The mission statement of MusiCares couldn’t be simpler—’MusiCares helps the humans behind music because music gives so much to the world.’ And when they say ‘humans’ they mean everyone that works in music, not just the artist and performers, but production personnel and crews that support music. MusiCares offers preventive, emergency, and recovery programs, and is a safety net supporting the health and welfare of the music community. Founded by the Recording Academy in 1989 as a U.S. based, independent 501(c)(3) charity, MusiCares safeguards the well-being of all music people through direct financial grant programs, networks of support resources, and tailored crisis relief efforts.
Recently, PLSN spoke with three members of the MusiCares team—Jennifer Leff, Managing Director, Human Services; Stefanie Curtiss, Managing Director, Health Services; and Marshai Iverson, Managing Director, Mental Health and Addiction Recovery—to discuss their services and support for our industry.
Talk about how MusiCares has evolved in recent years to better serve the industry.
Stefanie Curtiss: For Jen and I, MusiCares has evolved a lot over the years. When the two of us started, we supported people with all types of needs—basic living bills, medical bills, or mental health needs. We would just support them based on where they lived; we had the three brick and mortar offices in LA, New York, and Nashville, so we broke it up that way. Since 2020 we restructured and created the three teams: Health Services, Human Services, and Mental Health & Addiction Recovery so that we could hopefully, in theory, be able to really go a little narrower and deeper; be intentional about ensuring that we’re supporting in all different areas what people might need as impact-fully as possible.
Jennifer Leff: The key is, whoever receives assistance, we look at them in a holistic manner. Even if they’re calling for rent, or are diagnosed with a chronic illness, we know that there’s going to be coexisting concerns and perhaps preexisting mental health concerns. So, everything is looked at as a whole, as opposed to piecemeal.
SC: I had someone call recently, they had injured themselves on tour and had to come off the road. Obviously, there’s a physical need there due to the injury and potentially with medical bills, but there’s also ‘now I’m not going to have that income, so how am I going to pay my rent or utilities?’ When people are not able to do what they are made to do and fulfill a purpose, there’s definitely that mental health impact as well. So, you can’t really separate them. Like Jen was saying, it’s definitely a holistic approach.
Production personnel are welcome to contact MusiCares, correct?
SC: Absolutely! We hear that production people do not necessarily consider themselves eligible. MusiCares is adamant in wanting people to know that this is for anyone with a career in the music industry; they’re eligible for our services. Performances cannot go on without production. They’re part of the ecosystem, and we are absolutely here to help. We want the word out there that we will assist—and do assist—production folks, as well as their families.
How does the process work? Is there a number they can call, or an email address?
JL: You can absolutely give us a call, but the best way for an initial contact is to email us at MusiCaresRelief@musicares.org. I know that it sounds like a general email, but it’s truly not. We have a team of 12 individuals that share the responsibility to check that consistently on a daily basis. We know that when people reach out—and it’s not easy to reach out for support—that they’re probably in some time sensitive need. So that email is constantly checked. So, email is the best way for people to reach out because it streamlines everything. We are a small team, and we want to make sure that we know when these new requests are coming in, and people should know that it is definitely something that we take seriously and follow up with as quickly as possible. Once people make that initial connection, they’ll be assigned to a staff member who will walk with them throughout the process. Once they get assigned to that specific staff member, they schedule phone calls and they’ll get that personal support throughout the process.
Tell me about the mental health support offered to tours.
Marshai Iverson: In terms of mental health support our plan is to just continue to expand and to touch and reach every corner of the music industry and support them within the mental health and addiction recovery realm. So, that could be referrals, emergency financial need for counseling, psychiatric treatment, inpatient intensive, inpatient sober living. Providing an individual with wraparound services that they may need to be successful.
Do you deal with finding therapists, or do you have the resources to send people out on tour? Or is this more about coordinating those services?
MI: We don’t send people on tour yet, but we do have a provider referral list that are vetted providers that are evidence-based that we recommend depending on where the individual lives. Then we have providers that we’ve worked with in the past.
JL: We also know that there are really unique stressors and rigors in the music industry. So, Marshai and her team are also good at helping to find providers that either work with industry professionals, or they themselves had, or have experience in the industry. So, there’s a real understanding of the rigors because some providers might not necessarily know that there has to be a cancellation at the last minute because the crew has to go do something else and these therapists we recommend are very well aware of that environment.
I’ve come across a few people who say that they don’t want to bring in mental health services because people equate mental health with mental illness. How do you overcome that skepticism?
