By Bryan Eneas

Musicians rock and talk with students in Wollaston Lake

May 18, 2017 | 12:00 PM

Following tragedies in Northern Saskatchewan, communities are hoping to find solutions to the suicide crisis. 

The Father Megret High School looked to Robb Nash to engage youth from the Wollaston Lake area on the topic of suicide, as well as mental health and addictions. After stopping in Prince Albert last year, he and drummer Jonny Holiday visited the school on May 17.

At 17, Nash went through a life changing experience after the vehicle he and his friends were in collided with a semi truck. Nash said he was pronounced dead upon arrival, but was resuscitated and left in a coma. When he awoke, he found himself in a “really dark place.”

“I didn’t want to be alive,” Nash said.

He said he was eventually able to overcome the sadness and he wanted to encourage others to do the same. Now, he tours Canada and helping where he can through a combination of story telling and music.

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Post performance, he took time to talk with students and autograph any piece of paper or clothing pushed towards him; he even signed foreheads.

After the crowds died down, he spent almost 45 minutes speaking with two youth who needed someone to talk to. Nash said such visits are common occurrences after shows. He said he’s happy he can get youth to open up and engage with councillors to get the help they need.

“Every community is seeing some pain, and through our show we’re able to show people they’re not alone,” Nash said. “If you’re going through something dark, it’s okay to talk about it.”

Nash said he tries to stay in touch with communities and people who reach out to him after the shows.

“What’s beautiful though is now we go back to schools we were at four or five years ago and students are waiting as we pull up to show us they kept their promise,” Nash said. “If you watch our social media…you’ll see a lot of these kids writing to us.”

Each student left with a CD sized poster with links to Nash’s social media accounts and a number for Kids Help Phone. While speaking to the youth in Wollaston, he encouraged them to reach out to him if they ever needed someone to speak with.

Nash said his tour actually started out seven years ago, and was originally supposed to last only nine months. 

“We’re just scratching the surface…We’re just going to keep doing this because it seems to be helping people,” Nash said.

Some students couldn’t find the right words to describe how the show made them feel.

“It’s hard to put it in words,” Dillon Gazandlare, a student at Father Megret School said. “[He has a] very deep backstory…I would say he did very good.”

Gazandlare said he felt personally connected to Nash’s cause. He was bullied almost every day in elementary school, which he said reduced him to tears on a regular basis.

Now, the Grade 9 student is learning music. Gazandlare said he hopes to write his own songs and preform for people in the future. He’s learned to play piano and ukulele as well as the guitar, but his favourite part of music is singing.

“Sometimes the lyrics define what you are, or if you make the lyrics you can put out how you want it to be,” Gazandlare said. “If I were to make a song I would make it [about] how I [grew up].”

-EDITOR’S NOTE: paNOW was able to cover this event courtesy of Transwest Air. 

Bryan.Eneas@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @BryanEneas