Empire Drift’s Acoustics for Autism benefit CD contribution is “Piece of Heart,” a song recorded in 2009 — the same year the band’s “A Good Place To Call Home” won the inaugural Song of Toledo contest.

“It seemed like a good fit for Acoustics for Autism,” said percussionist and vocalist Allen Spencer.

Started in 2007, Empire Drift is a hard-to-classify band with music ranging from piano/acoustic to aggressive alternative songs. The band’s name comes from band members’ tendency to “drift” from genre to genre.

They claim to be the only band in the world to perform a “power hour” (60 songs in 60 minutes) and they gave away more than 17,000 copies of their debut album “Reality is Genius.”

Empire Drift also won the 2008 Regional Superstar Competition, which earned them a recording contract for their second album.

Although the band is currently inactive due to its members living in various parts of the country, they’ll be headlining the March 15 St. Patrick’s Day Party at The Blarney Irish Pub and playing at the Roundhouse Bar on Put-in-Bay this summer.

“We have another album coming out this year with new material we’ve been working on,” said Spencer, who has been involved with Acoustics for Autism every year since it started, performing in various bands and acoustic sets.

“Over the past 10 to 12 years, I’ve had a handful of friends who’ve worked full time at Bittersweet Farms, which houses and takes care of people with autism and similar disabilities,” Spencer said. “I’m happy to be part of the event and plan to continue taking part in it.”

For more information on Empire Drift, or for a free download of their album, visit www.empiredrift.com.

Wilson Lake and the Rock Bass began when singer-songwriter Tom Jackson wrote music for his family to sing at their cottage.

Jackson became interested in sharing the kid-friendly lyrics of his folksy tunes outside his close circle. He recruited his father-in-law Don Staczek and his friend Sandy Skala.

“It’s rock ’n’ roll with a ’50s vibe,” said Jackson of his group’s sound.

Once the band had created enough songs about hiking, camping and other outdoor activities, they released their self-titled debut CD.

Since adding two more members — Brian Strong on keyboard and vocals and Mike Harshman on bass and vocals — they’ve followed up with their second LP, “Ultrasonic Adventurephonic.”

The band is interested in spreading autism awareness with nonprofits like Project iAm due, in part, to the rising percentage of children diagnosed. As a high school English teacher, Jackson see firsthand how autism affects daily lives.

“I have children of my own who are not autistic, but knowing the rising number is out there, I want to make people more aware,” Jackson said.

“It’s a great cause and everyone associated has done a great job. I’m just happy to be part of it.”

For more information, visit www.wilsonlakeandtherockbass.com. Wilson Lake and the Rock Bass will perform at 3 p.m. March 9 in The Village Idiot’s outdoor tent.

John Barile’s career as a musician has been all about going with the flow and letting things fall into place.

Originally from Cleveland, Barile visited Toledo in 1991, and ended up staying longer than he anticipated.

“I came up here to visit some friends, and I ended up playing at Frankie’s one night, and was offered [a gig] every Wednesday.”

Barile was introduced to the world of music by his father, playing druims at age 5.

One day he just decided to stop playing drums, and picked up the guitar.

The change has worked well for him since.  Barile has been a Toledo regular along with his frequent musical collaborator, longtime Toledo musician Bobby May.

“Me and Bobby just take all the covers we know and make them our own,” Barile said.  “Everything we do, we make our own.”

Barile added that he enjoys the wide range of songs that he is able to play with someone as experienced as May.

“It’s a joy and an honor to play with him.  He’s forgotten more songs than I’ll ever know in my lifetime.”

Barile was first asked to join Acoustics for Autism by his friend and its founder, Nicole Khoury.

“Nicole and I did an acoustic duo for a while,” Barile said.  “And me and Bobby have been doing [Acoustics for Autism] ever since it started.”

For the new Acoustics for Autism CD, Barile wrote a song, “Pitter Patter,” about his daughter.

“For the first 3 and a half years of her life, I would lay on the couch and always hear her little feet running up and down the hallways, and it would make this little ‘pitter-patter’ sound on the wood floors.  It’s about the things we’ve done so far, and the things we’re going to do.”

Barile noted that he and May usually take most of the winter off, but play more frequently during the warmer months.

“It gets a little hectic.”

Despite the busy schedule, Barile is happy to be a musician in the Glass City, and content with his place in the musical universe.

“I’m not worried about 30,000 people and millions of dollars,” he said.  I like doing what I’m doing now.  I like walking into a bar, and being able to make one person’s night.  It makes everything worth it.”

“People around here that come and listen to music are fantastic.  They support it 100% in this city.  The musicians in this city, I will put up against any musicians in the country.”

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Northwest Ohio native Anthony Beck is no stranger to the Toledo music scene, having started his first band when he was 15, and he has been a long time supporter of Acoustics for Autism (AFA). This will be Beck’s fifth year performing at the AFA benefit concert alongside Allen Spencer as acoustic duo cover band Captain Sweet Shoes, and his first year contributing to the charity’s compilation CD.

“This is the first time I’ve done a solo work. I’ve been a part of five albums with three bands, but I have never done anything solo,” said Beck, whose acoustic-style is influenced by artists such as Thom Yorke and Sigur Rós. “It’s a little scary. If you’re part of a band, it’s a group effort and the audience judges the band, but solo is different in that people are judging you directly.”

For the AFA album, Beck is contributing a piece entitled “Iron Soul,” which is about never giving up on one’s dreams and choosing the road less traveled. Beck was inspired to write the song by watching a friend choose the “safe path” in her career and relationships at the expense of her own musical ambitions. 

