Now in its fourth year, the annual Music for Mental Health Benefit Concert features its biggest performance lineup yet. On September 26, New Orleans musicians Tarriona “Tank” Ball (of Tank and the Bangas), Leyla McCalla, Pell, People Museum and more will perform in an effort to promote National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.

Founded and hosted by musician and mental-health advocate Kathryn Rose Wood, Music for Mental Health is presented by the Brett Thomas Doussan Foundation, an organization which works to raise awareness for mental health through education, advocacy and music.

According to Wood, the event was founded in part “to create a space for individuals who might not normally want to attend an explicitly-mental health based event, such as an awareness walk, or feel comfortable verbalizing their respective mental health concerns.”

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) recently reported an anticipated minimum of 48,3444 completed suicide attempts for the 2020 year, compared to 47,000 suicide completions the year before. Data from the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) documents a 65% rise in calls to its helpline between March and June of 2020. The 2020 findings of a U.S. Census Bureau survey indicate that one third of Americans are experiencing signs of clinical anxiety and depression, an increase from the 2013-2014 survey, which found that one quarter of Americans were experiencing those signs.

Donations from the 4th Annual Music for Mental Health Benefit Concert will go to mental-health institutions based in Louisiana including NAMI New Orleans, AFSP Louisiana, the New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic, Children’s Hospital and more.

The event will go live beginning at 7:30 p.m. Central and run until 9 p.m. Central via the BTD Foundation’s Facebook Live stream. The show is free, but viewers will have the opportunity to send donations. 

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