Beth with Craig Shields, Edwin McCain’s Band Manager/Member (and best sax player in the universe according to fans). Craig has become a treasured friend since that first night in 2015 when she heard the band play “What Matters” on stage.

Songwriters never know what their words and melodies will inspire in the hearts of those who listen.  And no doubt when recording, “What Matters” (a song from his 1997 album, Misguided Roses), Edwin McCain had not a clue that one day it would prompt a successful real estate agent to shut down her thriving boutique real estate brokerage to open a non-income producing company named after his song.

Beth remembers the first time she ever heard a song by McCain while driving off of Route 17 in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina during college. Never before and never since has she pulled over to be able to pay attention to the radio to discern who was singing.  “I remember the feeling of knowing it was a moment to record in my memory bank. When I learned that Edwin had attended College of Charleston and frequented the area, we started attending his concerts. I recall one time the Music Farm was sold out so I drove downtown and stood outside to listen.  As soon as I heard ‘What Matters’ on his CD, I added it to my running tape mix and hoped during every concert that he’d play my favorite song. The very first time I left my infant son in 2003 for a date night with his Dad was to attend his concert in Charlottesville, VA. I booked a hotel room near the venue and my parents watched the baby Will while I sat gazing at the stage hoping to hear the sound of his guitar introducing my favorite lyrics,” she recalls.

Fast forward a dozen years later to a late night of studying to gain her real estate broker’s license.  She began a Facebook messenger exchange with her best friends from high school and college.  All three busy mothers now, they hadn’t made time to get together for ages, and Beth asked if they had plans for February 18, 2015. Considering it was still 2014, they were free, so Beth paid almost $200 per ticket online for a nearly sold out show at Wolftrap to treat herself and her friends to a reunion at an Edwin Concert.  

Much to her dismay, in late January, she received a phone call saying that the ticketing company could not locate any tickets and would be refunding the money.  She recalls,“I was so disheartened that I couldn’t bring myself to return their call. Weeks went by and I’ll never forget the evening when I was about to pick up my kids from my parent’s house and pulled up to the curb like I’d done countless times for decades. I was having a rough day in my recent resolve to contemplate some difficult life changes, and I said a silent prayer asking God for a sign that I was on the right path.  Within seconds, my phone rang, ‘We’re calling to tell you that we’re overnighting tickets for the Edwin McCain concert. You’ve been upgraded to front row center!’ I still can’t tell that story without tearing up. But that’s nothing compared to the sobbing I did when my friend interrupted the concert and slipped him a note asking him to play “What Matters to the heart” for me and he did. She didn’t even have the song title correct (she had never heard it before), she just knew I needed to hear it.”  

It was that experience, says Beth, that helped her to realize that the “ask and you shall receive” verses in the bible really did apply to anything and that she just had to start asking!  As the song finished and she wiped her eyes, she made a vow to stop “choking on a lifetime of never taking a chance” and since then has been on an amazing journey that is still unfolding. From funding a school and a music studio in Uganda to opening a community meeting center and a nonprofit center in her hometown, from becoming her town’s “pretend reporter” to launching countless efforts as a “pretend philanthropist,” Beth lives every day with her heart as her guide.

See below for more, or read this article from her online column for a link to a more elaborate telling of the Edwin story as written in her chapter in the international best selling series, “Ignite your Life for Conscious Leaders” https://royalexaminer.com/write-your-best-story-in-2020/

Edwin McCain’s What Matters lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC–play it HERE

Have you given up on passion living day to day , You keep your dreams locked down inside, Choking on a lifetime of never take a chance, Don’t wake up one day wishing you tried

CHORUS: It ain’t about the money, it ain’t about the time, It ain’t about the love you lost or the things you think you left behind, It ain’t about the losing streak, makes you feel like you’re falling apart

What matters is your heart

Let’s forget about the notion that we’re not the same, My blood runs as red as yours, We all get angry, we’ve all been scared, We’ve all made big mistakes that can never be repaired

CHORUS

Look me in the eye and take my hand, We can make a difference, We can make a difference I know we can

Have you given up on passion living day to day, You keep your dreams locked down inside, Choking on a lifetime of never take a chance, Don’t wake up one day wishing you tried

CHORUS

Since that monumental day in the winter of 2015, Beth has been on a journey to discover her passion and purpose in life. A journey of unlocking her dreams, taking chances and discovering new ways to make a difference.  From opening and closing a real estate brokerage to changing her family dynamics (to be a thriving co-parent instead of incompatible spouse), from transforming her travel (which consisted mostly of Costco visits in the neighboring town) to frequent trips all over the globe, from dragging her friends to Edwin concerts throughout the east coast to creating a philanthropic company (now an official nonprofit) named after “her song,” Beth now lives with her heart as her guide. In April of 2018, she wrote the lyrics for her own song, “What Matters is your Heart” that’s available for download on Amazon, iTunes, Google Play and Spotify.  She’s in the planning stages for a global fundraising endeavor called Dollar Dream Download that will officially launch in 2020. The initiative is explained in the youtube post beneath the video below.

Lyrics:
WHAT MATTERS IS YOUR HEART   Lyrics by BETH, Sung by Herbie Skarbie Kawuma, Produced by IanPro
Chorus:
Just be kind…
What matters is your heart,
You gotta let it shine,
What matters is your heart…
Just be kind
What matters is your heart,
You gotta let it shine,
What matters is your heart,
Reach inside you’ll find….

What matters is your heart…. Spread your love and light… throughout each day and night… let us join our hearts as one,
and make a change in this world….

Chorus

Feel our hearts they’re beating the same…
There is only one team in this game..
No matter where you live…
Reach inside and let’s give

So let it lead the way, hearts joined as one would save the day….

Chorus

Your heart your heart your heart your heart, your heart…
Just be kind

Chorus

 

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