CD release donates proceeds to Shalom

Three years ago, Bloomington resident Kent Johnson found himself homeless and without a job for six months.

On Saturday, Johnson and a group of local musicians raised about $1,000 for Shalom Community Center by playing a benefit concert at Players Pub to thank the charity that helped him get back on his feet.

Johnson said he was grateful to all the people who came to the concert. He said it was also a huge first for him because it was the only time any of his music was played in front of a live audience.

The musicians included IU students, faculty and staff. They played songs from a CD they recorded called “Playin’ for Change,” which was released at the concert and features songs written by Johnson during and after his time being homeless.

Wearing a ball cap and jeans, Johnson introduced the group to a standing room-only crowd before launching into the first song. Bathed in red and yellow light, he strummed his 1970s electric guitar and sang the song the CD was named after. The pub rang with the applause afterward.

Johnson said the music’s inspiration came from the staff at Shalom Center, a local charity at Fourth and Washington streets that helps the homeless and the impoverished in south-central Indiana.

The musicians played the concert and recorded the CD for free. The pub said it plans to donate all proceeds from the cover charge for the benefit and all CD sales to the Shalom Center, which Johnson said was his vision for the whole project.

“It would be really cool if somehow one of the songs managed to escape and really get out there and generate a ton of cash for Shalom,” he said.

Johnson told the concert crowd the CD was not his. He wrote the songs, but it was a collaborative effort.

Throughout the concert, he introduced the other musicians and highlighted the help of Sweet Owen Sound Recording Studio, his coworker Gerald Murphy, who created the album cover, local media and Players Pub.

Johnson said the songs he wrote are about society’s response to poverty. Titles include “Shoulda Been Gone,” “The Weight” and a song he wrote in an alley behind the Shalom Center called “Hard Life.”

Spencer residents Bob and Judy Ochs came to the event after reading about it. Bob Ochs said the song “Playin’ for Change” had a deeper meaning. While he said he could envision Johnson playing on the streets for coins, he said the song also had a message about changing society.

“He tried to be the voice for some of the people at Shalom,” said Judy Ochs, who has volunteered at the center. “He wasn’t just trying to perform. He was trying to be a voice.”