May 9, 2007

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Boston artist and psychologist Anna Huckabee Tull has been commissioned to write and record more than 100 songs, unique and incredible journeys about people marking special occasions.

It’s been a successful business writing about love, growth, loss, birth and celebration, but the song that means the most to her, “Bright Eyes,” and is the most personal involves someone she approached, from whom she would seek no fee: a member of the family who has ALS.

Andy Eddowes at home listens to “Bright Eyes” with (clockwise) Gary A. Leo, president and CEO of The ALS Association, Ken Nicholls, executive director of The Association’s DC/MD/VA Chapter and Scott Golden, board president of the chapter.

Tull, with six national CD releases to her credit, felt compelled to ask her husband’s cousin, retired Navy captain Andy Eddowes, if he would be interested in expressing his feelings about his young daughter, Rachel, through Tull’s voice he has bulbar-onset ALS and can no longer speak. She had witnessed how the family was struggling with discussing ALS with Eddowes’ daughter.

Eddowes immediately agreed to collaborate with Tull on the project and is more than pleased with the outcome. His daughter chose the title for the song.

 “We knew that she wrote and performed her songs and that she was quite good at it, so when she emailed her proposal to me, I immediately agreed,” said Eddowes, who served in the military for 22 years. “She really outdid herself with ‘Bright Eyes.’ We all love it. It’s wonderful.” 

The award-winning singer-songwriter first thought of the possibility of recording the song when Eddowes was diagnosed with ALS in 2003 and became even more committed to the concept during a reunion with extended family at the Walk to Defeat ALS^TM in Ohio

“The Walk was an amazing experience,” recounted Tull, who has a master’s degree in spiritual psychology and helps people experiencing life’s difficulties, specifically, letting go. “It was my first taste of being with the extended ALS family and seeing how they all pull together for someone.”

The song will be performed again at The ALS Association-hosted 10th annual National ALS Advocacy Day and Public Policy Conference in Washington, D.C., May 14-16. The Eddowes will be there, too. They have never heard the song performed live.

Anna Huckabee Tull sings “Bright Eyes” to the members of The ALS Association’s National Board of Trustees. Photo: KulbakoPhoto.com

“This is one of the most powerful songs I have ever heard,” Leo said. “It really pulls at your heart strings. It is a song that everyone should be able to relate to and will remember.”

The Eddowes are a very active in advocacy at the chapter, and the family is popular with staff who work very closely with them.

“Hearing ‘Bright Eyes’ for the first time in the Eddowes’ home was very emotional for us,” Nicholls said. “Being privileged to share that very personal moment with Andy and his wife Ellen reminded us of how powerful love can be in conquering even the worse pain and loss. This family’s strength, and their willingness to share their ALS journey with others, is an inspiration to us all as we embark on ALS Awareness Month. When you hear it, you just cannot help but think ‘how would my own family face such extraordinary challenges?’” 

The song, accompanied acoustically by piano and guitar tracks, paints a melodic picture of Eddowes sailing at sea with his daughter and pushing her in a swing while she is smiling; however, the theme is that his love for her is eternal, and she will always feel its presence.

Lyrics such as “Pushing you on a swing, holding you close and then setting you free, the simple things, what time is taking, the hugs I can’t offer you as I watch this body wasting…”  made a strong impression on members of the board, according to the Somerville, Mass.-based Tull, 42, who also works as a life coach.

“I am very interested in the dynamics around what it means to hold onto something too tightly versus what it means to be in the flow and attract positive experiences into your life,” Tull said.

Tull’s attempt to interest her extended family in the song was met with universal support and commitment to not only pay for renting a recording studio and pay backup artists but even to cover expenses for her trips to interview Eddowes in Virginia. Communicating by email, nonetheless, seemed more practical. 

Andy Eddowes and his daughter Rachel in earlier days.

Gathering information that would translate into the right lyrics was a slow process in the beginning but was not the result of Eddowes’ inability to speak. Tull concedes that she approached the project with too much caution she posed questions that required only a basic response so she changed tactics. 

“I did not want to overtax him,” Tull said. “In the early going, I sent him yes or no questions because I did not know that he could do a lot more than that. Somewhere along the fifth or sixth question, it was just like I got in. Suddenly his emails became long and flowing and full of insights.”

Through email I got to know him more deeply than I had ever had before. There was this incredible world that I had been on the outside of and suddenly I was in.”

The exchange of emails provided Eddowes with a way to explore and articulate his deepest feelings.

“Since I was medically retired from the Navy two years ago, I’ve had a lot of time to think,’ he said. “Anna’s interview gave me a great venue to express what I’ve come to believe.”

Creating “Bright Eyes” was a life-altering experience for Tull who, on her Web site (CustomCraftedSongs.com), describes it as her “most serendipitous song yet.”

Said Tull of the project: “I was compensated for the song emotionally and that is more than enough.”

Eddowes hopes the song will mean more to his daughter as the years go by.

“My father passed away when I was 32, so I had a chance to get to know him as an adult. I really enjoyed that experience,” he said. “Given that my life expectancy is short, I would like to leave as much of me behind as possible. This song will be an important part of that.”

The National Advocacy Day and Public Policy Conference has grown to be the single largest gathering of the ALS community and is an opportunity for the entire community people with ALS, families, caregivers, physicians and researchers to come together and urge members of Congress to join in the fight against the disease.