The Reachers

Music for mental health

Music has the power to heal, unite, and transform — and for the members of The Reachers, it can be a lifeline. Formed in 2016 through the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Hope Learning Centre, the band isn’t just about playing rock classics; it’s about connection and community.

Melody Dunn is a peer support specialist at the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Hope Learning Centre.  She runs a variety of programs, including The Reachers. The band uses music to break barriers, raise awareness, and it creates a safe space. They play at community events to bring more attention to mental health issues, sometimes fundraising, and just to get people talking.

“I don’t like to refer to myself as the leader because we are a band, we are cohesive, but I kind of coordinate from a CMHA perspective in terms of logistics and paperwork and all that kind of stuff.”

“I think music is something that helps bring people together,” Dunn says. Being a musician for the majority of her life, it has helped connect her with others and produced friendships with other musicians. She says she is primarily on guitar and vocals but also plays a bit of drums and bass. She adds if people are shy or introverted, she notices them tapping their toes or singing along quietly. “The more that people engage and the more often people come, it really brings people kind of out of their shell and just has a connecting value to the music.”

For Lindsay musician and dog walker, Tony Shepherd, playing in the band provides him with enjoyment and excitement, particularly when playing drums or executing good lead guitar parts. He says he is basically a guitar player with a bit of drums, bass, and vocals in his musical mix — despite not reading music.

Shepherd started playing guitar as a teenager but didn’t take formal lessons until his mid-20s. He describes being self-taught and the only musician in his family. In his 20s, he played rhythm guitar in a band performing simple classic rock songs.

Regarding his instrumental versatility, Shepherd explains he learned drums informally from a band mate, while not owning a drum set until 20 years ago.

The band incorporates mental health themes into their repertoire, with covers of meaningful songs, including Name by the Goo Goo Dolls and Heard by Johnny Cash. Band members also write songs, including ballads. Shepherd says songwriting comes easily to him. He says he thinks of subjects, creates rhyming lines, a chorus and then verses.

The talented senior acknowledges it might be too late for a full-time music career, but he expresses ambition to perform more frequently and increase the band’s visibility, including playing at the Flato Academy Theatre and concerts in the park.