CINCINNATI — In a small recording studio in Evanston, Nehemiah Clincy hits play.
“This one is called, ‘Dear Dad,’” he said. “This song is about my dad who died when I was 7 years old.”
Nehemiah is 15 now. He wrote and recorded the song here at Music Resource Center Cincinnati. When the drums start playing, he starts singing: “Why’d you say goodbye that way? Why’d you have to go?”
In another room down the hall, Nehemiah’s mom strums a guitar in the center’s radio studio. And when she plays a video of the first song her son ever wrote, she starts singing herself.
At school, Mieke Clincy said Nehemiah’s been made fun of for breaking into song. Even his siblings tease him from time to time. Nehemiah has autism.
“My whole life, every school, every day care center, every babysitter — I have never not been called about something,” she said.
Except for here. At the Music Resource Center, her son's spontaneous personality brings a smile to the staff’s faces. It helped him make his first real friends and got him invited to his first birthday party.
“He’s just a normal kid here,” his mom said.
Now, Nehemiah is sitting at a piano. He makes up a song on the spot.
“Let me try to find something,” he said.
After a few seconds, another teenager hits the drums.
“That’ll work,” Nehemiah said.
Playing bass is the center's operations director. Nick Burke used to teach music at Cincinnati Public Schools, and he volunteered for years before he began working here full-time.
“The magic that happens here is kids build community but also explore their passion for music,” Burke said. “I don’t think there’s many places like that.”
It's a possible solution for kids who need somewhere safe to go after school — something we heard over and over again during our Search for Solutions community conversations about teen violence. Membership here starts at $2 a month.
Nehemiah wants to be a songwriter and audio engineer. When he’s playing music, he said it calms him down. It takes him to another world.
In a good way.
And when it comes to the pain he’s experienced, he said music helps. In one of the practice rooms, Nehemiah's makeshift band finishes their song. Nehemiah smiles. Burke shouts. Another teenager claps.
“That was incredible,” he said. “I’m so glad you captured that.”
