As part of our I'm Listening mental health awareness initiative, host Dallas spoke with The Struts bassist Jed Elliott and Personal Health Coach Chelsea Szabo about their own new set of programs, called The Musician's Journey, dedicated to equipping musicians with the tools and foundation needed to experience career longevity and long-term personal success.
LISTEN NOW: Jed Elliott of The Struts discusses 'The Musician's Journey'
“For me, while playing bass in a Rock N’ Roll band is incredibly important, I don't think anybody would doubt that,” Jed says, “I really felt this desire to equip other musicians, some of my peers, and then new musicians kind of coming out and breaking through -- even people who are just trying this as a hobby -- to be able to lean in and support the mental health of other musicians and give back to an industry that has been very, very kind to me and I continue to work in and love. It was kind of giving something back bigger than just playing bass, I suppose.”
Now over a decade into his professional career working and touring with The Struts, "It’s funny," Elliott admits, "When Chelsea and I started building ‘The Musician's Journey’ and decided to work creatively together on how we wanted this to be structured, a lens that I kind of viewed the whole thing through was, ‘OK. How would me 10 years ago -- beginning this international touring or even just local touring -- honestly, what could I have done with that? What would I have needed?’ I remember at the time there being, and there still is, tremendous support in place for you might say 'crisis management,' if there's a kind of burnout on tour. There are things like that. I never would have quite described myself as ‘there,’ but I knew that I was struggling,” he says.
“I knew that I was finding this job really difficult and that came with some kind of feelings of guilt as well," he continues, "because I heard that musicians say the mantra of ‘we're so lucky to be doing this.’ I think there's so much truth in that, but it doesn't negate the fact that it can be a really challenging career path and have some very unique challenges.”
He explains further, “When we created 'The Musician's Journey,' everything was through that lens of, ‘If knew that this had existed 10 years prior as a hard-working musician, somebody that was curious about how the industry works, curious about wanting to songwrite and play instruments, what else is there that I can do that's gonna not only further my success in this career, but also make me feel good?’ And I couldn't really find anything at that time.”
“That's really what we've tried to build with five foundational elements of mental health and career success,” Jed adds. “Somewhere else to put your energy and have that focus and that kind of compass north as it were, to encourage you to check in more, to have that self-awareness, and build those foundations upon which the rest of your career can sit. A lot of that is a credit to Chelsea who is here with us as well, because she really helped get those ideas out with me and into these practical tools.”
Listen to Dallas' full chat with The Musicians Journey creators Chelsea Szabo and Jed Elliott above -- and to try the 'Navigate Your Music Career With Meaning' module for free, visit TheMusiciansJourney.net.
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Audacy's I’m Listening initiative aims to encourage those who are dealing with mental health issues to understand they are not alone. If you or anyone you know is struggling with depression or anxiety, know that someone is always there. Additionally, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 988. Find a full list of additional resources here.