Local musicians work to benefit flooded families

Making music is often a lonely act. The melody, the meaning, and the feeling are personal and come from within the maker.

But sometimes, musicians come together to share the same melody, the same meaning and the same feeling and create something greater than the sum of their parts.

Almost two years after water spilled over the banks of the Cedar, displacing families, destroying entire neighborhoods, and redefining the very face and feel of the city, some Cedar Rapids musicians have banded together to do their part in rebuilding.

Featuring over a dozen area musicians performing on sixteen songs, “We're Coming Back” explores the damage done by the flood, but also, evokes the hope of a community trying to bounce back.

“We are musicians,” said Lori Blattner, 44, who sings and plays guitar. “Making this record is the one thing we can do.”

The idea for this album, one that has brought some of the most talented area players and engineers together, started on a blank piece of paper in Blattner's second-floor apartment in southwest Cedar Rapids.

“We were the first ones back,” Blattner said. “There were no lights, no electricity, it smelled, it was dirty ... and there was no one around.”

One night in September of 2008, Blattner started writing. In less than an hour, she had two songs, a small spark. Then an employee at Stars Guitars in northeast Cedar Rapids, Blattner knew a few musicians, and the spark caught on like wildfire.

Craig Erickson fanned those flames. A manager at the Music Loft store and studio, he watched the flood take his home, his work, and thousands of dollars worth of equipment and instruments. The Cedar Rapids native and guitarist played at the clubs and bars that met the same fate as his shop and for him, “We're Coming Back” was a way to remember what was lost.

“People forget about disasters like this. They need reminders,” Erickson said. “Artists and musicians, we can translate the depth of the disaster into something that reaches beyond their head and touches their heart.”

Two years after the flood and more than 200 hours spent recording, mastering and mixing the new album volunteered by Kevin Rife at his home recording studio in Marion, “We're Coming Back” will go on sale in June over iTunes, Best Buy and at Barnes and Nobles.

The proceeds are going to Flood Them With Love to help the organization get money directly to those flood victims who need it most.

“Music is emotion in sound,” said Karla Goettel, founder and director of Flood Them With Love. “We need to touch people emotionally and make them realize how much suffering is going on in their community.”

Added Goettel: “It will take the whole community to make us whole again.”

The musicians and producers behind “We're Coming Back” plan on putting on a benefit concert on June 12 in Cedar Rapids to commemorate the two year anniversary of the flood.