The Voices
Project partnered with Road Recovery, a New York City organization that helps
young people find their way through mentoring and performing with professional
musicians whose lives have been touched by substance abuse. An initial invitation
to Road Recovery’s founder Gene Bowen for a speaking engagement evolved into
a week long workshop and concert experience. This event was a first for Road
Recovery, whose work with young people takes place in the New York and surrounding
areas. But after nearly a year of planning, musicians Jay Rodriguez and Charles
McTavish arrived in Haines and got to work.
Approximately ten Haines teens had been working with local musicians for a few months prior to Road Recovery’s arrival to begin to prepare music for the event. The workshop week was a busy one with 6-hour daily rehearsals combined with recovery/sobriety meetings where they heard powerful stories of addiction and recovery from Rodriguez and McTavish and discussed how their own lives had been affected, directly or indirectly. They also created original music and learned lessons of communication and listening that are an essential past of the musical process. GE Smith of Saturday Night Live fame was in town with the Flying Other Brothers and volunteered to share his own story at one of the daily meetings.
Rodriguez and McTavish also connected with others in town, reading and playing music to a kindergarten class, jamming at library, and promoting the workshop on the local radio station, always sharing the message of Road Recovery as well as their own stories. They quickly earned everyone’s respect and admiration with their warm, generous natures and vast musical skill.
The week culminated in a Friday night concert and dance for teens and a Saturday opening set for the Flying Other Brothers. Both shows also featured Rodriguez and McTavish’s stories of recovery and sobriety. The teens were thrilled at their experience, many reporting that it was the best time they ever had. They also demonstrated a better understanding (can this be a link to survey results) of the how substance abuse affects people and just how much fun is possible without the use of alcohol and drugs. Road Recovery’s work that week left the entire community buzzing and eager to have them back again next year.