and the home of American music. Kimbrough Sr. plays electric guitar and bass. His brother Kinney Kimbrough is on drums. The book uses themes from the ``A Better Place Project``, which includes empathy, understanding and accepting differences in others, and overcoming obstacles in life through hope and faith.
