Perry Stotts and his wife Rachel experienced an unexpected tragedy when they discovered their 19-month-old daughter had passed away during the night from what appeared to be Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
While struggling with the fresh grief of losing his daughter on top of the grief of losing his father to cancer just a few months prior, Stotts turned to his music to find comfort.
"Growing up, I realized that music was something that really helped me kind of connect with my emotions and identify how I was feeling at the time," Stotts says.
As Stotts prepared for his daughter's funeral, a song he had written before came to his mind. After changing a few lyrics, "it just kind of felt like it became her song," Stotts says, and he and his wife performed the song, "You'll Be Remembered" at the funeral as a touching tribute to their daughter.
During this time, Stotts and his family also drew comfort from another song Stotts wrote, "Keep On Moving."
"I wrote that basically about sticking together when times are tough and how family is the one thing that really helps you keep going," Stotts says. "That's definitely been a theme throughout this whole year."
Stotts says creating music is a way he gives back to the music that had a positive influence in his life and hopes his music gives a little optimism into the lives of others.
"I know we are not the only ones who go through tough times," Stotts says. "Everyone goes through tough times at some point. I just wanted to share that message that as tough as it gets, if you stick together, you can get through it. That's the positive message I wanted to share with others who may have been struggling like we have."