Former Eagle Don Felder Plays Charity Concert

Former guitarist for the Eagles, Don Felder, played a special concert for staff and sufferers of brain injuries at the Association for the Rehabilitation of the Brain Injured (ARBI) in Alberta, Canada, this week.

The music legend entertained with examples from the Eagles songbook, including Hotel California, Tequila Sunrise, and Take It Easy.

“It’s really becoming quite evident how strongly linked our brain is to music,” musical therapist Jennifer Buchanan told the Calgary Sun. “It’s completely tuned in. What we often see is improved speech and gross motor movement through music. It motivates them, inspires and excites people, enabling them to do all sorts of things they otherwise can’t do.”

The concert was held at the Jack Singer Concert Hall on Monday night, and was the first in a series of similar concerts across Canada to benefit the Canadian Music Therapy Trust Fund. The initiative supports a plethora of issues the Fund donates money to, from ARBI to children with autism, and people in palliative care units.

“I’d like to do a series of these types of shows across the country to try to raise the consciousness and bring attention to this worthy cause,” said Felder. “I think I’ve been doing music therapy since I started playing. It seems like the joy that people get through music really breaks through all language barriers, whether it’s just someone sitting in the audience or someone sitting in a hospital like the people here today. Music can reach people on a level that language and medication and physical therapy can’t.”