Operation: Sound Off! Remembers Our Fallen

As we close another Memorial weekend, full of friends, loved ones, parades and burgers, we are reminded of how wonderful it is to live in the United States of America.  These moments we shared this weekend, and every day of our lives, came at a price many of us can't even conceive.

As hopefully we've done throughout this weekened, and every day, let's pause once more in thanks and rememberance of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.  Let's earn it!

Thank you to all who serve.  Thank you to the families of those who serve.  A special thanks to those who have lost loved ones in the line of duty.

Here's to the memory of our heroes...

Still In The Fight Campaign to Salute Our Wounded Heroes with Art & Music

Please support this wonderful cause!

Operation: Sound Off Artist Sal Gonzalez Featured On Trophy Quest and at TBC Retail Annual Convention

OSO artist, Sal Gonzalez, was a featured guest at this years annual TBC Retail convention in Orlando, FL. As one of our many military heroes, Sal was honored by TBC Retail Group CEO, Orland Wolford, and given a special spotlight during the main rally to perform his powerful hit, "Heroes."

Sal's relationship with TBC started only a couple weeks prior to the convention. Through the efforts of Operation: Sound Off!, Sal was featured on The Outdoor Channel show, Trophy Quest, whose title sponsor is Service Central, a division of TBC Retail Group. OSO, with the assistance of Southwest Airlines, flew Sal's father in from Los Angeles, and the father and son team, along with the Trophy Quest crew, TBC CEO, Orland Wolford and Sr. Vice President of Purchasing, Lynn Parker, all spent two days fishing on Dale Hollow Lake, KY. They were hosted by NHRA driver, Johnny Gray. They didn't catch much fish, but what they did walk away with was an amazing show for Trophy Quest and their upcoming "Beyond The Battlefield" show, and they all gained an immense respect for Sal.

After learning Sal's story and hearing his amazing voice, Orland didn't hesitate to invite Sal to perform for the entire TBC Retail family. And that he did! His dynamic and soulful performance touched the lives of everyone in attendance.

Many thanks to everyone in the TBC Retail Group family, to John Wilson, and the entire Team Trophy Quest for their continued support of Sal, Operation: Sound Off!, and all the deserving men and women of the United States Armed Forces.

An Artists Perspective on Our Wounded Warriors

CWO2 Mike Fay, one of the most renowned war artists and correspondents, and another war artist, Richard Johnson, on behalf of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, started doing artwork of wounded warriors. Richard did an illustrated piece for Canada's National Post [READ IT HERE] and Mike did a series of three pieces for the New York Times [READ IT HERE]. As a result, the war artists started what they call The Joe Bonham Project.

Please visit these links to experience their touching perspective.

NewsChannel 5 WTVF: Veterans Showcase Talents To Kick Off 'Ride 2 Recovery'

NASHVILLE, Tenn . - It's a chance for veterans to get back to the music they love. A local charity organization kicked off a celebration that let those service men do just that on Friday night.

The Tin Roof on Demonbreun was filled with sounds of acoustic performances from military men and women looking to find a place in the music business.

Operation Sound Off organizes the showcase that highlights those veterans who have used music to overcome combat trauma overseas.

"This is their way to rehabilitate, issues like PTSD and the healing power of music is pretty strong and well documented and many of them have a dream to be musicians for a living and be stars," said Scotty Huff with Operation Sound Off.

The event also coincides with Ride to Recovery's annual Cyclefest. On Saturday morning, dozens of veterans and active military from Fort Campbell will ride along Natchez Trace Parkway.

© 2004-2011 LSN, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Story posted 2011.04.08 at 09:53 PM CDT

Go To The Story

Operation: Sound Off! Artists Will Perform To Support The Ride2Recovery Natchez Trace Cyclefest Kickoff

Operation: Sound Off! (OSO) has been sought after to help organize a kick off party for the Ride2Recovery (R2R) Natchez Trace Cyclefest.  Ride2Recovery (www.ride2recovery.com) is a military charity which supports Spinning® Recovery Labs and outdoor cycling programs at Military and VA locations around the U.S. to help injured veterans overcome obstacles they face.  This Saturday, April 9th, R2R will be hosting a bicycle ride of the Natchez Trace Parkway for this worthy cause.

