Skylar Grey shared a new song “Calling From Heavens” dedicated to a victim of the mass shooting in California. That might be an unexpected record, considering her recent album release, but the story behind its creation that Skylar shared on her Twitter explains a lot.
A few weeks ago, we had coffee with Arik Housley, our friend who tragically lost his daughter Alaina exactly one year ago in the Borderline Bar and Grill shooting. He was describing the many ways he feels and senses Alaina reaching out to him in spirit, especially through music.
He mentioned the idea of possibly writing a song for her. But to me that felt like too heavy of a responsibility… how could I possibly come close to capturing the right emotion and write a song about someone I never knew? After leaving our meeting I had already decided not to even try and attempt it.
The next morning, Elliott’s alarm went off… the same alarm we hear every morning. But that morning, while I was still half asleep, a melody came to me that went with the chords of his alarm.
I got up and recorded a voice note in my phone. Throughout the day the melody was stuck in my head, and lyrics would randomly come to me. It wasn’t until I had already written the first verse that I realized I was writing a song for Alaina.It was a very strange experience… it felt as if I was channeling something from a different dimension. I don’t know how else to describe it. I TRIED NOT to write this song, but I was powerless against it.
Listen to the song below:
A few weeks ago, we had coffee with Arik Housley, our friend who tragically lost his daughter Alaina exactly one year ago in the Borderline Bar and Grill shooting. He was describing the many ways he feels and senses Alaina reaching out to him in spirit, especially through music. pic.twitter.com/auIj9KQVnI
— Skylar Grey (@SkylarGrey) November 9, 2019
