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Amped Up for Good Stuart Epstein calls himself just a guy with a guitar. For most of his life, he had dreams of playing music. Those dreams became a reality decades later, as he and a group of like-minded musicians launched a band. But then life intervened and the band broke up, leaving a disappointing hole in Epstein’s life. What he didn’t realize at the time was that the band was just the warm-up act for what was to follow. The “guy with a guitar” randomly started playing for people with dementia at a senior care facility. Then one day, a nurse asked if he’d consider playing for kids too. She introduced him to folks at Scottsdale’s Redfield Elementary School, and he began playing for their special-needs students. That’s when the magic happened. “I’m not a music therapist,” Epstein quickly pointed out. “But there are so many studies that show how therapeutic music is. Do you know it’s the only stimulus that reaches every portion of the brain? When you hum, you’re using your voice; when you tap your foot, you’re using muscles; remembering lyrics or where you were when you heard a song uses your memory. It’s amazing!” And so is the growth of the organization. Epstein and his super-supportive wife, Janet, launched Six Strings Acoustic and one school quickly became a number of schools. Nearly three years ago, they received their nonprofit status, and are now fundraising and applying for grants. Janet handles the business portion of things, while Stuart, in his words, “gets to do the fun part,” performing his one-hour, one-man shows five days a week, two and three times a day. The fundraising Six Strings Acoustic is doing will give them the opportunity to grow even more. Their goal is to bring in more A GUY WITH A GUITAR Judy Pearson | Contributing Writer AUGUST 2019 | FRONTDOORS MEDIA 37 A 2ND ACT { survivors giving back }