NEWTON — In celebration of Autism Awareness Month in April, Grammy nominated children's musician Brady Rymer will perform a special concert at Newton Theatre as part of his autism-inspired “Love Me for Who I Am” music project.
"The Celebrate the Children School in Wharton invited me out with my guitar to play for the kids, so that they could hear some rockin' music and it turned into an annual concert every year," Rymer said. "I was introduced to the school and kids with special needs. That went on for a couple years. It is a great show and we developed a relationship."
After a few annual trips to the school to bring the music to the children, Rymer realized the kids didn't really have any songs they could call their own.
"The kids needed anthems, songs that they have as their own to shed light on how they see the world," he explained. "Monica, the school's founder, and Dan, the music director, wrote titles to reflect the challenges that the students face and sent them to me. I went off and started writing with the energy still fresh."
After writing these new songs, Rymer recorded them and thus the "Love Me For Who I Am" album was made. The next time he visited the school to play, the children were ecstatic to hear the new songs.
"One girl, the one who suggested the title song for the entire album was so happy. She said 'There are happy peanut butter jars with wings flying around in my head.' And it was the same for the other kids as well. They all know it was the school and them. The entire community knows it as well, the teachers and the parents. They feel entitled to the music because they really feel it."
After playing at the school, Rymer started to dream of bringing the show and the cause to a bigger venue. The Newton Theatre seemed like the perfect place.
"I've been wanting to play there since they opened it," he said. "It works out that one of the people that works there has a child on the spectrum so it was great timing. We decided to plan it for April, with the help of a few other organizations, right in the middle of Autism Awareness Month. The groups, beside Celebrate the Children, that are involved are the Reed Academy, Autism NJ and Autism Speaks."
Rymer hopes for people to get involved and want to help.
"One way to get involved is to come to the Newton Theater," he said. "We are hoping to bring all sorts of people to help out and see the kids, to see and get to know what vibrant, creative kids they are and how great it is. They can also send me song titles to work with. I always love to get titles, or they can contact the school directly. That's another way to start."
Rymer expects the concert to be a lot of fun for all of those in attendance and possibly even a gateway to more events.
"People who come out will have a great time. There will be singing, dancing, hugging. We will play music that is full of energy. It's very up and engaging and interactive. People can expect to be moving," he explained. "I urge people to come out and support the venue and the cause. Success can lead to more help. It will be great for the community on the whole."