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Sitting in a Nashville hotel room, a little over 4 years ago, an idea popped into my head: What if I asked musicians I had completed portraits with, if they would be willing to share a story about how mental health had played a role in their life? I had been fortunate enough to spend a lot of time with some of my favorite singers and songwriters and it seemed every one of them had a story relating back to some type of struggle.  My goal would be to normalize the conversation around mental health and present one of my portraits, along with their story as a series. I was excited about the idea and it seemed like others were too. It went nowhere. 
I kept taking portraits and I kept having those conversations. Things became a little more immediate for me a few years ago. The truth is, I also had a story and I hadn’t been very forthcoming about it with a lot of the people outside of my immediate circle. My father had a series of back surgeries back in the mid-to-late 1980’s, which led to an opioid addiction that he was never able to kick. During the last several years of his life, the parent/child relationship flip-flopped and I spent years visiting emergency rooms, jail and taking him to rehab. The addiction, along with numerous other health issues ultimately led to his death in January of 2016.

 

4 years later after coming up with the initial idea and I couldn’t be more grateful to No Depression for their willingness to include this series in their wellness issue.
Once I started asking people I had worked with, almost all of them said yes. They wanted their stories heard.

Thank you for trusting me. 

Thank you for sharing.

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-Chad Cochran 2019