MI: I think it’s continued education. I think that mental health has a huge stigma because of mental illness. Being able to have those conversations and provide the education on what mental health is and framing it in a holistic framework; it is just taking care of your physical health. Bringing someone on tour with you to implement strategies for individuals to practice how to feel grounded, how to balance, and to implement that wellness into their daily life are ultimately going to help people perform and be healthier. I think it is about providing that education around what mental health is, how it could impact their team and why it’s important.
JL: And it’s a long-term investment. We know that if it comes down to the dollar, we know that is a concern, but it’s a long-term investment for the crew.
Tell us about your new Resilience on the Road Toolkit.
JL: We created Resilience on the Road as a suite of resources to address many of the stressors that are inherent to touring life: demanding schedules, demands of performing recovery, nutrition, interpersonal relationships. Basically, it’s a suite of activities and tools that raise awareness of, and incorporate, positive practices of wellness into touring life. It includes some information that is by music makers for music makers. So again, that relevance that they know what it’s like being on tour; shared experiences. One big thing is that it really normalizes and promulgates the conversation around wellness. By people having these very accessible tools, activities to do, it normalizes that this is not something that is so different than what the next person is doing. It really meets the needs of everybody out there. If people don’t like meditation, they might find something else in the toolkit for them.
SC: Ultimately, we all need support sometime from ourselves, sometimes from others. Many of us might do well at home. We may have our support system at home, or our gym, or our nutrition routine, and all that changes when we go on the road. So, just validating that it is a challenge on the road, but also acknowledging that we deserve to support ourselves no matter what’s going on. What I personally love the most about the way that the Toolkit was put together is that it does make it easy, and it walks you through it step by step. It will ask you a question at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day, so it’s a process that’s personal. Every person is going to be able to utilize these resources to learn a little bit about themselves, explore what their specific unique stressors are, what their challenges are, and then begin to gradually create something that works well for them. It validates that if you’re feeling stressed, if you’re feeling exhausted, you probably are. And that makes sense because that’s what you’re going through right then, right now and you deserve some support. Hopefully, it’s the beginning steps to start helping people receive that support and give themselves the support that they deserve. And to provide a pause in the day, a pause that I think is hard to get when a production is out there, grueling hour after hour.
What form does the Resilience on the Road Toolkit come in?
JL: We don’t have an app, right now. Currently, it’s a downloadable PDF document, from the MusiCares’ website, with links and a lot of content. We are continuing to work on it by adding additional content. It’s on the website, or you can also receive it via email, but it is downloadable and has links within it that go to various YouTube videos, and different resources.
Is there anything else that you would like to mention about MusiCares?
MI: We are all super passionate about changing the stigma and the image that ultimately creates barriers for people accessing any tools that can be beneficial to their life. We are continuing to have conversations around how to be healthier, what does that look like, the mind body connection, the holistic approach, and trying to find ways to make it more accessible. I think the Resilience on the Road Toolkit is one way and having conversations with managers and individuals in the industry; providing the education, the resources and supporting them with what we do at MusiCares.
SC: Ultimately, I just want everyone to know that it’s okay to not be okay and that MusiCares is a safe place to reach out to. If you don’t know what you need, that’s okay. Our goal, and our hope, is that though we don’t have all the answers, we’ve got support to give, a safe place to process, and that we can walk with you until we find the right, best place for you. It may be scary to acknowledge that need for help, but we all do need help. To Marshai’s point, we’re passionate, we truly, genuinely want to be that safe space that people feel comfortable reaching out for support when they need it.
JL: Following up on that, we know it might be humbling to reach out for help and we acknowledge that, and we applaud people taking that step. Everything is strictly confidential when somebody reaches out to us. In terms of mental health, wellness, and Resilience on the Road, we really want to be part of this culture shift happening. We saw an uptick in mental health awareness pre pandemic, and then the pandemic obviously really catapulted that. But we want to continue to be a part of this culture shift and embed this acknowledgement that mental health is as important as physical health; they are connected.
MI: I want to echo what Jen said about being a part of the culture shift, that we really want to emphasize being proactive around your mental health. You don’t always have to wait to utilize services or tools until when you are struggling. Being proactive around taking care of yourself is ultimately going to help you feel better. Then when things come up, you can better manage it. That’s a huge shift. Being proactive by just implementing wellness tools and tips into your lifestyle can help you in so many ways.
Learn more about MusiCares: www.musicares.org. If you need assistance, email them at: MusiCaresRelief@musicares.org, or call 800-687-4227
