The journey of healing for me has been a long bumpy road and musically, my art has been a blessing. Because playing my instrument allows for positive energy to flow from me as I rehearse or perform and lyrically it gives me a way to communicate things of a more serious nature that are so difficult to relay outside of the framework of my music.
Although I have always been a more creative human, it wasn’t until addressing childhood trauma that these artistic pathways began to open up and when the pathways opened,they opened all the way and shortly after a multitude of memories I had mostly forgotten about also opened up. With no real understanding of why or how these terrible things happened to me, I was only left with raw emotion, a guitar and a counselor to help navigate this very difficult time. My art allowed me to safely revisit these memories and express exactly how I felt in song to anyone or to no one but me and that is healing.
When I first began to publicly perform, I found safety in the poetic telling of my stories. The stories are written in poem form and require a bit of thinking about the subject matter and even still, a typical listener could only guess at the events. Now, after repeatedly singing my story, the actual story has become easier to tell, easier to accept and allows the damage causing trauma to stay in the rearview mirror.
-Aaron DeYarmon
To listen to more of Aaron's music, check out Graveyard Pete & The New Appalachian Sound at GraveyardPete.com, or listen on Spotify.
Please join us online or in-person at Westminster University's Gillmor Hall (in Salt Lake City, Utah) to support our talented community of survivor artists, and to experience an unforgettable evening of art, storytelling, vulnerability, and men healing in community, together.
Light refreshments will be available for all GA ticket holders.
Accessible guest parking is available in parking lot B on the corner of 1200 East and 1700 South, directly next to Gillmor Hall.
Trigger Warning: This event contains themes of sexual violence, trauma, self-harm, and strong language.
We can't wait to see you!
Anonymous test!
about 5 hours ago