God bless America

If you haven't already heard of Dennis Madalone, then you have been sorely deprived. His song 'America we stand as one' has recently achieved the lofty accolade of being the “most downloaded song on the Internet”. Indeed, I'm such a fan that I have actually posted a link to his song before in an earlier blog, but for those of you who missed out, just click on the word patriot.

Now Dennis' song represents a new genre in American music commonly referred to as “Patriot Rock”, which largely sprung about as a response to the tragedies of September 11th. I myself was instantly a fan of both Dennis' song and the new genre from the moment I first heard 'America we stand as one'. Indeed, so moved was I, that I decided to email Dennis personally, just to let him know just how much I appreciated his music video and song, and to inquire if there was a chance I might get to see the man himself!

- Dear Dennis

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to you patriotic rock anthem. I'm actually Scottish, but for some reason that song made me too feel proud for America, and just for a second a bit like an American too. I am currently teaching English at a a Japanese Junior High school. My school is near Misawa, America's northernmost base in Japan. I was wondering if you have any plans to play your mega rock smash hit to the troops anytime soon? I would love to get a chance to see it performed live. I look forward to your response, and many thanks for all the work you are doing for charity.

Ewen Wyness

Now Dennis Madalone is a busy man, not only is he now a semi-professional musician thanks to his song, but he is also kept occupied by his day job working as a stunt coordinator on the Star Trek TV series. Incredibly, Dennis managed to find some spare time in amongst his busy schedule to respond to my email.

- Dear Ewin / thank you for youir kind and Beautiful words about our song / please send me your mailing address and I will send your the cd and dvd of our song. p s what size t- shirt do you want / of cource there is no charge it is truly a gift. love to you and allll.dennis madalone and my family.

Good old Dennis is a man who keeps his word, for only a week later a parcel absolutely brimming with patriotic goodies had arrived all the way from the US of A. In amongst this bountiful feast of Americana I received a patriotic T-shirt, a CD of the single, 2 signed DVDs, 2 signed Photos, and two signed business cards! What touched me most, however, were the messages Dennis hand wrote, they were true words of kindness:

• “Ewen, your kindness is touching the world”

• “Ewen, Keep on being you”

• “Always believe”

And it wasn't just me who Dennis addressed his kind words to, there was a special photo enclosed for my students with the gentle message “For the kids. God bless you all”, and one of the DVDs was marked “For the world”. So I just wanted to write a little thank you blog to Dennis, both for his highly entertaining, and in ways inspirational music video, and also for just being a ruddy good bloke. If you should die Dennis, I'm sure we'll all remember that you're with us in a different way.