Robb Nash Project connects with local students on mental health issues – DiscoverHumboldt.com

(Note: The following content contains reference to self-harm and suicide. Support resources are found at the end of the article)

Taken from the most basic perspective, the mission of speaker, musician and mental health advocate Robb Nash is simple – he’s saving lives. 

Nash spent a portion of the day with students from the Horizon School Division in Lanigan on May 6. The event was part of a mental wellness symposium for students, a key pillar of the Division’s commitment to wellness. 

Passing through the area, Nash stopped into the Bolt FM studio to talk about that mission, the experiences that led to his commitment to others, and a look into the remarkable power of music and art as healing properties and important threads of connection.  

Nash will be speaking to students at the forum, but he is often on tour with his band delivering positive and life affirming songs, using the music as a conduit for young people to approach and seek help and guidance. He muses about his role as a musician. 

“I’m known as a musician, and when people say they’re musicians, it’s usually something they’ve wanted to be since the age of five, but music was actually my worst mark in school,” Nash laughed. “I tried out for the school choir and didn’t make that.” 

In the end, regardless of the perceived talent or lack thereof, Robb turned to music as a means to tell his story. It’s a story that has tragic repercussions and resonates with Humboldt and the area in its circumstance.  

“When I was 17, I was in a car accident – hit by a semi-truck and found with no pulse and not breathing. I woke up from a coma not knowing who I was. I went from a 6-foot 5 athlete to a guy who was getting bathed by his mom. I went through a really, really dark time after that and didn’t want to be alive.” 

As is the case with many young people experiencing this kind of despair, no one around Nash knew what he was going through. Despite their best-intentioned aphorisms (“everything happens for a reason”), the persistent bitterness and anger welled up until Nash decided to reject his self-destructive thoughts and be honest with his story. 

From his beginnings in a small Manitoba town, Nash and his band worked their way into and up the rungs of Canadian music with albums and radio airplay. At one point, Robb was offered a series of acoustic solo gigs going into classrooms, First Nations, and prisons, all with the idea of sharing his experiences. He and his band have been working on that basis since 2009.  

A pivotal moment came when Nash was called to a school in Ontario to help students deal with the pain of losing a classmate when she took her own life. The note found with the female student indicated she had made a pact with another student – to the school principal’s dismay, they didn’t know the identity of the pact partner.  

“There were a thousand students sitting in front of me, and I knew in my heart, I had to say, for the first time, that I was there once myself.” Nash also confessed to the students that he knew someone in the crowd was thinking of taking their own life.  

While his own admission lifted a weight off his shoulders, Nash explained the remarkable occurrence that followed his moment of vulnerability after the show. Amid the hugs and stories being shared, an unexpected side effect of Nash’s candor, a girl walked up to Nash and handed him a note. She told him it was her plan to end her life that weekend, but she didn’t need it anymore. 

Nash had discovered that his own honesty and vulnerability had become his greatest weapon in saving lives. Walking into schools, arenas, and performance centres armed with authentic stories, he makes the admission that he knows someone in the room is thinking of ending their life – at every show. Invariably, the notes come forward with young people breaking through the dark threshold to seek help. Those moments are indelible. Every authentic signature from every note he’s received is tattooed on Nash’s arms.  

In fact, some of the people who have benefitted from Nash’s words in the past are now actually part of the show. Whether it’s a girl who was in lockdown coming out to perform or an inspirational video of a guitarist who performs by deftly overcoming a physical challenge, Nash’s audience members have often become his allies. He’s a firm believer in the remarkable connection between arts, creativity and mental wellness.  

Nash is touring through Saskatchewan, performing, speaking and connecting with schools and divisions that are hopeful to secure a visit to support a youth population whose emotional well-being is increasingly in peril.   

“It’s getting younger. What the grades 11 and 12s are into is now at the grades 8 and 9. What they were into is now at grade 5. We put a lot of our focus on young people.” 

Nash’s shows rely on positive and uplifting messaging, building emotional energy and celebrating the victories – “accentuating the positive” in every fashion possible. He hopes to continue delivering the music and the messages to classroom and arenas – and every available venue in between.  

Robb Nash Project invites connection through his website: robbnash.com 

Anyone in crisis can reach out to trained support by dialing 988 or Kids Help Phone at (800) 668-6868. Services in Humboldt are available through Partners Family Services, Humboldt District Health Centre, and with supportive counsellors in the Horizon School Division and Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools.  

Listen to the full conversation with Robb Nash below.