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ANNOUNCER: From our city to yours...
(Rap music playing)
MAN: I'm Gary Steeves for Accessible Media.
Every chance he gets, Dave Symington
is in VAMS recording studio playing his drums.
(Rap music laying)
VAMS stands for Vancouver Adapted Music Society.
The studio has been specifically adapted
for musicians with physical disabilities.
And here's what it sounds like inside.
♪ With purpose, I'm living my life ♪
♪ And I'm certain, I'm gonna be all right ♪
Dave Symington is a quadriplegic
due to a diving accident.
And he's the co-founder of the VAMS
studio recording project.
SYMINGTON: So it was relatively self-serving in the early days
and I don't think we could have ever seen that,
or thought that, 25 years later
we'd have a fully adapted studio,
we'd have a number of musicians that are recording,
and performing.
And that we have this ongoing momentum
that's continuing to grow.
STEEVES: Sylvi macCormac has been a singer all her life,
and she records at VAMS.
It's given me a community to work with, to be
They're very supportive of my work.
VAMS is really like that.
We're like this little house in this big world
when all these people are in it, making all this wonderful music.
STEEVES: A key part of VAMS is the volunteer core.
Shelia Lee, who is a music therapist,
is the Volunteer Coordinator for VAMS.
We have a variety of volunteers that come in
and they could be OT students or PT students,
nursing students that just want to get more experience
working with people with physical disabilities.
Or people that have played music all their lives
and just want to give back and help other people.
STEEVES: Another musician you'll find here at VAMS
is Bobbi Style.
He's a musician who records here,
but he also designs accessible studios,
including VAMS studio, here.
Wanting to make music made me an engineer,
made me a studio designer.
STEEVES: To buy a copy of the Strong Sessions CD,
or to volunteer...
In Vancouver, I'm Gary Steeves
for Accessible Media.