Monster Truck and the Nordoff Robbins music therapy charity have shared a heart-warming video featuring the Canadian hard rockers giving an extra special surprise music therapy session to a gifted nine-year-old English guitarist.
Nine-year-old Phoenix has been working with Nordoff Robbins in Croydon, south London, since he was just two years and nine-months old. After her son spent much of his infancy in and out of hospital due to an immune disorder, Phoenix's mother Fior became further concerned when by the age of two he had not yet started to speak. And after her boy was diagnosed with a speech delay, Fior turned to the charity after becoming aware of the success of their music therapy programmes, and now says, "It's just incredible how far he's come."
"It was amazing how quickly he bonded with his therapist Kwaku," she continues. "He built up his trust and became a really important role model in his life – someone that could help him to express himself without being judged.
"Phoenix could pick up whatever instrument he wanted and Kwaku would let him lead. He’d go into music therapy and come out happy and confident. Singing was also a big part of the sessions.
"This really helped him develop his voice. The words, that understanding and the meaning behind them just came together. When we can’t find the words, music therapy helps us to speak in a different way."
During the lockdown, when Phoenix’s music therapy sessions ended, he turned to online guitar lessons, and when Nordoff Robbins invited Monster Truck to meet the talented youngster for a jam session, the band were delighted to have the opportunity to brighten his week. Phoenix attended the Ontario hard rockers' show at London's Islington Academy on October 11 - his first ever gig - and received a surprise visit from vocalist/bassist Jon Harvey, guitarist Jeremy Widerman and keyboardist Brandon Bliss later that week.
The trio invited Phoenix to jam with them on the song Golden Woman from their latest album Warriors, after gifting him a Epiphone Slash Les Paul Standard model kindly donated by Gibson.
Watch what happens next in the rather sweet video below:
