Keeping in tune
Health fair, benefit to keep local music community, fans rockin’ in tune
Upcoming health awareness program, benefit will have Rhode Island musicians and fans alike ‘Feeling Alright.’
PAWTUCKET – The second annual “Feeling Alright Health Fair and Unity Concert” comes with a serious message – and a good chance of experiencing musical magic.
The health fair is an offshoot of the Tune In & Tune Up Rhode Island Musicians Health Awareness Program, an initiative of the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame. More than 30 health care organizations, physicians, insurance companies, holistic health providers and other professionals will take part in this free fair, which emphasizes taking care of oneself before catastrophe strikes.
Exhibitors will be on hand to answer questions, and presentations will run throughout the day.
While the fair is geared to people in the music industry, it’s applicable to anyone – especially people who, like musicians, are self-employed, says Russell Gusetti, a musician and co-chair of Tune In & Tune Up.
The Unity Concert is where to expect the unexpected. A host of the state’s top musicians will perform, backed by an 11-piece band of more musical all-stars. With so much talent playing a live concert, Gusetti predicts, “There’s going to be some magic.”
Everything takes place Sunday, Oct. 21, at the Hope Artiste Village, 999 Main St. The free health fair runs from noon to 4 p.m. in space occupied by the Music Hall of Fame museum; the concert is scheduled for 2 to 7 p.m. at The Met. Concert tickets, available online at themetri. com, are $15 in advance, $20 day of show, and proceeds will go toward Tune In & Tune Up programs.
The Tune In & Tune Up initiative got started six years ago during a conversation among members of the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame.
“We were tired of throwing benefits for friends who got sick and had no health insurance,” Gusetti says. “We asked ourselves: What else can we do?”
The result is an ongoing program that hosts live events, like the health fair, and maintains an informative website, www.tuneinandtuneup.org, to help musicians, industry professionals and their families make good decisions about their health.
A major focus is to encourage preventive steps, be it scheduling annual checkups or regular visits to the dentist, all things that work better than waiting until a crisis occurs and puts a person out of work – and out of a paycheck, Gusetti points out.
Both the health fair and the website offer help navigating the intricacies of health insurance, and that’s why Tune In & Tune Up is pleased that HealthSource RI has become a sponsor.
“We know first-hand how difficult it is to navigate the healthcare system,” says Zach Sherman, HealthSource RI director. The goal of this health-insurance marketplace, he says, is “to expand access to critical healthcare services by simplifying the health insurance purchasing process and providing financial help to pay for premiums.”
The Tune In & Tune Up committee is equally pleased this year about a new partnership with the state Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals.
“My department is pleased to collaborate with Tune In & Tune Up,” says Director Rebecca Boss. “Mental health and substance use disorders affect all of us, and we need to get the word out in places where we don’t have traditional access. This is an ideal forum for us to reach large numbers of musicians and industry pros who, due in large part to lifestyle, have a higher percentage of drug and alcohol use disorders than any other profession.”
“There are so many places you can take a wrong turn in this business,” Gusetti acknowledges. “Sometimes you’re even fighting the idea that it (drug and alcohol use) is cool.”
The music part of the day will be a showcase for local musicians and many Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame inductees, including John Cafferty, James Montgomery, Steve Smith, Michael “Tunes” Antunes, Mark Cutler and Emerson Torrey, Kim Trusty, Neal Vitullo and Dave Howard. Pianist Mark Taber will perform as will The Rock’n Docs, a band of 10 physician musicians.
The featured artists will be backed by musicians with familiar names and reputations, including drummer Don “D.C.” Culp, Gusetti’s co-chair on Tune In & Tune Up. The School of Rock Show Team, a dance group from Attleboro, also will perform.
“This is musicians helping musicians,” Gusetti says, who hopes Tune In & Tune Up will keep people from tuning out about their own health care.