As Bob Stevens sat on a log on the beach with his guitar, he looked down at the mass of broken shells under his feet. As he did, the lyrics of his song, “Party On The Beach,” part of this year’s “Red, White & You, Too!” American Red Cross benefit CD just came to him, he said.

“I looked down, and it was all shells. The song just happened in that moment,” Stevens said. “That’s what I try to do — write outdoors, if I can.”

Stevens taught himself to play guitar through trial and error, he said, and had his first show when he was 14 years old. Since then, he has performed and taught guitar lessons, to as many as 50 students at a time. As he became more advanced, he learned music theory from more experienced musicians. Stevens said even from a young age, music was a part of his life.

“My dad played guitar when I was growing up, and a lot of his friends were in really good bluegrass bands,” he said. “As a little kid, I remember sitting around and listening to these guys play.”

Stevens has played with bands in various cities, spending three years in Phoenix with an upscale cover band, and in Nashville, Tennessee, where he worked at Gibson.

“I like regular pop songs, which is weird because that’s a whole different side of me than the guitar player,” Stevens said. “I play a lot of different styles, a little bit of everything, instrumentals, but as far as songwriting the lyrics, I like just simple pop songs. They’re catchy.”

With his new album, Stevens decided to put everything together on his own — lyrics, instrumentals and vocals.

“This record was just to see if I could do it all myself,” Stevens said. “Music is such a universal language. Last fall, I had the chance to go to Italy and meet some family I’d never met from over there. I was in this little village, and there were these two guys with acoustic guitars. They were playing all the things that we play here, but singing them in English. I got up and played a few songs with the guys. It’s a universal language no matter where you are.”

What do you get when you mix a newspaper, a group of talented artists and a deserving cause?

You get the Toledo Free Press’ second annual summer CD, “Red, White & You, Too!”

This year’s CD released on July 3 at Frisch’s Big Boy and Ralphie’s restaurants across Northwest Ohio.

As Editor-in-Chief of the paper, Michael Miller has established two major philanthropic works, one of which is the summer CD. The project will benefit the Disaster Relief Fund and Services to Armed Forces wings of the American Red Cross of Northwest Ohio.

“On a professional level, because the community has responded so strongly to Toledo Free Press and its mission, we have an obligation to use our format to give back to the community,” Miller said.

Miller also had a personal experience with the Red Cross back in 1985, when the apartment building he and his family lived in caught fire.

“It was the American Red Cross and the United Way that sheltered and clothed and shoed and blanketed and got my little family back on its feet. I’ve never forgotten how quick those organizations were to respond,” Miller said.

The first summer CD came out in summer of 2013 and raised more than $10,000. Miller said he hopes the amount raised this year is even greater and the CD’s impact is felt across Northwest Ohio.

“I want [listeners] to be excited by how much local talent there is,” Millers said. “I want them to hear these songs and say, ‘What a band. What a vocalist. What a great song.’”

What’s new in the Red Cross?

Since last year’s CD launched, CEO Tim Yenrick said the Red Cross has used the funds throughout their disaster services unit.

“The dollars raised from the CD were very important to us this year,” Yenrick said. “Obviously with the intensity of our winter this year, we saw a marked increase in disaster services. We responded to home fires and weather related incidents.”

Yenrick said he believes the CD is a fun way to raise money and achieve their goals.

“I think it’s a very unique way to raise dollars and also to get our mission message across in the community,” Yenrick said. “[Our mission is] to alleviate human suffering during disasters and individual crisis.”

Yenrick said he was a fan of last year’s CD project and his favorite tracks were Chrys Peterson’s “The Dock Of The Bay” and the Put-In-Bay trilogy. He added that he has even higher hopes for this year.

“I’m pretty excited about all the original songs” Yenrick said. “[Miller] does such a great job of working with the artists and I’m sure it’s going to be an outstanding CD.”

Yenrick extended his personal thanks to Miller, Thomas Pounds, the artists and Big Boy restaurants for their support during the project.

“I know Mike has worked very hard and the local artists are just great in working with us on the project,” Yenrick said.

Yenrick said he wants the public to know that the Red Cross is steadfast in its dedication to the Northwest Ohio Area.

“We are here, ready to respond, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day and we appreciate financial support,” Yenrick said. “We also appreciate our volunteers who provide 95% of our service in the community. We’re always here ready to respond to a natural disaster and to work with our military families and to provide health and safety training throughout the community.”

Amanda Aldrich, communications specialist for the area Red Cross, said she regards altruism highly.

“It’s genuine selflessness and heartfelt compassion,” Aldrich said. “It’s looking outside yourself and offering what you have: talents, time, money, to make things better for someone else. It can be big or it can be small, but everything you do can make a difference.”

