Behind the scenes - The Project Begginings
I (Paul) first got turned on to Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) when the late Tony Snow was doing weekends at WLS Radio Chicago, where I do my weekly Drive Chicago show on Saturday mornings. I was moved by Tony’s descriptions and passion for supporting WWP. I knew at some point real soon I was going to get on the WWP bus. Since then I’ve been doing small fundraising programs for WWP via freelance voice work here in the Chicagoland area and serve on several other military boards in the area.
I’m a big believer in fate. I tend to think that Tony brought WWP to my life and attention for a reason and that I’ve always been destined to help in some way. I think the Big Book of our Life is already written, so I’m happy that it has brought me to this album. I’m proud that Joe and I have been able to collaborate on this collection of poems, songs and music. And hey, I know that the word “album” is so “old fashioned” and that it’s a CD, but I tend to think of this CD--any CD, actually--as an album in much the same way that you look at a photo album. So get off my case and no cracks about the gray hair, OK? 1. I’m glad it’s still there; 2. It started turning that color when I was in my twenties; and 3. It’s all part of my plan to be mistaken for Donald Sutherland (even though he's 15 years my senior!) at any opportunity I can find.
Hi, It’s Joe here! I’ve known the WWP folks for a long time. When Paul called and asked me to partner with him on recording a few poems, I was in! Little did I know it was going to turn into an album of Christmas music. One of the cuts, “I Want a Kiss” was recorded more than 25 years ago, and was written by my brother-in-law as a special Christmas present. My sister and their six children recorded it, and that's me playing all the music. I can’t believe it’s been that long, but it has. I produced this cut on an old 2” 24-track tape that sat in my sisters basement all these years.
When Paul’s and my project came along I knew that the song would have a special place on our CD and would help lift the spirit of our Military and patriots. Those little voices; ages 6-19 back then, now have kids (some in the 20's) big enough to sing along, too. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard at Christmas time, “Hey, Uncle Joe, what ever happened to that song we sang?!” Well, I’m thrilled and proud that it fit precisely when we needed it. I hope you enjoy it as much as my entire family does as we sing it together every Christmas.
I’m not going to dwell on it here, but my reason for being involved in so many Military projects is because I lost my cousin, Ryan J. Cantafio - USMC, on Thanksgiving Day in 2004, while he was serving in Iraq. You can read all about him, Paul and me in other sections of this Website. I think, though, that Ryan and a lot of his buddies were watching over us as this project came together on an incredibly short timetable. Amazingly, we were able to pull it off, and I hope that you enjoy it. Ohhh--and wait until you hear the amazing story of the beautiful Spanish/classical guitar I used on these recordings. There was truly magic in the studio during these sessions.
The lesson I learned doing this project is, if Paul Brian asks you to help with a project for the Troops, drop what you are doing and rise to the occasion. During the recording process, we've shared side-splitting laughs at 4:00 AM, and we've shared tears while thinking/talking of friends and family we’ve lost. Yes, we’ve shared it all in making this project a reality. When I answered Paul's call in late October, never did I think we would have been on the roller coaster we’ve enjoyed and endured in producing this CD.
If you have questions about how we did it, fire away! Some things we’ll be able to tell, others remain “classified for the protection of the innocent,” but at least you’ll get a good story out of it!
Soldiers
Christmas Project
The late Press Secretary Tony Snow, with soldier very close to front line.
The late Tony Snow flanked by WLS Don Wade and Roma in the Chicago studios
Soldiers Chrismas Project founders
Paul Brian and Joe Cantafio
Paul and Jack
Joe received a giant thank you for entertaining our soldiers through Illinois USO from the group's president, Tony Inrietto.
Copy Write Soldiers Christmas Project 2009 All Rights Reserved
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Hi and welcome to our project blog. Perhaps you’re not aware--and you wouldn’t be alone--of who the heck we are, so please allow us to introduce ourselves.
Joe is Joe Cantafio and Paul is Paul Brian. If you don't know us--and if you’re interested, you can find our bio information and photos of us (some heavily retouched to make us look--dare we say--human!?) Oh geez, we like to kid--and we’re like a couple of kids, too. So take about half of what we say seriously, and know that we’re kidding, but on some subjects we’re very serious. Motivating people to think about our vets at Christmas time is one of them.
Briefly though, Paul is a US Army veteran, Board Member of Operation Homefront Illinois and a member of the US Army Chicago Recruting Battallion Grassroots Advisory Board. He's also a dedicated booster of WWP and the USO. With any luck, he'll be embedded with a unit in Afghanistan to tell the stories of soldiers very very soon!
A Gold Star family member, Joe is well known in military circles and has performed with his 101st Rock Division Band countless times; everywhere from Chicago to Iraq to Africa to "Anywhere they'll have me!" He is Executive Director of the National Veterans Museum and is hoping to return to the Middle East in the upcoming year.
Paul Brian Joe Cantafio
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