Showcase video touches hearts of the grieving

While the Mormon Times Summer Showcase largely features perky, upbeat music videos, the music of Mormon musician David Caulford stands out.Calm, tender and a little sad, Caulford's video titled \"Angel's Lullaby\" tells a story that will resonate with anyone who has ever lost a loved one.\"I think everybody will go through loss in their life,\" said 30-year-old Caulford, a carpenter from Ogden, Utah. \"The song ends with a sense of hope that life doesn't end when the body stops breathing or when the heart stops beating. We will all see our loved ones again.\"Caulford drew inspiration for this song from the experiences of a family friend.This friend told of how he prayed for comfort for himself and his grief-stricken daughter while they were suffering the recent loss of his wife. When he talked with his daughter after his prayer, she told him she had seen her mother and that had she said everything was going to be OK. In that moment, the man recalled, he caught a whiff of his wife's perfume.\"I believe that anyone who has passed away would want to have the chance to say goodbye one last time, \" Caulford said.Caulford began creating music when friend and mentor Kelly Marshton taught him a few keys on the piano. Despite never learning how to read music notes, Caulford began writing his own songs, often \"stumbling\" onto the melodies he would use.Caulford said his mellow and adult alternative music began to take on a therapeutic quality for him and for his audience.\"My music is poetry, in a way, because writing it is very therapeutic,\" he said. \"If someone struggles in the same way I did, or feels like I did when I wrote it, then they will be helped by listening to my music.\"Voters placed \"Angel's Lullaby\" in the top four for the Summer Showcase for the month of June. In \"Summer Showcase,\" there are three rounds of voting that will determine 12 semifinalists. The musicians who have the top six videos at the end of final voting will be featured at a live concert in Utah. The top vote-getter, who will win a $5,000 first prize, will be announced at the concert. Second prize will be $2,000 and third prize will be $1,000. For more information, go to www.mormontimes.com.To contact David, please E-mail him at CaulfordMusic@gmail.com.