A Red Cross success story:

On September 7, 2013, Tina Zeiter was preparing to celebrate her daughter’s wedding. The event was set for the following week at Zeiter house. Family gathered and worked tirelessly to prepare the space for a memorable day.

No one could have foreseen what happened at 12:30 a.m. on September 8.

Zeiter awoke to her grandson Chase’s cries and ran out to find the house enveloped in smoke. Her first thought: find grandchildren Chase, 9, and Savanna, 4.

“Before I realized it, I had swallowed a big gulp of heavy, black smoke,” Zeiter said. “I didn’t think to cover my mouth at the time, only to get the kids out of the room. I grabbed the kids; Chase was still on the bed and was helping me look for Savanna on the lower bed. He could see her only because she had put the light-up bracelets on her bear’s wrist and she had the bear beside her, still asleep.”

Zeiter’s family made it outside, but the emotional toll the incident took was massive.

“It’s almost as if you go numb,” Zeiter said. “Even today, I can still feel the emotions go through me.  It’s almost unexplainable, it’s like you are falling and can’t stop and no one is there to catch you.  You just go through the movements, answer the questions, but you are in a daze.  To have the weight of responsibility on your shoulders alone for the safety of your own children and grandchildren, as well as the loss of your house is unimaginable.”

Zeiter said from the moment she stepped out of the house, Red Cross of Northwest Ohio was ready to help.

“The Red Cross helped by arranging a place for us to stay for the first two nights and providing us with a debit card to be used to purchase food and clothing,” Zeiter said. “ We only had the pajamas on our backs when we left the house. I had grabbed a jacket in my bedroom as I raced out, but that was it. We didn’t even have shoes to wear.”

What really stood out to Zeiter was the emotional support she gained from the organization.

“It was when I finally sat down in the truck and listened to the volunteers that I finally began to cry,” Zeiter said. “It was like I needed to be strong in front of my family, but my family wasn’t in the truck. The Red Cross team was very comforting. I felt as if I didn’t have to bear all the weight, that someone else was going to take charge now and tell me what to do.”

Since early this year, Zeiter and her family have been living in their newly renovated home, courtesy of contractor Cousino Harris.

“When I wake up in the morning or when I go home at night, I am struck by the sense of appreciation I have for the people who have touched my life and have been there for me, whether it be the Red Cross as a support, the contractor rebuilding my home, the insurance representative, friends and family, that have been there to support me and my family. I am truly thankful for their role in my life,” Zeiter said.

The funds from this year’s CD will help guarantee that, in the event of such tragedy, the Red Cross can step in and save a family some of the added pain.

“People should know that those working for the Red Cross are clearly very special people,” Zeiter said. “Most of us may never cross paths with the Red Cross, but those of us who will, the Red Cross is as much of a financial support, providing food, clothing and shelter, as they are an emotional support.”

A volunteer’s perspective:

Bo McComas has been a volunteer with the Red Cross for years.

“When I retired, a friend of mine said I might want to consider the Red Cross because I absolutely love helping people,” McComas said. “I decided to advance and I’m a volunteer supervisor now. I just love it.”

McComas assists in the local Disaster Action Team (DAT), which deals with fires and other similar incidents. He also flies around the country to assist in repairs following tornados and hurricanes.

“I’m also a Service to the Armed Forces (SAF) worker,” McComas said. “When there is a death or an illness in the family of the service member, the Red Cross will give the notification to the service member. I follow up and make sure the service member was able to make it home.”

The last year has seen much activity for McComas.

“I have responded to three natural disasters and I have reached four house fires,” McComas said. “I’m in the middle of five SAF cases as we speak, doing follow ups for the military.”

McComas said people should become aware that the Red Cross does projects with the intention of letting victims recover at their own pace.

“We offer the shelter, food and clothing,” McComas said. “The way we do that is we actually give them a credit card. That makes them independent and allows them to do their own recovery.”

This year’s donation will ensure volunteers like McComas have the means to assist in future disasters.

Artists take control:

“Red, White & You, Too!” is different from previous Toledo Free Press charity projects because almost every track is an original both written and performed by the artist.

“I’ve always relied on cover songs because they’re well known and it’s an easier sell,” Miller said. “When music began to come in for this year’s summer project, the originals were so outstanding and they were so professionally recorded and produced, I lost that fear.”

The selection process was extensive, as Miller had to sort through the nearly 40 submissions to find the songs that really spoke to the theme of the project.

“My methodology is to play them in the car, everywhere I go, which means in the middle of January’s deep freeze I’m playing these summer tracks,” Millers said. “Only through repeated exposure can you figure out how they fit together and how they work off each other.”

