‘The Road To Memphis’ mental health program kicks off at Stax Museum
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – Memphis went live this morning with UK Parliament to launch the world’s largest music-based mental health project.
This marked yet another global first for the Bluff City.
“The Road to Memphis” officially kicked off today at the Stax Museum with a live stream of Parliament in the United Kingdom as well as musicians from all over the world.
Dr. Shamender Talwar, Tuff Earth Co-Founder says, “We’ve connected Liverpool with Memphis with UK parliament. And this is the first time there, any US city is going to the UK parliament for a non-political matter.”
The new project underway includes an international song contest that showcases talent and emotional expression through music while promoting mental health and creating access to free care sessions for musicians and songwriters.
Why is it so special? Not only is it a song contest, but it has an ecosystem to support every single musician and songwriter on the planet.” Talwar says.
Over 20,000 musicians from 30 different countries participated last year but that number is expected to be doubled.
This allows Memphis to be a hub of both music legacy and mental health while helping them through situations they otherwise would not receive help with.
Lauren Sanders is a young aspiring singer who says she finally feels like someone is listening.
“Somebody gets [where] we’re coming from and supports [us]. That means a lot.”
During last year’s inaugural contest, over 3,000 participants requested and received mental health assistance
Out of those numbers, approximately 340 of those lived in Tennessee.
Dr. Talwar said, “They say there’s only one language of the heart and that should be music. And that’s why it’s really important that psychology and music for the first time and that’s why the road to Memphis is the largest music bass mental health project in the world.”
The 10 finalists from the contest will perform in Memphis this November.
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