RI Music Hall of Famer brings hope, healing to local children

By Allison Shinskey Staff Writer

Aug 30, 2025

Rhode Island Music of Famer Mark Cutler helps create a song during Camp Braveheart, a therapeutic summer program for children and teens who have lost a loved one, last week in South Kingstown.

Photo Courtesy: Emily Conde

NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. — Life is still good at the end of the day.

When you walk into the second and final day of Camp Braveheart, the smiling faces of nearly 70 kids and teenagers make that message hit home. It might not even occur to you how much those campers need to hear it.

The truth is, every camper at Camp Braveheart, run by HopeHealth, has lost a loved one especially close to them, such as a parent, grandparent, sibling, or best friend. That’s why Camp Hoffman and dozens of volunteers stepped in this year to give campers the support and encouragement they need amid struggling with grief and the emotions and hardships that come with it, all at no charge to families.

Camp Braveheart also welcomed a local celebrity this year to South Kingstown with the heart and wit to help kids process hardships. Rhode Island Music Hall of Famer Mark Cutler does this through the power of song. There really does seem to be magic in the room as you watch the lyrics and chord arrangements appear up on Cutler’s whiteboard, line by line. But he doesn’t do it alone. His empathy and infectious energy has kids giggling and contributing to the conversation, even the ones who are spacing out. The result is a brand-new song in less than an hour, and more importantly, a mantra for kids to remember, such as Life is still good.

To give you a better idea of the results, the main chorus of the song that Cutler and the first group of campers wrote on Friday goes like this:

Life is still good

At the end of the day That’s what I say

We have each other

For work and for play, every day I’m happy and a little tired

But mostly I’m excited, to be with you At the end of the day.

Cutler clarified that this type of collaborative songwriting that he helps facilitate is not meant to distract from hardship. Rather, it’s meant to help people work through their hardships