Miller has worked with a few of the artists on previous projects, but many new voices grace this year’s summer project.

“It’s easy to get comfortable and rely on some of the same artists,” Millers said. “I know they would answer the call. For the health of the project and for my personal interest in the project, working with new artist is an important step. It’s important to challenge yourself and not get complacent.”

Summer CD staples Kyle White and Pat Dailey, who Miller said is the definition of summer music, did make this year’s track list. Miller said he did make an effort to include some newcomers whose contributions really stood out.

“Having new groups like Thirsty Houligans, Zak Ward or Birds of Chicago contribute really did freshen up the project for me personally and I hope that is communicated to the listeners as well,” Miller said.

Mighty’s mighty contribution:

Matt Fehr, professionally known as Mighty Wyte, has been donating studio time to Miller’s CD projects for years.

Though he said his role is much greater on the Christmas CD, the Red Cross project also receives a good deal of his input.

“I basically assist with final assembly, trimming any ‘dead’ space at the front or back of any song, making sure all artist and song information is correctly entered and ‘CD Text’ is enforced,” Fehr said. “I burn the final ‘Red Book’ and give it to Miller for final inspection before it’s sent out and pressed.”

Fehr first got involved with these projects a few years back because Miller is a close friend and giving back is something he strongly endorses.

“I can help a lot of people and some great causes just by gifting my talent,” Fehr said. “It’s one of those things where I can turn grains of sand into pearls.”

Giving to charities like Red Cross, Fehr said, can only benefit in the long run.

“People say ‘treat others as you wish to be treated’ but rarely practice it,” Fehr said. “So to help someone or some charitable organization out just makes good karmic sense.”

Fehr also commends Miller’s dedication to his charity projects.

“Miller takes on a great deal of the workload when it comes to all of these projects,” Fehr said. “He’s entirely too humble about how much work he puts into these things and doesn’t mind hiding from the general public just how much time and effort goes into these things.”

Fehr considers Miller a close friend, so the project provides him with a short quality time with the editor.

“He’s an amazing guy and he’s insanely busy,” Fehr said. “So to get a few hours a year to just work with him on a project is pretty fun.”

Fehr is proud of this year’s project and says the team who worked on it was dedicated to create an amazing CD.

“Me, the other engineers who work on the audio and the people who contribute music work very hard to create a quality catalog of music,” Fehr said. “We’re not selling hack-job recordings of poorly arranged or unfamiliar material. Everything is produced as well as it can be, engineered as well as it can be and packaged like any other off-the-shelf CD.”

The music of Zak Ward has reached new heights in the past year, even gaining international interest.

“We put out a CD in late March called ‘This Wonderful Playground’ and we’ve also had two music videos, one of which was produced in England,” Ward said. “It’s been a crazy, crazy surreal experience and an honor. That type of thing didn’t happen 10-15 years ago. It’s all because of social media and developing relationships online.”

RELATED: Summer CD of local music to benefit American Red Cross

Ward is a major proponent of altruism and, to show his charitable nature, he contributed his song “Beautiful” to this year’s “Red, White & You, Too!” benefit CD.

“I’m really appreciative of Toledo Free Press and the Red Cross for accepting this donation of music from all of us musicians and allowing local artists to be featured,” Ward said. “It’s an honor to be a part of it for that specific reason. It’s also awareness of what kind of art is happening in the Toledo, Northwest Ohio area.”

Ward’s lyrics are drawn from a combination of sources.

“Inspiration comes from just being a fan of music and life in general,” he said.

“Beautiful” is a song that Ward hopes is open to interpretation but the overall message is one familiar to listeners.

“Generally speaking, it’s kind of like a love song as it relates to appreciating beauty,” he said.

For this song, Ward collaborated with fellow musician Bob Stevens, who also has a track on the CD. Ward said he thinks musicians should always give back to their communities.

“Musicians are in a very lucky position as it relates to helping with charities because it’s really effortless for us to donate art for someone to raise money for a cause.

“Anytime that I have an opportunity to help raise funds for our society, our city, certainly I’m compelled to do so,” Ward said. “Raising money for any type of charity organization [offers] huge fulfillment because I have something I can actually contribute.”

In the upcoming year, Ward said he and the group plan to assemble a visual concert series, as well as complete another album and music video.

After months of lingering low temperatures, summertime in Toledo has “been a long time comin’,” and The Bradberries are celebrating the new season with its “Generic Summer Song.”

This track for “Red, White, & You, Too!” is designed to sound like a standard country song, complete with guitar strummin’, Southern accents and a beer belly that “ain’t never gonna get full.”