“I saw her walk away from her talents and the abilities she was blessed with to follow the safe path. ‘Iron soul’ is about the dangers of that safe road. The hook is the song is: ‘Safe is an iron soul if you can stay on dry ground.’ It’s a warning that your soul can turn into a cold, hard, impenetrable thing, the weight of which can carry you under.”

For Beck, “Iron Soul” is more personal than just some observations on a friend’s choices. This song, as well as the album he is working on, are his first efforts at song writing in three years. “I wrote ‘Iron Soul’ as a reminder to myself,” he said. “My band had just broke up. I got a 50-hour a week job in corporate America. That seemed like the safe thing to do. This song is a reminder not to give up on what I’m passionate about. Else, the weight will pull me under.”

Beck has worked as a semi-professional musician touring regionally with his band in the past, but this year he made a personal resolution to create a solo album. “I’m no less passionate or serious than before, but now I don’t have to write for anyone’s ears but my own.” Beck has worked on every aspect of this solo work independently from his home, except for bass tracks played by Dave Thatcher. 

It means a great deal to Beck to have his first completed solo song appear on the first AFA compilation CD.

“They’re a phenomenal cause. I have a cousin who is autistic so when I heard what they were doing years ago, it immediately piqued my interest. If you can play an awesome show with some of most awesome musicians in the area, it doesn’t get any better than that.”

For more information, visit www.captainsweetshoes.com. Beck is performing at 4 p.m. March 9 on The Village Idiot Main Stage.

The end of “Ides,” a track by Poormercy featured on Project iAm’s Acoustics for Autism benefit CD, features a sample of actor Charlie Chaplin.

“[He says] ‘I don’t want to be a judgmental person. I don’t want to be a dictator. I don’t want to be an emperor. There’s room for everyone.’ You don’t have to have any one big ego, if you will,” said Poormercy band member Shawn Daley.

The track was recorded in 2004 by Poormercy, which formed in 2003 but has been on hiatus since 2007. It was written for an EP the band promoted during a nationwide battle of the bands contest for Fuse.

“The winner won a recording contract and we got nothing,” Daley said. “The song kind of was fitting. You always have to be better, faster, stronger [and] you have to meet all these criteria to be the best but you’re never going to be good enough and, sure enough, it was life imitating art.”

Daley said everyone faces being told that they’ll never be enough, but he says there’s room for everyone.

“The mentality going into that session … [was] the mythological idea of pushing the boulder up a mountain; that was the starting point for that track,” Daley said.

Daley said it was an “incredible honor” to be included on the Acoustics for Autism benefit CD. He’s been familiar with the program and will be involved with the event later this year.

“I’m the DJ that warms the crowd up before the headliner,” Daley said.

Daley said the CD project highlights talent. He added that the people involved deserve to have the spotlight shone on them.

“I’ll give every ounce of resource that I have [to this],” he said. “If I can inspire someone else to do the same, then they can inspire someone to do the same and the next thing you know, it’s not just a hobby or a side project, it turns into a movement. It actually can change people’s lives.”

Today, Daley is working on unreleased music and hopes to debut an album “in the near future.”

A majority of great success stories come with equally fantastic tales of hard work, and Trey McLaughlin’s biography is no exception.

With help from his dedicated dad Brian McLaughlin, the 17-year-old started his self-described “modern rock” band two years ago and is already playing in impressive venues around the country.

Balancing his coursework, social life and family time, Trey has managed to grow the band’s recognition with three fellow rockers and create new music for the boys to perform at their various gigs.

Bulletproof Snow consists of four high school students  from Michigan’s Livingston County. Trey, who is lead vocalist and plays guitar, is joined by Connor Cheney, 17,  on drums, Jake Yacobelli, 17, on lead guitar and Matt Coon, 16, on bass. Cheney, Yacobelli and Coon also provide backing vocals.

Trey credits the group’s inspiration to big-name rock bands including Foo Fighters and the Goo Goo Dolls, along with ’80s metal crooners Skid Row. This mashup of catchy genres is vividly reflected by Bulletproof Snow’s sound.

Its single “Punished for My Innocence” left a lasting mark on the organizers of benefit concert Acoustics for Autism and snagged a four-minute slot on the nonprofit’s new compilation album. Proceeds from sales go to Project iAm, a group that benefits families affected by autism in Northwest Ohio.

“It’s something nice that provides a lasting memory for people,” Brian said of the album.

Though the band members are elated to have a spot on the playlist, it wasn’t earned simply with catchy lyrics and an upbeat track. The teens are seasoned pros on the benefit stage. The group has performed at the Acoustics for Autism benefit held at The Village Idiot in Maumee for the past three years.

“It’s a great event to get behind,” Brian said. “Trey had a friend he hung out with a lot when he was younger who had a little brother with autism. Trey actually spent a lot of time with him at their house and experienced firsthand what it’s like to deal with autism in the family.”

“It’s tough,” Trey said. “Just being able to support it, we’re extremely happy to.”

As for Cheney, Yacobelli and Coon’s futures, their goals are to pursue professional careers in the music industry after graduation.

“That’s Trey’s dream, so we’re giving it a shot,” Brian added.

Bulletproof Snow has a few events on the horizon, including a trip to Austin, Texas, for SXSW musical festival later this month and, of course, the Acoustics for Autism event March 9. The group is slated to play at 2 p.m. in the outdoor tent.