{"id":92911,"date":"2019-07-19T01:57:28","date_gmt":"2019-07-19T01:57:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/healing-music-for-areas-service-members\/"},"modified":"2019-07-19T01:57:28","modified_gmt":"2019-07-19T01:57:28","slug":"healing-music-for-areas-service-members","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/healing-music-for-areas-service-members\/","title":{"rendered":"Healing music for area\u2019s service members"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Photo illustration by Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

There\u2019s a lot to be said for music: It can be entertaining; it can immediately transport listeners back to a specific time and place.<\/p>\n

Music can also be used to heal.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Soldier Songs and Voices will offer free music lessons and a songwriting workshop for Durango-area veterans at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4031, 1550 Main Ave. There will also be a performance Sunday night by Soldier Songs\u2019 founder and musician Dustin Welch and his father (and the organziation\u2019s vice president) Kevin Welch, also a professional musician.<\/p>\n

Soldier Songs and Voices was founded by Dustin Welch in 2011 in Austin, Texas. The organization has since grown to be nationwide, with chapters in Arkansas, Florida, New Mexico, Oregon and Texas. There\u2019s also a chapter that was launched in 2016 in Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very aware of the sacrifices our defense men and women have made and continue to make for their country, so we wanted a way to give back and show our gratitude,\u201d the organization\u2019s website says. \u201cThe workshops are a place for like-minded people to come together, have some fun and learn some new skills. Our goal is to create long-lasting change through songwriting and music in the lives of active duty and prior service veterans and their families.\u201d<\/p>\n

Welch said Soldier Songs grew out of a compilation album by Texas artists called \u201cVoices of a Grateful Nation\u201d released by the Welcome Home Project in 2008. Welch would play shows in support of the album, and when he would play, veterans would speak to him after the shows.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kept meeting these vets that would come up and be like, \u2018Wow, that song had such an impact on me and I\u2019ve always wanted to learn how to write a song or play an instrument,\u2019\u201d Welch said. \u201cAfter hearing that sentiment over and over and over, I just finally went, \u2018Gosh, we could just do this; we could just make that happen.\u2019 So I put together a series of benefit gigs and bought a bunch of guitars.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he wanted to do the workshops at music venues because it\u2019s a more neutral territory, even though programs are offered in some VFWs and Legion halls.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust from the onset, I started thinking a music venue, somewhere that\u2019s more of like a social environment \u2013 so many folks that are dealing with PTSD or traumatic brain injuries, they tend to isolate themselves,\u201d Welch said. \u201cI thought we should do these in music venues \u2013 somewhere they could see: \u2018All right, there\u2019s the stage, and you\u2019re going to be playing up there at some point.\u2019 You can see it, there it is, what are you going to be talking about when you get up there?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Welch said what was fascinating was that pretty quickly through the workshops, they found that music has such a healing quality to it on a neurological level.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe began discovering that folks were getting their cognitive abilities back all of a sudden. They could remember what they were doing last week or even the day before. And they were like, \u2018I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on, but I don\u2019t have to go back in the house five different times every time I\u2019m trying to leave the house because I forgot something,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cTheir therapists were going, \u2018I don\u2019t know what you\u2019re up to, but keep it up because something\u2019s happening.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

It was at this point Welch knew the group was on to something.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started researching everything I could get my hands on about that kind of neurology, how music works in the brain. There hasn\u2019t been a whole lot of studies on this, but it\u2019s finally kind of catching up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Soldier Songs and Voices is funded through benefit shows, donations or the rare grant, Welch said, a challenge to be sure. But what people get from the program can be invaluable, both for service members and for Welch, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s allowed me to meet some of the most remarkable people I never would have had the opportunity to be around otherwise,\u201d he said. \u201cIt really changed the way I thought about what it means to serve your country. I didn\u2019t sign up myself, but this is what I know how to do, so this is how I choose to share what I can help with.\u201d<\/p>\n

For veterans and active-duty personnel, Sunday\u2019s event is wide open. There are no requirements \u2013 participants don\u2019t have to know how to write a song or play an instrument, Welch said.<\/p>\n

He said he hopes this will plant the seeds for a chapter in Durango. Most of the Soldier Songs groups meet weekly, every other week or once a month.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019m looking for are local musicians and maybe a local veteran coordinator that has access to the veterans community, just to be able to get the word out,\u201d he said. \u201cAt that point, then I\u2019ll set them up with some guitars.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such an organic process; that\u2019s kind of the beauty of it. And it requires so little,\u201d Welch said.<\/p>\n

katie@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

If you go<\/h4>\n

What:<\/strong>
\n Soldier Songs and Voices: Free music lessons and songwriting workshop.
\n When:<\/strong>
\n Workshop, 4-6 p.m.; performance, 7-10 p.m. Sunday.
\n Where:<\/strong>
\n Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4031, 1550 Main Ave.
\n More information:<\/strong>
\n Visit
\n www.soldiersongsandvoices.com<\/a>
\n .<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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