NC MUSICIANS ARE SUFFERING.
HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP. PLEASE.
Over the past two years, longtime musicians Rob Slater, Ed Bumgardner and the late Chris Garges - a notable drummer and the owner/engineer of Old House Studio - created Be Good To Yourself - Mental Health for NC Musicians, a 27-song, four-format benefit collection by 60 Tarheel musicians.
Participating musicians include Don Dixon, Mitch Easter, Peter Holsapple, Libby Rodenbough (Mipso), Rick Miller and Mary Huff (SCOTS), John Howie Jr., Caitlin Cary, Bill Lloyd, Snüzz, Jeffrey Dean Foster, Danielle Howle, Doug Davis, John Elderkin (The Popes), Rod Abernethy and Robert Kirkland (Arrogance) and more.
The collection seeks to provide funds for uninsured North Carolina musicians to have the opportunity to seek initial treatment for addiction and suicidal depression.
The project was released November 8, 2021 as a digital download and a double CD. Later this fall we will release a 10-song vinyl record and a limited vinyl EP of four songs not on the other formats.
Proceeds from the of sale of music and merchandise will go to providing the means of treatment for uninsured North Carolina working musicians through the expanded support of Austin Texas's SIMS Foundation, as SIMS extends its reach nationally in moving to Raleigh.
The core group behind the project has invested $30,000 in recording and manufacturing costs. This money WILL NOT be recouped. It is our seed gift in the hope that no more friends and colleagues will suffer because they can’t afford treatment.
But we do need your help.
We need to raise money to make treatment available through associated mental-health providers as we wait for the manufacturing and release of the music.
Be Good to Yourself is allied with the SIMS Foundation (simsfoundation.org), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of some twenty-five years standing.
We know that the COVID-19 pandemic affected everyone’s life. Times are unquestionably tough. So we are very grateful for any amount you can share.
No donation is too small. All donations are TAX DEDUCTIBLE.
You will literally be helping save the life of someone who wants nothing more than to make your life a little bit better with music.
We can’t thank you enough. Hope you enjoy the music.
WHY YOUR HELP MATTERS
We are losing our musicians at an alarming rate. According to the January, 2020 Rolling Stone article, “We Can’t Have All Our Artists Die," musicians are suffering from addiction and mental-health issues at an unprecedented rate. Depression. Anxiety. Dependency. All these affect musicians every day.
The Rolling Stone article goes on to say, “In a 2018 study from the Music Industry Research Association, 50% of musicians reported battling symptoms of depression, compared with less than 25 percent of the general adult population. Nearly 12 percent reported having suicidal thoughts — nearly four times the general population. According to a 2019 study published by Swedish digital-distribution platform Record Union, the numbers are even starker: It found that 73 percent of independent musicians have battled stress, anxiety, and depression.” Sadly, about half the people who suffer mental illness will also experience substance abuse during their lives.
Across North Carolina, musicians are struggling with anxiety, depression, substance abuse and suicide. Those who actually have health insurance most likely have little to no mental health coverage for counseling and/or treatment.
our partners
The Be Good To Yourself initiative and the SIMS Foundation partner to bring the SIMS Foundation to North Carolina.
Be Good To Yourself is a mental health initiative for and by NC Musicians. The SIMS Foundation is the only non-profit in the nation that provides mental health and substance use services and support to musicians, music industry professionals, and their dependents.
As part of their “FOUNDERS CHALLENGE” the SIMS Foundation, established twenty-five years ago in Austin, Texas, plans to expand their footprint across the nation. The Triangle will be the first in their expansion. The Be Good To Yourself initiative will be working to raise over $100,000 to help facilitate this expansion to North Carolina, creating a legacy for mental-health services for years to come. This is a partnership that both organizations hope to grow in the future.