NASHVILLE, TN – Nashville-based nonprofit CreatiVets and Big Machine Label Group’s impactful campaign continues today with new Veteran-penned track “Gun Down (featuring Caeland Garner),” out now via Big Machine Records. Written by Caeland Garner, Jeremy Brock, Kalsey Kulyk and Harvey Paige, the sobering message strikes a chord as the chorus shares: The day I laid my gun down / And picked up the weight of making it out / But we were in a bad place then, I’m in a bad place now / ‘Cause they prepared us for war but not for / The day I laid my gun down.
Listen to “Gun Down (featuring Carland Garner)” HERE
“Writing this song was one of the most gratifying and humbling experiences I have ever been a part of in my 17 years as a songwriter in Nashville,” said singer/songwriter Caeland Garner. “I’ve struggled with writing songs that don’t have real world meaning and felt I had lost the art of songwriting over the years, but writing the Veterans’ truth is a truth I felt needed to be heard. We cried, we shared and at the end of the write, we had all the emotions molded into 3 minutes of pure pain and healing. I hope this song helps those who feel helpless and shows them that healing can happen no matter how dark things seem – Let this song become your light.”
“Thankful is the word that comes to mind when I think of CreatiVets,” shared Iraq and Afghanistan Veteran Harvey Paige. “Before attending the program, I had never written any songs and didn’t even know how but it was a great learning opportunity and taught me what actually goes into writing a song. I hope when Veterans hear what I went through in this song, they know there is help out there. We don’t have to go through it alone, others are counting on us.”
CreatiVets has helped more than 1,000 combat Veterans since its founding in 2013 — with more than 400 Veterans participating in its songwriting programs to date. The organization’s utmost goal is to end Veteran suicide by offering alternative ways to cope with trauma, using the arts as a therapeutic cornerstone in the road to recovery. Serving as a connector for opportunities that magnify CreatiVets within the entertainment space since 2020, Big Machine Label Group continues to contribute to CreatiVets’ operational initiatives through Scott and Sandi Borchetta‘s Music Has Value Fund and Big Machine Music, which serves as the co-publisher for CreatiVets.