Country music and country artists are no strangers to the struggles of mental health. Many of the genre’s legends and icons battled with addiction, depression, anxiety, and abuse and their thoughts, feelings and experiences have made up the raw, genuine hurt that is often found in country music. Yet, when you think about current, male country superstars who are open about their mental health journey, few examples, save names like Keith Urban, come to mind.
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by David Jurasek
How do We Play with THAT?!
A conversation about connecting across difference and responding better to conflict
In these times of personal isolation, social tension and societal conflict, I’ve been thinking a lot about the worst moments for me and my family recently.
At the same time, many friends and clients have been reaching out about various conflicts they are having online and in real life.
They are asking me,
“What can I do about this?!
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By Nick Krewen
Since being diagnosed with a bipolar disorder in 2007, Burnaby B.C., born singer and songwriter Matthew Good has been very vocally active about the state of mental health in Canada, although it can be applied to the bigger global picture.
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By Nick Krewen
In order to enjoy a career that has seen him sell 100 million albums and frequently tour the world to packed arenas, singer and songwriter James Taylor has overcome some major obstacles.
For over 20 years, the five-time Grammy Award winner and member of the Rock ‘N Roll and Songwriter Hall of Fames spent time in a psychiatric hospital in 1965 and battled drug addiction for the better part of two decades.
With a new studio album called American Standard and on the cusp of undertaking a North American tour, Taylor spoke to Nick Krewen about his recovery journey for the Toronto Star about overcoming his demons. Part of this interview appeared in the Toronto Star and part of the text here is exclusive to The Men’s List.
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There is no denying that Ron Ellis is one of the greatest Toronto Maple Leafs to ever don the uniform.
The stats speak for themselves: a four-time NHL all-star with one Stanley Cup to his credit; one of five players to clock in more than 1000 games with the team; their number four all-time scorer with 332 goals; 11th in assists with 640; 6th in points with 640, a member of the 1972 Summit Series national team against Russia and on the roster of the Canadian team for the 1977 Ice Hockey World Championships.
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By Nick Krewen
Hugh Dillon was once imprisoned by his vices.
Labelling himself a “garden variety alcoholic/addict,” you can hear every ounce of pain, anguish and experience that the darker side of life afforded him on PeopleSkills, the relentless new rock album by Headstones, of which Dillon is the singer and lyricist.
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Bill Bell is a Canadian guitarist based in Toronto who has toured with Jason Mraz and Tom Cochrane.
A few years ago, a 51-year-old Bill Bell found himself in a crisis: the rock ‘n roll lifestyle, which he had embraced since his teens and the excesses which were readily available – alcohol, drugs, sex – suddenly caught up with him and he suffered a nervous breakdown.
“I literally lay on the floor for two months in the dark and basically sold most of my guitars to pay the rent,” Bell remembers. “It felt like my brain just flipped. I wasn’t in control anymore. I started shaking.”
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