Marking its final Fall 2021 date, Make Music Matter’s innovative and exclusive virtual series #UnpluggedTogether is set to host Grievous Angels — as well as MonkeyJunk’s Steve Marriner and 'The Sheepdogs' Jimmy Bowskill — this October 21st!
Hosted by legendary broadcaster Alan Cross and Make Music Matter founder and CEO Darcy Ataman, and produced by three-time Grammy Award-winner David Bottrill, the streamed show is the latest and last of the year in a banner run of special performances, candid interviews, and interactive live Q&A sessions.
#UnpluggedTogether is put on by the Ottawa-based non-profit Make Music Matter in support of Healing in Harmony — a program for trauma survivors. Tickets are $15, and 100% of the funds raised will support Healing in Harmony as part of Make Music Matter’s mission to use the creative process as a therapeutic tool to help empower marginalized individuals and communities.
#UnpluggedTogether premiered this past August 5th with The Standstills and Neil Sanderson (Three Days Grace), and featured The Trews Acoustic Trio, Corey Hart, The Tragically Hip’s Gord Sinclair, Sum 41’s Cone McCaslin, Billy Talent’s Ian D’Sa, and Blackbird in events throughout September.
“With this project, we’re building community and bringing together leaders in different areas of the music industry who are dedicated to making a difference,” Bottrill — who is also a Make Music Matter Board Chair — shares. “It’s also an opportunity for fans to get up close and personal, even if virtually, with the artists who support Make Music Matter’s mission.”
Make Music Matter thanks event sponsors Canadian Music Magazine, Canadian Music Week, A Journal of Musical Things, Revolution Recording, Union Sound Company, Mainstation Music, YSL Pro, Bandzoogle, Grant Thornton, Sonic Boom, Null & Void, Kinspira, BLKWTR, A4A Music, Long & McQuade, Roland Canada, Mike Ormsby/Studio Jiimaan, and The Edge 102.1 for their support of #UnpluggedTogether.
// ABOUT MAKE MUSIC MATTER
Make Music Matter uses the creative process as a therapeutic tool to help empower marginalized individuals and communities. Its innovative Healing in Harmony program for trauma survivors combines psychotherapy with music therapy. Research published in April 2021 has demonstrated its effectiveness in reducing anxiety, depression, and PTSD.
Program participants emerge as empowered artists with original songs for personal healing and advocacy tools to help combat stereotypes, stigma, and shame. Their music is recorded, produced, and disseminated via local radio stations, community concerts, social media, and major streaming platforms through A4A Records, with distribution through Warner Music Canada. A ground-breaking new publishing model helps to ensure that all royalties from the songs are sent back to the artists and their communities, regardless of socio-economic circumstances.
Developed in close partnership with 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Denis Mukwege, the Healing in Harmony model integrates existing holistic programs. Make Music Matter works in 8 countries - DRC, Rwanda, Turkey, Guinea, South Africa, Uganda, and Peru - with a first Canadian site at Fox Lake Cree Nation, Manitoba, set to begin in 2021.
