Damien Horne premieres SHINE on MTSU campus

Most people know Damien Horne as a local singer/songwriter around town. But if you’ve been fortunate enough to hear him speak (which he does across the country at Boys & Girls Clubs, through the Salvation Army and via upcoming TED Talks and SXSW in the spring), then you’ve probably heard at least some of his story.

Perseverance, along with a strong sense of faith and purpose pays off. These days, Damien is a full-time artist (solo and one half of the group New North), speaker and philanthropist. When he’s not touring or in the studio, Damien spends a lot of his time giving back while encouraging, inspiring and motivating others to live their wildest dreams (check out his landing page encourageinspiremotivate.com sometime).

One way Damien is doing that is by debuting his one-man show SHINE — a story that infuses his own story and self-written songs (including “Shine”) to create a visualization of his own journey. For his debut, he opened it up to MTSU students.

SHINE debuted at the McWherter Learning Resource Center on Feb. 18.

In short, Damien is a survivor — and then some. As one child of 12 from a blended family with two brothers gone to the streets and a heroine of a mother who could not read or write, Damien is the first in his family to graduate from high school. He’s also someone who has been homeless twice as he strived to create a path that is very different from what many from his hometown of Hickory, North Carolina, have experienced.

“I have a real heart for young people, which is why I wanted to first premiere SHINE on a college campus,” Horne says. “College students are at the age when they’re figuring out what they want their future to look like. Hopefully my story will remind them that no matter what their past may look like or obstacles they might currently face, they can create an amazing future.”