Just about everyone enjoys listening to music, and some accounts, like the film Alive Inside, suggest that it can be a powerful promoter of mental health. Some scientific studies indicate that learning to play music from a young age can improve cognition areas like language processing, mathematics and spatial reasoning. Moreover, music can be a powerful tool to bring people together in support of a cause.

In October, 2016, One Mind President, Brandon Staglin spoke with two mental health advocates with lived experience who also play music, to get their take on the power of mixing music and the mental health cause. Jonathan Bray plays lead guitar in a Denver rock band called The Hallow, and Bethany Yeiser is a published author, motivational speaker, and violin virtuoso.