HOPE: Interview with Voices of Service, a military singing quartet

Voices of Service release new single "HOPE"

Voices of Service (VOS), a singing quartet featuring retired military Veterans Ron Henry, Christal Rheams, Jason Hanna and Caleb Green just released their latest single, “Hope”. In 2019 they achieved a top 5 finish on Season 14 of America’s Got Talent. Voices of Services helps influence global awareness of the struggle of our service members, veterans, their families, and people from all walks of life who’ve endured visible and invisible scars.

Voices of Service are a part of the nonprofit Center for American Military Music Opportunities (CAMMO). For the past several years, they have utilized their performances to increase awareness of the therapeutic impact that performing as well as listening to music can have on servicemen and women who are coping with post-traumatic stress and other invisible/visible wounds. Their success on America’s Got Talent helped promote national awareness of the struggle active members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and their families often experience during as well as after their service.

“Hope” is available as a digital download via online retailers and major streaming platforms.

For more information visit https://www.cammomusic.org

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Transcript

Chuck (host) (00:00):

Voices of service is an amazing quartet who just released their latest, single HOPE, coming up next.

(System) (00:07):

Welcome to 15 minutes with Chuck, where we feature interviews with music, artists, entertainers, scientists, and more, more. Here's your host, a software consultant teacher and space enthusiast. Chuck fields,

Chuck (host) (00:23):

Voices of service is a singing quartet featuring retired military veterans, Ron Henry, crystal reams, Jason Hannah, and Caleb green. They just released their latest, single hope. The members of voices of service have been singing together since 2012. They even achieved a top five finish in 2019 on season 14 of America's got talent. The group influenced global awareness of the struggle of our service members, veterans, their families, and people from all walks of life. Who've endured visible and invisible scars, their influence depicts the excellence within military and veteran communities and continues to inspire the universe through music.

Chuck (host) (01:39):

Hello Everybody. Welcome to the program. It's an honor to have you here.

Caleb (01:42):

Thank you so much.

Jason (01:43):

Thank you so much.

Chuck (host) (01:45):

Oh, it is a pleasure. I do wanna go around the room. I'd like to each of you just introduce yourself, say your name, say your branch and say your rank. So the audience knows who you are. Why don't we start with you crystal.

Crystal (01:56):

All right. So I am Sergeant major crystal res United States army still active only for a few months, but I am still active, and that's, that's me

Chuck (host) (02:08):

Awesome. Jason

Jason (02:11):

And I am Sergeant first class Jason L Hannah U.S. Army retired

Chuck (host) (02:20):

Caleb.

Caleb (02:21):

I master Sergeant Caleb green, United States army retired.

Chuck (host) (02:27):

Awesome. And, Ron?

Ron (02:29):

And I am retired. Ron D Henry United States army.

Chuck (host) (02:34):

Awesome. Welcome everyone. And again, of course, thank you so much for your service.

Ron (02:39):

Thank you.

Chuck (host) (02:39):

I truly wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you.

Crystal (02:41):

Thank you.

Chuck (host) (02:42):

Thank you. I did want to talk about something that I hadn't really heard of until I heard about voices of service, but I understand that the, I have to read this because I, I don't have camo memorized the center for American military music opportunities. Camo is what it's called, played the integral role in sort of the creation of your awesome quartet. I was just wondering, can, what of you tell us more about what camo is and the purpose behind it?

Jason (03:10):

Hmm. I know rock paper scissors, right? Crystal <laugh>

Crystal (03:12):

Rock paper, scissor— Jason!

Jason (03:15):

Oh, well the organization center for American military music opportunities was founded or co-founded by Kathy Harris. And she is the driving force behind what we do as far as music is therapy healing, soul healing, so healing, family members, service members, veterans through music. And also we're, we're also doing things where we're trying to, we're helping launch veterans into the, the, the artist arena of, you know, music in the music arena. I don't know, that sounds like a lot of word salad there, but long and short, we're just trying to give a a place for veteran artists to be able to shine, to be able to grow in the, in their, their gifts and their talents, musically, and to be a part of the the music industry with those gifts of those talents.

Jason (04:13):

So going into our little bit of our story, we were put together by this person, Kathy Harris mm-hmm <affirmative> it was a random gig, and I don't really, no one ever really remembers what gig it was, but we all just kind of like were, were practicing together in the USO. I think it was on Fort Bellor probably about 10 years ago and the rehearsal turned into like five or six hours of just singing songs and getting to know each other and just laughing and cutting up. And, you know, at that point in time, we knew that there was something special and the rest is history.