 

Friday evening, April 8th, OSO will host a kick off party for the R2R participants at the Tin Roof in Nashville at 6:30pm.  There will be musical performances by several OSO Artists and friends.  We encourage everyone in the Nashville area to come out to the Tin Roof this Friday, meet some honored veterans, and enjoy the wonderful talent of our service men and women.

 

See you there!

Troops Still Battling After Discharge

As we continue to pursue our goals with Operation: Sound Off! (OSO), I hear more and more about the struggles of our heroes after they serve.  And what seems to be the trend in the national consciousness is the inability to keep this issue on the front of our minds.  Too often we hear about troops being wounded or killed on the battlefield, and feel sad for them, their fellow brothers and sisters in arms, and even their families, only to have those thoughts leave us in minutes.  Most of us are aware of issues like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but that's where our focus ends.  We feel pride and puff our chest when we read about a Wounded Warrior Project event to help those with physical disabilities, then continue on to the next article.

 

I'm reading more and more about the tragedy that is the unemployment rate of returning troops.  U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said in a Wall Street Journal Online article dated yesterday, "The national unemployment rate for veterans 18 to 24 years old is more than 21 percent."  According to the Department of Labor website, the national unemployment rate as of this writing is 8.9 percent. 

 

We will make it a part of our OSO mission to increase awareness of this growing trend and do our part to change it.  We appreciate your support.

 

Scotty Huff

Co-Founder, Operation: Sound Off!

Kix Brooks Features Operation: Sound Off! at American Country Countdown Website

More needs to be done to help younger veterans in job hunt - MilitaryTimes.com

Interesting article from MilitaryTimes.com - READ IT HERE

Operation: Sound Off! on Inside Music Row March 19th

We're pleased to announce that Inside Music Row will feature a segment on Operation: Sound Off! and will air on March 19th at 8:30pm central, on CW 58.  This segment features Marine Corps Iraq veteral and OSO artist, Dustin Wilkes.  Please tune in!

OSO Supports Operation Troop Aid

 

One of the mission objectives for Operation: Sound Off! is to support and collaborate with other organizations that support our service men and women.  For those of you who are not familiar with Operation Troop Aid (OTA), we want to bring this wonderful organization to your attention.  OTA, created by Navy veteran Mark Woods, provides care packages to our service men and women deployed around the world. 

 

OTA has been going strong for six years now and is constantly expanding.  Mark has wonderful plans to grow the non-profit to include a Bill Assistance program to help those military folks having financial problems, a Wounded program to provide specialized assistance to those with physical impairments, and a Music Therapy program to use the healing powers of music to help rehabilitate those with issues that are not so easily seen.

 

Perhaps the biggest goal for OTA is an actual Troop-Aid Concert, much like the Farm-Aid and Live-Aid concerts that have become such a tradition, to help raise awareness to the ever growing need to support our troops that are all too often forgotten after their service is over.

 

Please visit www.OperationTroopAid.org to learn more and support the worthy cause.  Thank you.

Kix Brooks Interviews Operation: Sound Off!

Operation: Sound Off! wants to thank Kix Brooks and everyone at American Country Countdown for having OSO's Robert Reynolds and Sal Gonzalez in the studio yesterday for an interview. The interview covered the overall OSO project, it's current KickStarter Campaign, and on Sal's service with the Marine Corps and exciting music career. Sal, of course, rendered an amazing performance of his song, "Heroes".

So "Thanks Kix, and everyone at ACC!"