“We obviously wanted to do a summer song and Scott had an idea for a country song,” band member Brad Bury said. “The majority of country songs have to do with drinking beer, pickup trucks and girls in bikinis … so let’s do a song based on that.”

RELATED: Summer CD of local music to benefit American Red Cross

The three-man band recorded all the music for “Generic Summer Song” on the first take without having to redo anything before adding vocals to it.

“It pretty much just took an hour. We could’ve spent more time on it. But, as our bass player says, we’re not making gold records,” Bury said, laughing. “We know maybe a handful of country cover songs so playing ‘Generic Summer Song’ is definitely something different. We usually just play dance music.”

The trio includes Bury on drums, Scott Ballard on fiddle and guitar and Tom Kemper on bass. All three are veteran vocalists who have known each other and played in bands together for more than 20 years.

“We play as much as we can but we really don’t practice together,” Bury said. “We’re all seasoned musicians so we often learn songs on our own then play them out the first time when we’re at a gig together. It works because we’re all just on the same page.”

About a year and a half ago, the three friends decided to form a band. Today, they perform nearly every weekend.

“We’re pretty much a cover band that plays other people’s music when we play out,” Bury said. “Our No. 1 priority as a band is to have fun. If we do that, and people enjoy our music, then we’re happy.”

“I miss those brown eyes and that flowing hair / I miss the way you showed how much you care.”

Ryan Wayton began writing his song, “Samson,” when a previous girlfriend asked him to write a love song for her.

“She wasn’t very supportive of my music, or just music in general,” Wayton said. “She’d get upset when I’d go to play, and she said, ‘Why don’t you write me a love song?’ I thought that asking for one kind of defeated the purpose of writing a love song. It just seemed so forced.”

Wayton began writing the song anyway, but the two soon broke up. When they separated, she took his Pomeranian with her.

“She was pretty ruthless about the dog and tried to use him as leverage,” Wayton said. “The hope was that she would eventually hear this, be flattered, and then realize the song was about the dog. It’s like my last ditch effort to get my dog back.”

RELATED: Summer CD of local music to benefit American Red Cross

On the “Red, White & You, Too!” CD, the song is performed by Wayton’s band Tropic Bombs. Wayton began Tropic Bombs with Jon Hammond, who helped Wayton in the songwriting process.

Wayton began his musical career by playing drums before he picked up singing, and he played in multiple bands before Tropic Bombs came together.

“It’d been a couple of years since we had played together, and we just got together to jam,” Wayton said. “We didn’t think we’d form a band. It was actually an accident.”

While playing one day, the group switched from playing rock to reggae, but Hammond forgot to put a pedal down. The sound that came about was still reggae, but with a twist, Wayton said.

“At first it was kind of a joke,” Wayton said. “We laughed about it. But then we realized that it was a really cool sound.”

Now the band performs live and produces all their recordings. Hammond is no longer part of Tropic Bombs, but the remaining members took on several other musicians, including Steve Dwyer on drums, Nick Archer on bass and Justin Crumley and Ben Snyder on guitar.

“I don’t think we can be judged by just one song,” Wayton said. “We’re really a live band. We always want to play in Toledo and have people come and have a good time. We do everything ourselves. Our goal is to bring people together to have a fun time in Toledo. We’re really about Toledo.”

Toledoans Nathan, Joel and Daniel Trzcinski credit a Jack White sighting in Nashville, Tennessee, as the impetus for finally settling on a name for their band.

The brothers were in Nashville , Tennessee, playing a show when they saw a flier advertising The Old Birds.

“I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if we were The New Birds?’” Nathan said.

“When he said that, we were all quiet,” Joel said. “It was the first time we were all quiet and not immediately [saying], ‘No, no, no.’”

A minute later, they saw the musician White walking to his car,

“At that point, we thought, ‘It was meant to be,’” Joel said. “Seeing Jack White after you say anything, you might want to hang on to that.”

“It was a good omen,” Nathan agreed.

RELATED: Summer CD of local music to benefit American Red Cross

Nathan, a singer-songwriter and guitarist, recorded a solo album in 2011 as Nathan Roberts, adapting his middle name for his stage name. The following year, needing a full band for shows, he invited older brother Joel on drums and younger brother Daniel on keyboard and guitar to join, forming Nathan Roberts & The New Birds.

The group’s song, “In Stereo,” is featured on the American Red Cross of Northwest Ohio benefit CD, “Red, White & You, Too!” The track originally appeared on the band’s 2013 self-titled debut album, which rose to No. 78 on the CMJ charts, which registers college and noncommecial airplay.

