Five For Fighting’s John Ondrasik and American Musician Lanny Cordola Talk Afghanistan, the Power of Music and More

When Grammy-nominated artist John Ondrasik of Five For Fighting tweeted about raising awareness for girls in Afghanistan, American Songwriter knew something important was afoot.

“In 2016 Lanny Cordola moved to Kabul to teach young Afghan girls guitar,” Ondrasik wrote on social media. “I am honored to join @tmorello@BethHart@nilslofgren Victoria Williams & other artists to raise awareness for his girls and all still abandoned in Afghanistan in singing Tom’s beautiful ‘God Help Us All.'”

So, we reached out to Ondrasik and to Cordola to see if they wanted to talk about what’s happening abroad in the Middle East. Thankfully, they obliged.

Below, the two artists talk about their work in Afghanistan and elsewhere, how Cordola is helping a group of young girls stay alive and flourish with music and what artists like Tom Morello and Nandi Bushell are doing to help the efforts.