If you’re a professional musician, however, with a little bit of luck you'll land in a safety net provided by MusiCares, a sophisticated national foundation supported by the likes of Lady Gaga, crooner Steven Tyler and guitarist (and onetime Jack Daniels devotee) Slash.
Founded in 1989 and run by The Recording Academy (best known for throwing the Grammys), MusiCares came about when a brilliant jazz clarinetist and band leader named Woody Herman died homeless and alone. According to MusiCares Executive Director Debbie Carroll, the circumstances of his passing led “a number of musicians, including Bonnie Raitt, to come together and say no one in our music family should end up in this type of situation.”
The fact is that musicians often have no insurance—a significant issue if you combine that with bouts of unemployment, a depressed economy, and, as is often the case, addiction. Though there are similar programs for writers and other artists, including Writers in Treatment, few share the breadth and scope of MusiCares.
Out of offices in LA, Nashville and New York, MusiCares has eight full-time employees serving over 2700 clients a year—as well as consultants in Austin, Fort Collins, and New Orleans. According to Carroll, addiction recovery services comprise about 30% of what they do—the other 70% is dedicated to helping people through the other bumps in the road: financial, medical, and other needs.
While the needs of the community grow every year, MusiCares is—thanks to their fundraising efforts—able to grow with it. “In the last year, we've served 2,700 clients with $2.9 million in aid,” says Carroll. “The year before, it was roughly 2,500 with $2.7 million. As people become more aware of us, they want to help.”
by Kristen McGuiness, The Fix | Read more:
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