3 Minutes to Live inspires locals to take action against human sex trafficking

The charity song mentioned in this article can be downloaded from The Band’s Official Website. All proceeds and donations are going to the charity Not for Sale.

Brian Terry, member of the Nashville metal band called 3 Minutes to Live, has decided to take action against the most heart-wrenching crime that can be committed today: human sex trafficking. Together, 3 Minutes to Live wrote the song, “Stolen” about a true-life survivor, found in Antioch, and donated all the proceeds from the download costs to the charity‘NotForSale.org’, which is dedicated to helping survivors, and stopping these heinous crimes that continue to be committed worldwide.

He said the idea crossed his mind back in the summer of 2009. He read a book about it, and once he discovered the staggering statistics, and the graphic accounts of a number of victims, he knew he couldn’t turn his back against the issue. Brian said that last year, human sex trafficking was responsible for over 32 billion dollars; an amount that surpassed both the illegal drug and weapon trade. He wanted to find the girl from Antioch to get more details and seek her help with the project that he believed would change the way America saw the inhumane acts that were happening right under our noses.

“I read about seven year old girls being branded with potato peelers,” Brian said. “A girl was even found in the back of a truck with her intestines outside her body, because she had been raped so many times. It took forty stitches or so to fix her, then after she was placed in a rehabilitation home, two years later, she died of AIDS.”

Helping End Modern Slavery

As for the girl who survived and inspired 3MTL, well, her story was quite moving, too. She was stolen from a church, was held prisoner and was treated like property for years. He said she admitted that she was forced to have sex with at least seven different men a day. When she refused, her captors threatened to kill her mother. She was often beaten, and was barely kept alive. The most sickening part, Brian said, was that when these men were captured, they were sentenced to 8 years in prison. They only served six months.

“After I heard her story, I was blown away,” Brian said. “We got her consent for the project, wrote the song, and went to the studio to record it. The producers really did a great job, but soon after, we found ourselves asking each other what we should do next.”

Brian went on to mention that their original intentions weren’t to make a music video to accompany the song. Once the song was done, the band started receiving e-mails and requests from volunteers who wanted to help them make it happen. He said one-hundred percent of the participants, including a videographer by the name of Bill Harding, who also is a professor at Austin Peay State University, were there strictly on a volunteer basis. Derri Smith, the Tennessee chapter director for ‘NotForSale.org’, even arranged for the band to shoot their video in a model home located in an apartment complex in Antioch. Brian said it seemed like all their resources just fell out of the sky.

The video was released yesterday, and features real statistics about sex trafficking that goes on in the United States, and can be found on YouTube, MySpace, and their official website.

“Im hoping people see the finished product and that it catches on,” he said. “If it does, it’ll raise awareness, raise a lot of money for ‘NotForSale.org’, which will enable them to combat this, and it will put the band in the spotlight, which will enable us to say more about it and hopefully create a bigger impact.”

3MTL is very excited and pleased with the way things turned out with the song, but Brian wants to push the envelope even more and continue to take affirmative action.

“Granted, we just wrote a song and shot a video, but if I had the funds, I’d go save those girls,” he said. “3 Minutes to Live is based on this idea: What would you do if you only had that long to live? Try not to be indifferent. At any moment, your time may be up and you may regret not helping out people when you could. The clock is ticking. Once you pass away, its too late. Money means nothing if you don’t do something good with it.”

With his own funds permitting, he plans to go to Cambodia with a team in April to research the matter further.

Electric Teeth hunger for success

Electric Teeth, who centralize in Murfreesboro, are a younger, more recently formed rock band. Despite their age, these 19 and 20-year-olds have already shown signs of great success and their fan base has grown significantly since their official formation last year. According to frontman Nathan Goodwin, they really gelled as a band and began playing at the end of MTSU’s school year at house shows and various other gigs. Goodwin said Electric Teeth loves playing house shows around the Murfreesboro area because the crowd is so receptive to their sound.

“We have a lot of great fans,” said Taylor Lowrance, who plays guitar for the band. “I’m from Memphis, and while music to them is kind of the thing to do, the ‘boro people really care.”

They have jamband tendencies, which is a style that is growing in popularity locally. They take great pride in their individuality though, because while they do have a seemingly recognizable sound, they successfully add their own twist to the music they create.

“I think something that defines our band is that none of us have tried to make our music anything particular,” said Goodwin. “We’re really good about letting what happens, happen.”

The band has already recorded six songs, but only three have been released to the public. Their goal is to have their very first full-length album released in time for spring break. For the time being, they are working on getting as many shows as they possibly can. They’ve been at such venues like The End, in Nashville and Club 527 in the ‘boro. The only show they have lined up at the moment will be an awesome one. Its set to be held on January 22nd in Murfreesboro with Deep Machine and Magic Veteran at YEAH, located off Maple Street.

“We’ve been playing a lot more shows, so we know a lot more people. This semester is going to be really good for our development as a band,” Goodwin said.

Chris Volpe's 'Shipwrecked' is buried treasure to folk fans

Chris Volpe's soothing folk tunes in his new album Shipwrecked! will keep listeners on an even keel. He produced all of the songs himself, and had quite the impressive lineup of guest musicians to boot. This album is chock- full with sounds ranging from the cello and harmonica to the pedal steel guitar and fiddle. The musicians featured compliment his heart-rending voice and happen to be quite reputable, including Jeff Coffin, Donnie Herron, and Kenny Malone who have played with such greats as The Dave Matthews Band, Bob Dylan, and Johnny Cash, respectively. The album's style definitely reflects his 'Bible Belt', Tennessee roots; although he does cover everything from bluegrass and folk, to jazz; with a little pop thrown in for fun. His song called Dusty Bibles features lyrics like, "Dusty bibles lead to dirty lives," which reiterates his dedication to the the Belt. Oh, and he humorously name drops when he refers to sinners as Saddam Hussein and Keith Moon. Its pretty good. This album should definitely hold high listening priority when you embark on your musical discovery endeavors.