“For me the song is about unplugging from your surroundings, like when you put on a good vinyl and you’re going out of your way to listen to music,” Nathan said. “Not like when you have headphones on and you’re working, but when you’re completely diving into an artform and letting yourself go.”

“In Stereo” was fairly easy to write, Nathan said.

“I had this melody in my head and I sat down with the guitar,” he said. “The guitar part going into the verse, I recorded on my phone. The next morning, I had to be somewhere early and the idea was still in my head. As I was driving, lyrics came to me.”

The brothers were happy to be part of the Red Cross fundraiser.

“Anytime we are approached about something that benefits someone else, it’s a no-brainer to me to help out,” Joel said. “We’re always willing to be part of something like that.”

Mike “Fish” Fisher’s folk music has been called “mountain music from the Rust Belt,” a description he embraces.

“I do a lot of traveling and writing down South. That’s where my weird sound comes from that doesn’t really belong up here,” Fisher said.

He spends most of the spring and summer playing music in Toledo. In the fall and winter he heads south where he plays shows and occasionally escapes into the woods to hike.

“It’s hard to be out in the mountains and the woods and not get inspired,” he said.

Fisher wrote “You’re a Stunner” in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.

“It’s basically a collection of cheap pickup lines I’ve embedded in my head and I just put them in the right order and made them rhyme,” Fisher said. “I was riding into Asheville, North Carolina, for dinner and thought of it on the ride there and then I jotted it down on whatever napkin or placemat was there. Then I tweaked the wordplay for the next couple weeks.”

RELATED: Summer CD of local music to benefit American Red Cross

He said he wrote the song with his wife Christina in mind.

“They are all things that at one time or another I said to my wife,” Fisher said. “I’m always trying to come up with the next clever thing to impress her.”

The lighthearted song is part of Fisher’s not-so-lighthearted second album, “Gunpowder & Gasoline,” which came out in May.

“I knew I had some very deep songs coming on the album and some challenging things and I just kind of wanted to write one that’s fun to hear and fun to play,” he said.

Fisher recorded the song with producer E.J. Wells in Waterville.

“We’ve worked together so long he can read my mind,” Fisher said. “I told him I wanted a down-home flavor for the pop-oriented song. We added banjo under the track. That added some roots and let the melody be the pop part.”

Fisher planned to submit the song to last year’s American Red Cross benefit CD, but the recording wasn’t done in time. After the album came out, Fisher gave a copy to Toledo Free Press Editor in Chief Michael S. Miller, who asked him about using “You’re a Stunner” on this year’s CD.

“That confirmed it for me,” Fisher said. “It kind of picked itself.”

Many who are familiar with Fisher’s folk performances wouldn’t guess he’s also part of a heavy metal band, Societys Ugly Son, which performs all original songs and has released five albums.

Fisher said he’s happy to lend his talents to a cause like the American Red Cross of Northwest Ohio.

“Usually musicians can give back more by what we’re creating than what we own,” Fisher said. “I don’t have much to give but I can give you access to things I wrote.”

After going through nursing school and practicing for 15 years, Cindy Slee was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

The autoimmune disease took what had been her life, her whole career, and made it completely impossible to maintain.

But Slee said music had been a part of her life no matter what she was doing, so when nursing was no longer an option, she was able to return to that love. The switch led her to write “Happy As A Jaybird,” which she donated to the American Red Cross “Red, White & You, Too!” CD.

RELATED: Summer CD of local music to benefit American Red Cross

Even before nursing school, Slee said she fell in love with the guitar. By her late teens, she was performing in groups. In nursing school, she met Theresa Konwinski and the two wrote and played music together.

After nursing school, Konwinski moved, but they continued to write songs via email. When Konwinski moved back to the Toledo area, she suggested the two get back together. The band they formed was called Stat Band, because they were both nurses, Slee said.

“Happy As A Jaybird” was conceived when Slee heard her mother say that exact phrase.

“Any songwriter will tell you that it’s so great when a song just falls into place,” Slee said.

“I was out West, visiting my parents in Las Vegas, and I keep a guitar there. My mom said something about being ‘happy as a jaybird,’ and I said, ‘You know, that’d make a great line.’ So probably by the time I left there, I had written the lyrics.”

Slee said her inspiration, what drives her to play music, is that no matter what mood you might be in music has the ability to take you to a different place.

“She has demonstrated a lot of courage over the years,” Konwinski said. “She’s had some really dark days. When she first got [diagnosed], it progressed so quickly that we were afraid she’d never get out of the wheel chair. She’s so determined and not self-pitying. And her fearlessness is what gave her the ability to do music on her own. That’s not easy to just get your guitar and yourself and play in front of people.”