HMI: What led you and to collaborate with Lillie McCloud and William Adderly to write “What about the Beautiful Children”?
Dr. Carrick: My clinical team attends children with brain injuries that are sent to see us from around the world. Lillie became aware of this work and our charities from television and news reports.
She has strong roots in Gospel music and had dedicated her life to helping children. She had wanted to meet me and by chance her fiancé knew me and arranged for us to meet. She asked how she might help children with neurological compromise and wondered about the use of music, both therapeutically and as a vehicle to bring attention to those in need. I am also a musician and promised her that I would write a song for her to sing. And then the X Factor came about and she became an international hit because of her performances. She called me up and reminded me of my promise. Then Lillie, Billy Adderly and I got together in my music room and wrote the song in an afternoon.
HMI: What was it like working with an artist like Lillie McCloud?
Dr. Carrick: Certainly she has the talent to do great things and a voice that is unique. She has decades of experience and is a true professional. I loved working with her and I have promised to do more when time allows.
HMI: The video for the song is very touching. How did you find the children for the video? Are some of them your patients or students?
Dr. Carrick: Many of the children in the video are my patients as well as some from depressed areas. The Carrick Institute has 28 extension facilities throughout the world and there are so many children and adults that are in need of quality health care. We have a large number of people that loved to participate in this project. We found it meaningful to write and perform and hoped that it might touch the hearts and souls of many people as we are donating proceeds from the sales to our charitable foundation.
HMI: What was the most surprising thing you learned in writing and producing this song?
Dr. Carrick: I was really surprised at how quickly we put this song together. The three of us had never worked together before and it really seemed as if our lives were spent jamming. We have promised to write more and I think that if we had a few weeks in the studio that we could pop out some pretty incredible stuff. Just a crazy good surprise of joy for us.
HMI: Has music always been a part of your life? How does music influence your care of patients and your teaching?
Dr. Carrick: I have played woodwind instruments for over 50 years and certainly music has been a large part of who I am. Music is used clinically and we have many talented music therapists that we engage to complement our treatment of a variety of syndromes. Although this is not a primary therapy for us, my team continues to investigate the consequence of sound and human performance. Our latest publication in this area was published in 2015, “Effect of tone-based sound stimulation on balance performance of normal subjects: preliminary investigation.” I always include music in my lectures in a variety of novel ways. The learners love it and I love it as well. It is a happy pedagogic dance that helps me guide our learners to a greater clinical mastery of complex material.
HMI: How have your HMI experiences influenced your music and teaching?
Dr. Carrick: I just love this question and was thinking about it before you asked it. HMI has already done so very much for me, my patients and those that I am honored to teach. The caring nature of the group learning and passion of my instructors has instilled a fever in me to know and share at a higher level. I hear the music in this and it is beautiful.
HMI: What was the last album you downloaded?
Dr. Carrick: Oh my, Adele just got me!!!
Click here to hear "What About the Beautiful Children"
Frederick R Carrick