Operation: Sound Off! This Week

It's a big week for Operation: Sound Off! We kick off the week with OSO Artist, Brent Ellis, featured on Billy Block's Local's Only show, LIVE from Tootsie's Orchid Lounge in Nashville. The show will be broadcast live tonight at 7pm central on 103 FM in Nashville and also live on the web at http://www.103wdkf.com/. Please tune in!

Tomorrow, OSO founder Robert Reynolds and OSO Artist, Sal Gonzalez, will be featured guests on America's Country Countdown with Kix Brooks. The air date for this interview has not been announced, but you can be sure we will let you know as soon as we do.

On Thursday, February 10th, you'll be able to hear OSO founder, Robert Reynolds, and OSO Arist, Dustin Wilkes, on WSM's, Bill Cody show, LIVE on 650 AM in Nashville. Of course, you can listen LIVE online at http://www.wsmonline.com/.

OSO is still in the early stage of its KickStarter.com fund raising campaign. We encourage you to visit our campaign at http://kickstarter.operationsoundoff.com/ and pledge your contribution to our cause. As you know, you can earn some really great rewards for your donation. And you will not be charged unless we meet our goal by April 20th! Also, thank you for spreading the word, the links, and the widgets on your Facebook, Twitter, and other Online destinations.

Again, thank you for your support and for your continued support of our Troops!

OSO Artist, Crystal Guzman, Talks About Her Service and Her Music

Operation: Sound Off! artist, Crystal Guzman, was interviewed recently for Kathy Harris' Divine Detour blog (www.DivineDetour.com). It's a wonderful insight into her service and her passion for music. Here's an excerpt:

"... I have never stopped playing music, but my commitment to following my passion has come and gone with waves of excitement and disappointment. My experiences as a nurse in the military served to strengthen and renew my passion for music, because they gave me something meaningful to sing about. Until very recently, I never talked about my experiences in Iraq, because I didn’t think many people would want to hear or could even grasp some of the ‘not-so-pleasant’ things I would have to say. However, I found out early on that I could write and sing about my experiences without it feeling ‘too personal’, and, as a result, music has been instrumental in helping me move forward and heal both mentally and emotionally.

I would have to say that my deployment to Iraq was an unexpected detour in my life that has turned out to be a positive experience. Without my experiences in the military, I wouldn’t understand the sacrifices that our military men, women, and families make on a daily basis, or have ever gotten involved with Operation: Sound Off! This ‘detour’ has lit a passion within me for helping our troops find ways to cope and for increasing awareness about the many diverse needs of our veterans and their families. When I found out about Operation: Sound Off!, I was instantly on board with its mission..."

For the full article, click here. You'll be glad you did.

For more articles and information about Kathy Harris and Divine Detour, visit http://www.divinedetour.com/.

Operation: Sound Off! KickStarter Update

Greetings everyone,

Been a good week for us here at Operation: Sound Off! as we ramp up into our KickStarter funding campaign. We've had some early pledges which we are very thankful for, and we're anxious to get more traffic on the KickStarter page, which is at http://kickstarter.operationsoundoff.com/!

It dawned on me (or is it donned on me) that it may not be obvious on how KickStarter actually works. So I want to spell it out for you. Here are the main points:

• It's all or nothing funding. If we don't reach our goal, you keep your money!
• Funding is reward based. You are actually getting something for your pledge, such as Advanced Copies of the OSO EP, Concert Tickets, Trip to Nashville and Tickets to the CMA Awards, or a Private OSO "House Concert" for you and your friends!
• You can pledge any amount, from $1 - $10,000!
• It's safe and secure, using Amazon Payments, one of the most trusted E-Commerce entities on the Internet.
• You'd be helping us fulfill the dreams of deserving military men and women.

Please spread help us by spreading the word. We can't do it alone. There are widgets and links all ready prepared for you to post to your Facebook, Twitter, and other online destinations. Please go to http://kickstarter.operationsoundoff.com/ and share with your friends and family.

