Songwriter helps veterans find a voice
Music sessions provide therapeutic outlet
TNEW YORK adateonjosh Geartz’s calendar that the former U.S. Army sergeant has been looking forward to for quite some time.
Aug. 10 will mark Geartz’s fourth retreat with the nonprofit Songwriting With: Soldiers — his first session there in 2015 saved his life. Literally.
“I’d already attempted suicide twice,” the 38-year-old said, “both times were more of a reaction and wasn’t a planned thing. It was more in the moment, like, ‘All right, screw this.’ So I was like, ‘Third time’s a charm. I’m going to get it right this time.’ I had my plan. I knew when, where, how.”
His wife had told him about a Songwriting With: Soldiers session about soldiers, or about war. I don’t know if it’s ever been done before where it’s done with them, so that these are their words,” she said. “And somewhere in the process the veteran starts to see, ‘Oh, my God, this story might help other people. To tell it might be a continuation of my service.’ And they’re into that. They want to continue to be of service.”
Passion and purpose
Geartz has seen the effect the song he co-wrote, “Still on the Ride,” has had on others when he performed it with Gauthier at the Grand Ole Opry and Ryman Auditorium in Nashville (he plays harmonica on the track).
“I had a female come up to me after one of our shows, she goes, ‘Can I give you a hug? I just want to thank you. I haven’t been able to show any emotion for years and I was able to cry tonight,’ ” he recalled.
“And then I had a lady call me and say listening to the four-minute song answered 50 years of questions she had about her father,” he added. “It kind of gave me a purpose and a mission to support and promote this organization that helped save my life.”
Geartz, who was wounded by an improvised explosive device in 2003, lugged his wheelchair for 422 miles last summer for veteran suicide awareness. The father of two will return as a volunteer to the upcoming Songwriting With: Soldiers event, giving a helping hand to veterans in the way others assisted him. Songwriter Georgia Middleman will help craft songs and the retreat also includes sessions on cooking, yoga and videography. Geartz will teach a class on the harmonica, which he has played since he was 7.
“It’s like a big family reunion — one of the family reunions you want to go to,” Geartz said.
For Gauthier, the process “feels like my passion has collided with purpose.”
“I am very, very lucky to have been given this opportunity to midwife these songs and then to be the one to bring them into the world. I feel a sense of rightness about it, that I have mined myself thoroughly. I’ve said what I need to say about me. And the next right thing for me as an artist, clearly, is to help give voice to other people’s story.”