Chuck (host) (04:49):

See, I think that's neat. And I, I do wanna go back to camel for a second that I'll come back to voice of service, but each of you, I understand have sort of different roles with camel. Like, like Ron, I think music is therapy, crystal director of camel kids, Jason LePort coaching, Kayla Brian BA can, can we go around the room again and tell us a little bit more about what each of you kind of do with camo and we'll start again with crystal.

Crystal (05:13):

Ooh. So my roles have, have changed. I, I am I did create and kind of co-found camo kids, which is basically a program that gets kids together for, for an hour a week like kids to learn about more about kids that are like them and to do a same activity through music. And I also work a lot with digital strategy and communications with camo now at this point as well.

Chuck (host) (05:40):

That's awesome. Ron, understand you, you help out more with music is therapy, which I, I think is awesome. Can you tell us more, a little bit more about that?

Ron (05:47):

Well, actually, yeah, my correct title is the, I'm the inspirational director for camo. Nice. And so that inspiration is brought through again, bringing all styles of music to help with therapy and growth using all genres. Definitely we, we understand that music is a universal language and so that universal language can reach out to, to anyone. Like for instance you know, what brings back to memory when we visited the hospital there at Fort Belfor, you know, we sat down and, and worked with, with soldiers and, and, and service men and women who are coping with post traumatic stress and, and anxiety. And we would sit down and just say, Hey, you know, give us one of your favorite songs and we'll just start singing it, you know, and, and we'll sit around and, and, and see the joy in their eyes and to see the, how the, how it lights up their faces when cuz it makes them think of home. It makes 'em think of, of good times with their family, with their loved ones. And so that just made them break down their walls that they had put up and that they have up. And so, you know, we're seeing this great transformation of what music can do.

Chuck (host) (07:05):

Oh, that's it, that's incredible. Ron Jason, I understand life support coaching, which I, I, I think is an awesome area. Can you tell us more about what you do with that?

Jason (07:14):

So, you know, if I had to sum up some of the work that I, that I do with camo and, you know, external to camo is, you know, I try to help people think their way out of a wet paper bag. I guess that's kind of a, yeah. I try to sum it up in that way because sometimes, you know, life is tricky and, and you know, it gets complicated. And so sometimes we need, you know, somebody to kind of help lead us and, and, and guide us through those, those, that mind field of the mind. And so, you know, that's, that's what I do. I help people kind of navigate those, those tough spaces mentally and you know, coach 'em through it and help them go from, you know, from a, maybe a place that, that was kind of dark to a place that's really bright and light.

Chuck (host) (08:00):

Wow. Such a, such a needed skill. That's amazing. And then Caleb, tell us more about what you do as brand ambassador.

Caleb (08:06):

Well actually what's interesting is if you take a listen to what you've heard so far we really all support each other in the capacity that we perform. I, I love the unique ability that we have to be able to work alongside each other knowing when it's time for one to go forward and, and when to step back. And as far as being brand ambassador is concerned I love talking to people and when you get to talk to people, you can kind of I guess, navigate where they are, you know we, we do corporate and personal gigs and we do, we, we're just kind of like all over the place. And I mean, I, I, to put it into words accurately, I guess for me, it's kind of hard because brand ambassador is we, we wear a couple of hats within the organization simultaneously and interchangeably.

Caleb (09:17):

But I like to think of myself as a person who's willing to go out and say on behalf of my brothers and my sisters and our organization here is what we bring to the table. And would you like to partner with us because together we can achieve more. And together everybody achieves more. But it's not like a big eye, little you with the title that we carry. It's more about the interoperable ability that we have to say, Hey, Chris, I just spoke to so and so, and I think this is good for you. Ron says, Hey, I just talked to this person or, or, or Jason and they're, and, and we're just able to kind of come together and, and create, come together and, and formulate, and then execute a plan and or strategy for whatever our mission is, cuz it's not always music, but you know just, just really having the ability to reach out and touch and you know, in business or whether it be personal you know, in the veteran community, which often leads to other avenues,

Chuck (host) (10:29):

I tell you the, the, the amount of talent just on all, all four of you is just incredible on that. And I, I'm not surprised at all, how voices service sort of you see that chemistry you, you sparked when you started singing together. And one thing that blew me away is 2019, you achieved a top five finish on season 14 of America's got talent. How did that come about? That's incredible.

