The Real Me follows the stories of young songwriters and performers with cancer who found hope, healing and connection through music. Presented by Teen Cancer America, the national non-profit founded by rock icons Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend of The Who, “The Real Me” highlights the moving experiences of cancer patients in TCA’s Play It Back program, which matches them with music professionals to write, perform and record fully produced studio versions of their original songs. On this episode...Sage Escalante! Sage Escalante is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She has been taking piano lessons since she was 5 and voice lessons for many years as well. She’s also an excellent guitar player. She’s another musical monster. Sage started writing her own songs after she was diagnosed. Her influences include Sara Bareilles, Boston, Queen, Kehlani and Charlie Puth. Cancer caused Sage to write songs about not giving up and persevering through difficult circumstances and her writing is growing by leaps and bounds. Cancer stopped her from performing and doing lessons, but she took her Ukulele to all of her appointments and treatment. It kept her occupied and allowed her to learn new songs. Play It Back afforded Sage the opportunity to work with a professional producer which has allowed her to dive deep into songwriting and production. It also introduced her to others who have similar life experiences and share the common interest in creating music. Her favorite memory is when Benny Blanco came onto one of the weekly Zoom calls. She was truly inspired by him and feels lucky to have had that experience. Part of Pantheon Podcasts https://teencanceramerica.org/play-it-back-music-program/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices