Corrin Campbell

While the servicemen and women the U.S. sends to the front lines are the ones who make the clips on CNN, in truth there are many way for people in the armed forces to serve their country. Formerly serving in the 1st Calvary Division and currently working with the Army Materiel Command Band, Corrin Campbell has been using her talents as a bassist and vocalist these last ten years to lift the morale of our troops around the world. She has powered through a 10-year commitment to the Army as one of less than a dozen women with her military specialty: electric bass guitar.

Now, the powerhouse vocalist and her band The Election?featuring guitarist Jim Boyer and drummer Tony Corbett, a three time combat veteran?are inspiring the civilian population as well with the explosive and heartfelt original material on their debut album Game Night.

Since forming in 2008, Corrin and The Election have taken the Baltimore pop music scene by storm, earning quick comparisons to female led groups like Evanescence, Paramore and the singer's idols, Heart. Beyond regular ?home base? gigs at the Recher Theatre in Towson (where they had their album release party in November), the 750 seat Quarter at Bourbon Street and two Baltimore Music Conferences in 2008 and 2009, the band has played regionally at conferences, and has toured nationally as far as Austin, TX and Duluth, MN. Most recently, Corrin was selected as the Local Talent Search winner to perform at Lilith Fair, Merriweather Post Pavilion on August 3, 2010, opening for Sarah McLachlan, The Indigo Girls, Courtyard Hounds, Cat Power and Sara Bareilles, among others.

While this itinerary is obviously not as exotic or international as Corrin has had as a U.S. army bassist performing for troops in Baghdad (opening for Ted Nugent and Toby Keith) or as part of the U.S. Army Soldier Show in Korea, Cuba and throughout the U.S., she loves the fact that she's finally able to perform her own songs. ?As a musician in the army, you're playing a lot of covers because that's what soldiers know and it gives them a taste of home and makes them feel good,? says the singer, who trained at the Army's school of music at Norfolk, Virginia and was originally stationed at Ft. Hood Texas. ?But I have always loved writing and there are certain creative limitations when I'm playing just Top 40 songs with small and large army ensembles. It is a joy to put a smile on the face of a soldier who probably hasn't smiled in months or who just got back from a firefight. I love serving my country this way, but it's wonderful to have these other opportunities, too.?