AUSTIN, Texas — Local nonprofit Kids in a New Groove (KING) is expanding its mission to support Central Texas youth in foster care through one-on-one music mentorship, community engagement, and its upcoming “KING Sings for a Dream” songwriting competition.
Speaking on a recent broadcast of Inside Austin, Program Director Dorian Colbert joined host Brian Fitzgerald and he detailed how the organization pairs youth experiencing the Texas foster care system with dedicated mentors for private music lessons.
“We provide music mentorships to kids in the foster care system here in Texas” Colbert said. “It’s a mentorship program that deals with the head and the heart.”
The initiative, operating under the umbrella nonprofit Partnerships for Children, serves as a creative outlet and stabilizing presence for children living in foster facilities and homes. Colbert highlighted a pressing demand for adult mentors in North Austin and the Round Rock area. While South Austin boasts a high concentration of local musicians, many children in the foster care network reside farther north, requiring volunteers willing to travel.
Volunteers do not need conservatory credentials, Colbert stressed. The program seeks individuals proficient in voice, production, DJing, or instruments who can carve out time to guide a student.
“If you have an iota of musical teaching ability, we welcome you and your willingness to serve those in your community here in Austin,” Colbert said.
Reflecting on his own entry into music, Colbert shared that he stumbled into drumming by chance in middle school after quitting speech class to hang out with a friend in a band. A flea market drum kit purchased by his father soon cemented his lifelong passion.
“I feel like there are a lot of people who are musically inclined, but just never really had that conduit or that catalyst to turn them on to music,” Colbert noted. “With this program, these are people who are actually, intentionally introducing these young people to instruments and to a skill, a hobby, a passion that could be with them for the rest of their lives.”
The organization is also rallying public participation through its “KING Sings for a Dream” songwriting contest. Open to songwriters 18 and older, participants submit a performance video of an original composition via the contest website. Colbert explained that video submissions help the judges verify authenticity amid modern generative tools: “In the age of AI, it’s so hard to discern whether what somebody is putting out there musically is theirs and a creation.”
The competition offers cash, studio time at King Electric Studios, gear certificates, and a live performance slot at Austin’s renowned Antone’s Nightclub during the nonprofit’s Holiday Hope Concert on Dec. 4. The public can vote online by purchasing votes, with all proceeds directly funding programming for foster youth.
Community members can also support the cause by donating quality instruments, volunteering for workshops, or supporting Partnerships for Children’s broader Holiday Wishes campaign, which supplies winter gifts to thousands of local children in the care of Child Protective Services
