“Music allows us to tap into that innate desire to grow that is already within us, that desire to move toward wholeness, that desire to heal'
Rows of CSX Coal Cars sit empty at the intersection of Dante Road and Bunch Town Road in Dante, Virginia.Smiddy is well aware that health outcomes are shaped by where you work, where you live, how you live, and your access to services and healthy food–the. When not in his office, he’s usually out on the region’s serpentine mountain roads, piloting his mobile X-ray unit, with which he also brings music.
Randy Wykoff, dean of East Tennessee State University’s College of Public Health and a mandolin player, is a believer in the medicinal qualities of music. As acceptance of the social determinants of health gains traction, Wykoff says, “we're also more willing to recognize that there are things like music and art that contribute to your well-being.”
“When we hear music, we’re instantly drawn toward it,” Anderson says. “It lights up our brain in so many areas.” James Borling, a music therapist, in his home in Salem, Virginia. He specializes in addiction recovery.Saria says her sessions with Borling improve her cognitive functioning and serve as a coping mechanism. They help her relax, and thereby reduce the triggers to relapse.
“Tell me where it hurts at, baby,” Handy asks, gently examining an injury to McDaniel’s leg. He checks her vital signs. They discuss other ailments and potential issues. Once finished, he picks up his banjo and composes a song in the moment about Poor Valley, where McDaniel was raised. With the examination complete, a prescription ordered, it’s song time. Together they sing “ Old Time Religion,” and a couple other standards. But it’s “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” that truly moves Frye, her voice rising.In the sky, Lord, in the skyOn this day, Frye is Handy’s final call. It’s after 5 p.m. A light rain begins to fall. These drives along Hayter’s Gap Road and countless other two-lanes nourish Handy’s soul. He treasures his visits to the homes up in the hills and hollows.
Handy’s mom, Peggy, takes in the scene with considerable relish. “Look at her,” she offers, with a nod toward a fancy dancer. “Grinnin’ like a mule eatin’ briars.”“For a lot of the elderly community, I think it really is their lifeline,” says Dylan Locke, who, with his wife, Heather Krantz, owns and operates theBut that resonance is infectious. Old time music is alive and well. The Floyd Country Store has held a weekly Friday Night Jamboree for going on 40 years .
Alessi’s journey has brought him “to this circle, where I not only learned to play, but I found the healing power of the arts, the healing power of music.”,” that he’s performed across the U.S. and Canada, including at the Soho Playhouse’s Fringe Encore Series, and that’s raised nearly a half-million dollars for cancer and music charities.