Where we you when the world stopped turning? I was in the studios of WTRS radio in Ocala, FL. A Country music station but it was our practice to have the small 13″ TV on in the background with volume down to make sure we didn’t miss any breaking news to share with our listners. What we saw next froze us. This was going to be far from a normal day. We broke from our normal format and began reporting right away. We immediately reached out to our contracted news service to get live feeds but were told that wasn’t covered under our contract. So, we did the next best thing. We turning up the volume on the TV a swung a microphone over to keep our audience updated (a BIG F.C.C. rebroadcast no-no punishable by a massive fine.) But, these were extroidernary circumstance. It was an emotional day. The calls poured in for emotional support hoping to find out they were not alone. And they were not. We were all in this together and feeling the same thing. The staff gathered in the hallway during commercial breaks. Not know what to say or what to do. As a group of us gathered someone said, “Shouldn’t we pray or something?” And so we did. It’s interest that person was not a Believer (as far a I knew) and was looking for answers and comfort when there seemed to be none in the moment.

Fast forward to September 26th. There was a up and coming artist named Mark McGuinn who had a catchy, upbeat breakout song called Mrs. Steven Rudy. The station had booked him for a private for our listeners at The Appleton Museum of Art that had an intimate theater that held no more than 100 people. Now we weren’t even sure if the event was going to happen due to flights being grounded. However, restrictions were lifted and the show did go on. It was not only a great show but a time of healing as we did not ignore the elephant in the room. Mark closed the show with a new song. More Beautiful Today. McGuinn and his band were on the west coast when the attack of 9/11 took place. They watched the last commercial airplane land after the attacks. “It was a moment of breathtaking beauty and unexpected serenity in the aftermath of unthinkable devastation” he said and continued to share. “In the days that followed on the long trek back to Nashville in a rental car, we (the band) were able to find a sense of hope and put down in song a tender ode to Americas unbreakable spirit.”

That was his first public performance of the song and you could have heard a pin drop. I was moved and in tears as many were. I pulled him aside and asked him when he was going to release this for play on the radio? His answer, “I’m not…at least not for a while. I’m not will to use this terrible tradgedy to move my career forward. That’s not who I am. That’s not what music is about.” Mark would perform it live as he did for us that night but would not record it. In fact, the song was not released until 2006 album, One Man’s Crazy which would be his last. His time in the spotlight may have been brief but he brought light to many of us during a very dark time. Thank you, Mark.