CINCINNATI — Justin Blumling walked down the dog run at the Cincinnati Animal CARE shelter with his guitar, leaned down eye-level to a dog in its cage, and strummed a chord.
“I’m about to make a fan out of that one,” he said. “Hi, buddy.”
Blumling has two rescue dogs at home, but he isn’t at the shelter to take another one home.
He’s there to play music.
Watch The J Spot perform inside Cincinnati Animal CARE Dane campus here:
Blumling, alongside Jen and Jason Bast with the band The J Spot, are Wild Tunes volunteers, a program that brings musicians into animal shelters. The organization was started by a 10-year-old boy from Texas who wanted to soothe homeless animals with live music.
“I believe they call me their Ohio Ambassador,” said musician Chase Baechle. “I found the program via an online article last year and I sent them an email and I was like, can I please send this to Cincinnati?”
Jen saw a video Cincinnati Animal CARE posted of Baechle singing and playing guitar, asking for volunteers. She decided to sign up.
“I love the magic of music — it changes the energy in a room, ” Jen said. “Some of the dogs would suddenly make eye contact or wag their tails. Their little ears were twitching when we were singing.”
The J Spot practices on the West Side but plays all over Cincinnati. They’re all animal lovers, Jen said, and have done private shows where pets get in the groove too. Blumling said he noticed that the louder he strummed, the closer the dogs came to him, staring at the guitar.
“Star Spangled in the second room, he was particularly interested and he would just kind of sit there and look,” Blumling said. “It's hard to know what they're thinking, but he looked like he was engaged.”
Baechle said there’s a noticeable vibe shift in the shelter rooms when he comes in to play. Every animal perks up; some lock eyes with him.
"I'll sit on the ground and just sing directly into that dog's eyes, and it's unbelievable,” Baechle said. “It's the closest thing I can imagine to having a genuine connection with the animals that live in these places.”
Wild Tunes needs more volunteers, Baechle said. The numbers aren’t where Cincinnati Animal CARE wants them.
“You don't have to be some kind of musical savant,” Baechle said. “You don't really have to do much at all. If you want to sing, if you have passion to help these animals, that's really all it takes to walk in the door.”
When the volunteer session for The J Spot ended, Jen said she’s definitely doing it again.
“I just knew this was going to be good, and I'm so glad this program exists. I hope more musicians will become aware of it and start visiting,” Jen said.
To sign up for the program, complete the volunteer application or email volunteer@cincycare.org.