Crystal (10:55):

<Laugh> so the I, I, I love telling the story because Kathy, who we mentioned before, just kind of called us all and said, Hey, you guys wanna go to New York for an audition? And we were like okay. You know, cuz Kathy's like mama and she, she takes care of everybody. So we knew, at least at the very least we were gonna stop somewhere and have really good food somewhere. Right. <laugh> so we got a song together and we hopped in a van and I think Ron, I think Ron drove, you drove didn't you Ron? I did we hopped in a van and we drove to New York and we sat out, we sat outside because it was a time to audition and we auditioned for the show. We didn't, you know, for some producers, we, then we left and of course stopped at a diner on the way home.

Crystal (11:42):

And so, you know, I don't think any of us thought that it was gonna come to this. I think it was about two, maybe three months later, Kathy calls all of us. I remember getting a call at work and she's like, okay, you're gonna need to see Ja, you're gonna need to get all, all paperwork done. And I'm like, for what what's happening, you guys are gonna be on the show. And we're like, what? You know, like, are you serious? Like where's going on here? And the next thing you know, we're flying to California. And to be honest with you, all of the stuff that happened in the middle of that was a blur. But I count, I know we talk about it and they count my blessings daily that, you know, we made it that far. And I have to say, as a caveat, the Americas got talent franchise or folks, they treated us like gold. We, we were treated yes, tremendously. Well always very considerate. So how we got there were, were the people and hopefully they heard something that moved them through us. And that's at the end of the day, if we did that, that's, that was our ultimate goal. But you know, top five out of, I don't know, I think it's about 800 X when they start

Chuck (host) (12:59):

Incredible.

Crystal (13:00):

That's, that's nothing to sneeze at.

Ron (13:03):

I thought it was 77,000 plus.

Jason (13:07):

Yeah. It's quite a few people that, that audition for that show. People

Crystal (13:13):

Give a little bit more than 800

Jason (13:15):

<Laugh>

Chuck (host) (13:16):

Well, this is talent. I wanna talk about hope. This is your, your latest release. Let's talk about the, the inspiration Behe behind it. I, I understand right now it's the just release. It's the inspirational theme to support PGA hope which stands for helping our Patriots everywhere. I think that's awesome. Tell us about hope. How did that evolve?

Ron (13:37):

Well, hope was created by a collaboration of, of, of all of us and some of our producers and good friends. It is, and it is the song is just as it is Chuck. I mean, we want people to know that regardless of your challenges in life, regardless of what you have faced, regardless of what you are facing, there is hope. And we're teaching people to hold on to that hope until that silver lining or whatever it is you're trying to achieve until you find it. You know, people will let you down. People will, will, will, will disappoint you like may disappoint you, but still through it all, we all stand together as a group and one unit and we chair and we cheer out that word hope H O P E hold on to you find it.

Jason (14:32):

Yeah. Yeah. I think one of the other things that other cool lyric said, I love this part about the song where it talks about, you know, folks sometimes they're, they don't know that they're heroes. So first and foremost, we're, we're, we're affirming. Yes, you are a hero. And sometimes you just need to be reminded of that, that a you're a hero B we need to hold on to hope. So I love that part about the song as well. I know that we're able to write that, that lyric

Crystal (15:00):

Something else about hope and, and, and our music in general. I feel like the singles that we've come out with just the past, you know couple years have all come out at just such peak and wonderful times. And I, I don't think that that's by our design, but you know, after coming outta, COVID not knowing where C's gonna go, where, you know, there's a lot of people suffering and you gotta find that, that glimer of light hope is that glimer of light. You know, there's, there's always something that you can be down for, you can be down about, but, you know, you gotta hold on to hope because that's, that's that thread that pulls you through. And that's something kind of key about the music. You know, that, that we, we come out with and, and it, we want it to uplift a population and not just veteran in military, we want it to uplift a population. We want it to, to reach out to people. We want people to, to listen to it at nauseam and, and make them, you know, make them feel better and to make people feel better. That's that is a want and a goal for us and our music is and what we put out,

Chuck (host) (16:09):

Chris that's right. And I love how you said timing because we just came off of Memorial day and here we are starting, you know, July 4th is coming up. So I guess, other than what you said, I mean, what message do you wanna send to the veterans and active military out there?

