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Songwriter Kyle Thompson, who has performed on Spotsylvania battlefield, releases CD of his Civil War music Date published: 5/27/2005
Union soldiers marching through Fredericksburg toward Marye's Heights, with its Confederate cannons, faced a cold reality--their time on Earth was drawing short. Kyle Thompson can relate. In January 2001, Thompson, now 42, was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis--ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. Odds were that he had less than five years to live. What would you do if you knew your fate? Thompson decided to travel cross-country in a journey that would change his life. The great-great-grandson of four Civil War veterans, Thompson visited battle sites including those in the Fredericksburg area. He was horrified by what he saw. "The hallowed ground basically was being overrun by strip malls," Thompson said. "The pieces of history that impacted us all were being obliterated." Last October, Thompson, who lives with his wife in Arizona, came east with longtime friends to record an album of Civil War songs he'd written. He sang at sites where history unfolded--McLean House in Appomattox, Old Salem Church in Spotsylvania County, Dunker Church at Antietam, the Lutheran Seminary at Gettysburg, the Illinois Monument at Vicksburg. "From the Fields," a self-produced 13-track album, is the result of his two-week voyage. Thompson said he feels an emotional kinship with anyone facing certain death, a connection enhanced by his voracious reading of historical accounts and visits to battle sites. "The experience of facing death and the fragility of human life I share that with them and I think there is a little piece of that 'common experience' in every song I wrote for the CD," Thompson said in an e-mail. The CD is now for sale at the bookstores at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park's Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg visitor centers, and on the Web at civilwar.org. Proceeds from album sales will go to the nonprofit Civil War Preservation Trust, which will earmark the funds for battlefield preservation. The trust recently sent a letter to its members sharing Thompson's story and asking for contributions in his honor. David Duncan, the trust's director of membership and development, said nearly half the $250,000 goal was raised in a week, and he expects the rest to follow. The $250,000 will be matched by the HTR Foundation in Florida, and the combined total will be used to secure local, state and federal grants.
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