Betsy Cournoyer Listenfelt

Betsy Cournoyer Listenfelt is living a performer's dream.

"I wrote a song," she said, "and someone from the U.S. Air Force Music Department called to ask if they could use it in a show they record once a year for PBS."

Suddenly, a star is born.

OK, not so suddenly. The Woonsocket native and 1983 graduate of Woonsocket High School has been playing music and singing since she was 10 years old. "I perform all over New England," says Listenfelt, "in restaurants and local pubs." She performs solo acoustic rock, mostly cover tunes. "I do Sarah McLachlan to Joni Mitchell to Fleetwood Mac."

Now 44 and living in Burrillville, Listenfelt also writes songs. "Occasionally, I'll do a coffeehouse where I do my originals."

One of them is "Freedom Song," a tune she wrote about eight years ago "after the towers were hit." She describes it as a patriotic song with a simple message: "Support your troops, no matter what your opinion is on the situation. We need to raise our flags to support these boys and girls that are fighting for our freedoms."

The song is on her CD, "Be Alive," which she sells at area performances and at Don's Barber Stylist on Hamlett Avenue in Woonsocket. "My father's had that shop for 45 years. I cut hair there for 15 years."

Back to the song. Listenfelt was shocked when her Air Force contact, Bob Thurston, called. "I didn't know how he found it."

She since found out that he saw a couple of slideshows on YouTube that used the song as a background. "My friend had taken it upon herself to put together a slideshow using the song, and gave it to me. She thought I might like it. I liked it so much, I put it on MySpace, and we kept getting a lot of hits."

At about the same time as the slideshow was getting all the hits, Listenfelt's brother-in-law was serving with the Army in Iraq. "I thought it would be really great if I could send him a slideshow with him and my other family members in it using that song. And then we made another slideshow called 'Freedom Song 2' with images of all the service members I knew in it, and that one ended up on YouTube."

And that's where the Air Force found it. "Bob was just looking for new material for his organization, and he punched in 'freedom songs' and my song came up and he called me."

The special - "America's Veterans: A Musical Tribute" - airs on Sunday, Nov. 8, at 11:30 a.m. on Boston's WGBH. It will air at 11 p.m. that night on Rhode Island's PBS Channel 36.

"We'll all be watching it," says Listenfelt. "I've been posting it on Facebook, and my friends around the country are calling their local PBS stations. I had to call WGBH, and they already had it on their schedule. But I had to e-mail Channel 36 to ask them to air it. I guess each station gets to pick and choose what they air."

For those who can't wait, a short clip of the performance can be found on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EsBZnB8VZ8 .

Want to catch Listenfelt in action? She performs every Thursday night at Power's Pub in Pawtuxet Village at the Providence/Cranston line, and every Friday night at Suite 600 on Route 116 in Lincoln. "You have to really be looking for that one," she laughs.

Her complete schedule can be found at www.myspace.com/ynotrock .