I'll Fly Away Foundation sponsors event
Gospel songwriter Albert Brumley, a native of the Ozarks, left a legacy of gospel songs including his most well known song, “I’ll Fly Away.” He also left some unfinished songs.
His granddaughter, Betsy Brumley, founder of the I’ll Fly Away Foundation, would like to see them finished.
Since its start in 2012, the foundation has been supporting musical education in local schools. They’ve been active in McDonald County schools, but haven’t done as much in Benton County, Brumley said. She’s planning some fundraising so she can bring songwriting workshops to Benton and maybe Washington counties. Brumley lived most of his adult life in southeast McDonald County, at Powell, on the banks of Big Sugar Creek.
“We always use local songwriters,” she explained. That way the songwriters get an income while the students are getting a new experience.
“Learning to write a song is a lot like learning to write a paper,” Brumley said. The kids write about what they know, she said. Their songs may be about a math problem or the lunch ladies. She keeps them all.
Sometime ago, Brumley was attending the Kansas City Folk Alliance when she saw a man lying on the floor playing a guitar. She sat down next to him and struck up a conversation.
It turned out to be Troy Campbell, founder of the House of Songs in Austin, Texas. Campbell has been working with songwriters internationally. The House of Songs brings international musicians to Austin for two-week residencies where they work with local artists.
“By pairing … talented and committed artists from different countries we are able to facilitate a unique experience for songwriters which fosters new relationships and original works that are timeless,” the website, www.thehouseofsongs.com states.
It seemed like a perfect match, Brumley said. When a Kansas City newspaper published a photo of her and Campbell sitting on the floor in the middle of the Kansas City Folk Alliance, she knew they had to work together. She remembered her grandfather’s unfinished songs.
Campbell told her he had a group of songwriters from Australia coming in, causing Brumley to recall her own trip to Australia in 1996.
“I was on a bus full of Australians,” she said. Suddenly, one man started to sing “Waltzing Matilda” and the rest of the bus joined in. She was thinking it was cool that a group of strangers would all sing together when they started their next song. It was her grandfather’s song, “I'll Fly Away.”
“They get grandpa,” she told her father when she got home.
So, in 2016, Brumley told Campbell to bring her the Australians.
About 72 hours before their performance at Cooper Chapel, she sent the group copies of all the scraps of songs she could find. Some were pieces of sheet music, handwritten by her grandfather, but not completed. Others were pieces of lyrics scribbled on the backs of envelopes. On Thursday, they performed six completed songs.
“They were fantastic,” she said, “It just flowed.”
Meanwhile, the Country Music Hall of Fame is putting together an exhibit on Albert Brumley. When it opens, Betsy Brumley will release the new songs, possibly in an album format.
There are also two documentaries underway about the songwriting experi-