Caleb (16:22):

I would like to say that one of our messages is that resilience is interwoven. It's, it's our fabric. We are a unit I would even venture to say an elite unit. We're ordinary people who come together to do extraordinary things. And then we just kind of, when we finish that mission, we kind of fade back into society and still do our thing heroes. But you, you kind of have to take on that particular aspect of it as we are here for you. So if you ever come see us in concert, you're gonna, there's gonna be music for everyone. We don't shy away from style or genre. We, we, if the children get up to sing or, or dance, we're like, let 'em go because that's what they're here for. If we can inspire them, if we can inspire you, then we've achieved what we came to do. And the moniker hope helping our Patriots area everywhere is what the PGA's program stand for. But for us, it's, it's a bigger and, and broader mission. And our inspiration has been, has been garnered and, and ridden like a, a, a surfer on a wave, you know, because everywhere we go, they recognize our lady first. And then we get a chance to ride the wave with her. So, you know, we love that. Yeah.

Jason (17:46):

Always crystal first. Oh, wait, man. Who are those other guys? Oh, they were there with you too. <Laugh>

Caleb (17:52):

But that's outta the, the healthiest respect though. Seriously?

Chuck (host) (17:57):

I, that's amazing. Just to wrap up just one, one last question for you. What's next for you? What's coming up.

Jason (18:05):

Ooh.

Ron (18:07):

More concerts. Nice. More, more appearances. You know, we're ready, you know, we're look, be looking out for our Christmas album coming up this year. So yeah. And I'm telling you now, Chuck, this Christmas album, it is gonna change the game of ti the season to be Johnny <laugh>.

Jason (18:33):

Oh, I like that. Ron making me excited. I heard it

Ron (18:36):

<Laugh>

Chuck (host) (18:38):

Yeah. We're so excited. What else can our audience do? What can we do to help?

Crystal (18:42):

So you can follow us on social media. You can to see what we're doing. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram 

Chuck (host) (18:51):

I'll put all the links in the show notes, by the

Crystal (18:53):

Way, all the links. Okay. And we, we always, you know, we're always, and you can also find us in Spotify. You can find us on every streaming platform. I'm, mm-hmm, <affirmative>, I won't say what I'm partial to these days. I, I found a new one and I'm kind of like, Ooh, I like that one, but there's a few. And you can find, find us there, follow, listen to your music you know, share it, you know you know, spread the wealth spread the wealth, quote unquote hashtag spread hope, you know? Yeah. Spread hope, hashtag spread hope. That's what we all need. And if you don't, if you just do that one little thing, you know, for us, you know, pay it forward in some way, spread hope that would, that would be all we could actually really ask for.

Caleb (19:37):

I have a great idea. Just what's that Caleb, while she was saying that, you know, you can, you can gift music to your friends in, in the digital service platforms that we use, you know, with the Amazon, apple, Spotify all of the different things. Sometimes a person is having a bad day and you can just, you know, put a little note to 'em and say, you know, I'm offering you hope today and, you know, have 'em purchase it like that. And you know, we're, we're here really because we love what we do and we love people. We love each other. We even love you more for, you know, reaching, reaching out to, you know, people like us you know, to be on your platform. And we appreciate that. Oh,

Chuck (host) (20:21):

It's an honor. It's an honor. It truly is an honor. Well, well, thank you so much. I, I, I, I can't thank each of you enough, crystal, Caleb, Jason, Ron. Thank you so much for sharing your story with our audience. Really appreciate it.

Crystal (20:33):

Thank you, Chuck. Thank you.

Caleb (20:34):

Thank you, Chuck.

Chuck (host) (20:36):

Thank you. Have a great day. God bless all. All right.

Crystal (20:39):

Thank you. You too,

Ron (20:39):

Buddy.

Crystal (20:40):

All right.

(System) (20:41):

15 minutes with Chuck.

Chuck (host) (20:45):

Well, I really enjoyed my conversation with voices of today and I'm loving their new single hope and all of their music. They're really incredible. Again, to follow them, just check the show notes, to follow them on social media or go to the website, cammomusic.org. I want to thank them for joining me today. I wanna thank you for joining us as well. Again, you can help us by and help voices of service by sharing this episode with your friends. Thank you so much for taking time. Join us. We'll see you next time. God bless.