Operation: Sound Off! will not only help these individual artists pursue their dreams and help them with reintegration and rehabilitation, but their music will reach out and touch the lives of their brothers and sisters in arms, as well as the rest of the world and inspire us all.

Thank you for your time and support!

Scotty Huff
Co-Founder, Operation: Sound Off!

http://kickstarter.operationsoundoff.com/
http://www.operationsoundoff.com/
www.Facebook.com/GoOSO
www.Twitter.com/Op_SoundOff

Operation: Sound Off! Launches KickStarter.com Campain

For Immediate Release

Operation Sound Off! Launches Kickstarter.com Campaign

Nashville, TN / January 20, 2011 – Conceived and developed by Artists4Artists partners Robert Reynolds (Grammy Award winning founder of The Mavericks) and Scotty Huff (prolific music producer and arranger), Operation Sound Off! (OSO) has been green lighted by Kickstarter.com to begin a funding campaign for phase one of the project. To coincide with today’s launch, an aggressive digital and media plan will aid in generating donations.

To give back to the men and women of our armed forces, who have sacrificed so much, including their own musical aspirations, Operation: Sound Off! will provide music-recording opportunities to active and veteran military personnel with musical interests, in an effort to facilitate rehabilitation, reintegration, and give them an opportunity to tell their story through their music. This includes time in full-service recording facilities, with professional recording engineers, music producers, and accompaniment by world-class musicians. The project will culminate in an ongoing series of “best of” albums, concert tours and episodic television production.

Reynolds and Huff have set an $85,246 funding goal for OSO that will be used to record a 5 song EP with the first five military artists, to film and create video biographies on those artists, as well as to develop a “sizzle reel” for the television production component. This content is crucial to the long-term success of the project and the funding goal must be reached within 90 days of launch. Kickstarter, the largest funding platform for creative projects in the world, is powered by a unique all-or-nothing funding method where projects must be fully-funded or no money changes hands.

Throughout the campaign, OSO will be offering rewards such as the opportunity to advance purchase the upcoming CD and participate in special events.

Inspired by the recent increase in the number of servicemen and servicewomen returning from combat duties overseas, OSO was created to allow the healing powers of music to help those dealing with issues like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, physical injuries and even the struggles faced by the families of these heroes. There are many men and women serving, and who have served, in the United States Armed Forces who have put their musical dreams on hold in order to protect our very freedom to dream. Whether this program simply gives these men and women a deserved break from the labors of military service, or helps launch the musical career of an honored veteran, OSO believes this effort will benefit thousands of deserving Americans.

To learn about the project and to pledge, please visit http://kickstarter.operationsoundoff.com and http://www.OperationSoundOff.com. Users can also find widgets to embed on websites or blogs and links for Facebook, Twitter, Digg and other social networking sites to further support.

###

Media Contact:
NPG PR
Nicole Pope Gaia
Nicole@npgpr.com / 615.517.1960

Happy New Year from Operation: Sound Off!

Greetings!

We want to wish all of you the happiest, healthiest, and most prosperous new year. Of course, special wishes go out to our men and women in uniform and their families.

We have the highest hopes for 2011. This is the year we'd like to see OSO fully launch and begin to share the music of our talented men and women in the Armed Forces. We have a lot of big things planned. We are planning some big performance events including July 4th and of course Veterans Day falls on 11/11/2011, so that will be the perfect opportunity to show off the immense talent in our military.

And still, we are seeking the funding we need to make these events and the actual recording process happen. We are about to launch a KickStarter.com campaign to raise the funds. This allows you and others to advance purchase the upcoming CD, participate in some very special events, and/or simply donate in support of this wonderful effort. Stay tuned as we expect our KickStarter.com campaign to launch within the next week or so.

Thanks to all of you for your continued support. Let's hope this email is soon followed up with an announcement of our funding and impending music distribution and concert tour!

Scotty
-------------------------------
Scotty Huff
Co-Founder/Director of Production
Operation: Sound Off!