This episode almost didn’t happen. I thought long and hard about taking this step to not only be vulnerable with listeners, but also to put out some music into the world that I never intended to be shared — music that was strictly intended as therapy. But, the reason I started this podcast was to explore how creativity is healing, and also to have creatives be open and honest about the messy bits: everything that forms the human experience. None of us get through life without the messy bits. How could I interview everyone else and hear their open and vulnerable takes on healing and the process of their creativity, and not let you hear the same?
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I am so grateful to the Brothers Koren. They have an incredible program called the Songwriter’s Journey, where they help folks to reclaim their “Big Voice” — and to reclaim their power, creativity, and truth through that voice. As musicians they’ve toured with the likes of Coldplay, Pink, and Rod Stewart, but they decided that after so many years in the music industry, they wanted to use their voices, their music and their incredible talents to help others. In this special, co-interview episode we discuss our creative process as we worked together for the past year and a half, after they came into my life at one of the most difficult times for me, especially regarding my relationship to art.
We lost my grandmother at the beginning of the pandemic last year, and even though my grandfather is suffering from dementia, at our family’s memorial service (held via Zoom) he once again became the man we all knew and loved — the man who, at a young age, had instilled in me his deep love of nature — who was now soothing and bringing our family together in our grief. I hope you’ll stay tuned to the end of this episode for the premiere of our song “The Moon Will Stay,” which is a collaboration between a poem I wrote for my grandfather and the beautiful music it inspired in Thorald and Isaak Koren. There are incredible studies about the healing power of music, especially for those with Alzheimer’s and dementia, and I’m so glad I was able to write this for my grandfather and for him to have heard it before we someday will inevitably lose him. But not today — because the moon will stay, and we will always have that. — Beth Behrs
More music from Beth Behrs and the Brothers Koren will be available on Bandcamp later this month. All proceeds will benefit mental health-focused charities.
Follow @harmonicspodcast on Instagram for more updates on how you can download this music and support these important causes!