Robin Lane

Once fronting the Boston-based Chartbusters, Robin Lane is still rocking. She is the founder of Songbird Sings, a non-profit which helps trauma victims heal through songwriting.

(Photo Courtesy Robin Lane)

In the early 80s, Robin Lane's "When Things Go Wrong" was a hit on the FM radio and she and her new-wave band, the Chartbusters, were MTV pioneers and playing out in the Boston clubs and beyond.

The Los Angeles native is now settled in the hills of Western Massachusetts running a non-profit which helps trauma victims heal through the power of music. "Songbird Sings" has helped female victims of violence, and is now working with veterans who suffer from trauma, addiction, and post traumatic stress syndrome, or PTSD.



The program was recently chosen by Pearl Jam as a beneficiary of its Vitalogy Foundation. The band donated $1 of every ticket sold at their August 5 and 7 Fenway Park shows in Boston to four Massachusetts non-profits, and Veterans Voices made the cut.

"Songwriting for war veterans with PTSD helps them get in touch with feelings that may have been isolated and numbed," said Lane. "It allows them to feel and process actual emotions that are not dominated by trauma, start the process of making healthy life choices, and regain control over their own lives."

The grant money will be used to hold songwriting workshops for veterans, she said. Each session includes 10-20 participants working in a collaborative environment to develop community, find their voices, and share their stories in song.

Songwriting and singing "takes participants out of the broken places, the darkness, the hopelessness," said Lane. "They realize they are not alone, and begin to experience joy through the songs they write and the validation they receive from other participants who are also writing their stories into song."

Songbird Sings' Veterans Voices will also receive support from the Foundation To Be Named Later (FTBNL), a charitable fund launched in 2005 by Paul Epstein, a Boston-area social worker, and his twin brother, former Boston Red Sox general manager and Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein.

"We are so honored to join forces with FTBNL to provide much-needed financial support for four incredible Boston-area non-profits," said Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard when the grant was announced. "A huge thanks to Pearl Jam and FTBNL for their support. We couldn't be more grateful," said Lane.

The band's Fenway Park shows broke attendance records with 72,722 tickets sold over the course of two nights, translating into $18,180.50 for each of the four non-profits.

For more information, go to www.songbirdsings.org.