SongwritingWith:Soldiers’ new album was created on retreats for veterans & families
SongwritingWith:Soldiers (SW:S) is a program that holds weekend retreats across the United States for veterans and their families where they can share their experiences and co-create sounds with professional songwriters.
On Nov. 6, 2026, they will release “The Power of Being Heard,” a 16-song project that amplifies 25 veterans’ voices through music written and performed alongside hit songwriters like Erin Enderlin, Radney Foster, Will Kimbrough, Trent Willmon, Marshall Altman, and many more.
“What this program is doing for veterans is unlike anything I have seen or experienced before,” U.S. Army veteran Lisa Geartz told me. “It was life changing. I can’t explain how, but it is. I have seen it in others and in myself.”
Geartz was one of the veterans in this album’s cohort, paired with Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and producer Terry Radigan, who has spent the past decade collaborating with SW:S, helping vets and their families turn their experiences into songs. She has said the program includes some of the most meaningful work she has done and serves as a constant reminder of why music matters in the first place.
“Every songwriting session is different,” Radigan told me when I asked what it’s like working with veterans. “But the common thread is always listening to the person you’re sitting across from. And I’ve found that the veterans I’ve had the privilege of working with are always so generous with their stories and so trusting of the process.”
“While I can’t speak to what it’s like to serve in the military, I’ve learned a great deal from the veterans I’ve had the honor of working with,” said Radigan. “One thing that stands out is that their sense of service doesn’t end when they take off the uniform. It’s in the way they show up for one another, the way they look out for each other, and the way they continue to give of themselves.”
Since 2012, SW:S has connected with more than 7,000 veterans and military families, creating a safe and inspiring environment to share their experiences and co-create songs grounded in lived experience alongside professional songwriters.
These collaborations take place in a trusted, evidence-informed retreat program. The process invites participants to express what often goes unsaid—through a creative partnership that honors their words and experiences.
When I asked Geartz what she learned from her partnership with Radigan, she told me, “that it is okay to tell someone your story.”
Something I’ve learned from personal experiences in creative programs with other veterans is that there is a language and a set of shared experiences that makes it easier to open up. Geartz felt something similar on her retreat. “We kind of all have common ground with just being veterans, but you know it was likely just as hard for them to be there as it was to convince myself to go, and we were there to support each other as well.”
And music itself is a powerful artform. “It’s a universal language,” reflected Radigan. “It has the power to connect people in ways that words alone sometimes can’t. A song can bring us back to a moment in our lives, remind us of someone we love, or simply make us feel less alone. And I think that’s what makes music so powerful. No matter how different our lives or experiences may be, music has a way of reminding us of all that we share.”
SongwritingWith:Soldiers believes it’s not just creating songs, but a deeper understanding of the veteran experience. The new music program, made possible by the generosity of The Johnson Family Fund, selects and produces music from the retreat field recording catalogue to release on major streaming platforms with the intention of bridging the military-civilian divide.
They hope to raise civilian awareness of the challenges faced by the military community while also empowering veterans and helping them tell their stories.
“The Man You Used To Know” was written by U.S. Air Force veteran Bruce Anderson, his wife of thirty-seven years Lesley Anderson, and songwriter and producer Trent Willmon.
In the official press release for the lyric video, Bruce revealed that the song is “about losing part of yourself and then trying to gain that back somehow… and it’s never too late to try to get back to a good, healthy place.” Lesley shared, “For a spouse, you have to grieve the person you used to know because when he came back…I didn’t know that guy. I didn’t even like that guy. But I knew the man I married was still there.”
The songs themselves have a true Americana-vibe, from country to traditional folk-inspired tracks. They feel like a road trip but when you look closely at the lyrics, you can see how hard some of them hit. It’s clear the vets and their families dug deep, which is exactly what the best art is there for.
You can learn more about SongwritingWith:Soldiers and their retreats on their webpage and you can pre-order or pre-save the new album on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music and more.
The tracklist for “The Power of Being Heard:”
1. “At Ease” – Will Kimbrough (Chaddrick Allen, USMC; Rhonda Chavez, USAF; Sally Griffiths, USMC; Justin Lilley, USA; Benjamin Liotta, USN; Carlos Gomez Perez, USMC; Robert Heathe Shumate, USMC; Tristan Wimmer, USMC)
2. “The Man You Used To Know” – Trent Willmon (Bruce Anderson, USAF)
3. “Footprints in my Mind” – Stevenson Everett (Paul Strickland, USA)
4. “Strumming Hand” – Maia Sharp (James Cameron (John), USMC)
5. “The One They Call” – Radney Foster and Kelly Willis (Matthew Chapman, USA)
6. “Hey Brother” – Mark Nesler (Tristan Wimmer, USMC)
7. “He Ain’t Through With Me Yet” – JD Martin (David Brower, USN)
8. “Something Ain’t Right” – Gary Burr (Thomas Griswold, USA)
9. “Grace” – Dylan Altman (Alex Fox, USAF)
10. “Army of One (Missing)” – Terry Radigan (Lisa Geartz, USA)
11. “Let Go of the Pain” – Danny Myrick Daniel Cummings, USA)
12. “Daddy’s Son” – Jay Clementi ft. Brody Clementi (Marcin Budnik, USA; John “PK” Kelley, USA)
13. “Parents & Soldiers” – Georgia Middleman (Scott Cotner, USA)
14. “When You Look At Me” – Erin Enderlin (Brent Fogleman, USA; Tanja Struyck-Fogleman, Royal Netherlands Army)
15. “Funeral Detail” – Gary Nicholson (Albert Merrifield, USA)
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