LYRICAL CONNECTION: Brendon Walmsley and his brother Jared will headline a free country music show in Taroom aiming to connect residents with health services.
LYRICAL CONNECTION: Brendon Walmsley and his brother Jared will headline a free country music show in Taroom aiming to connect residents with health services.

Music the catalyst to connect with health services

TAROOM is the last stop on a free country music tour aiming to educate and promote mental health awareness.

Multi Golden Guitar winner Brendon Walmsley and his brother Jared plan to give the residents of Taroom an enjoyable night at the Sound Minds concert.

The Walmsley brothers have been performing these free concerts across the Darling Downs since August 2019, teaming up with health provider RHealth.

The goal is to connect rural residents with the tools and resources to take care of their mental health.

Brendon Walmsley grew up in Roma and, after spending a lot of his life in rural and remote Australia, he is well aware of the daily trials and tribulations facing residents.

"These concerts have been great to get out into the communities and provide entertainment for a lot of folks doing it tough with drought," Mr Walmsley said.

"It's a good way to help take their minds off the hardships they are going through and lighten the mood, even if it's just for a night.

"I love to use my connection with country music to tell stories and connect to people through music."

Mr Walmsley said he and his brother would play some of their recorded hits and also take suggestions from the crowd as they aimed to engage and entertain the audience.

"We love people to come out and enjoy themselves, so if they want to sing along and have a dance they're very welcome to," Mr Walmsley said.

"One of the main aims of the night is to help people enjoy themselves and also educate them that there's help there if they need it."

Intake officer Marrissa Moore from RHealth said this show in Taroom fell under funding they had received from Queensland Health's Tackling Regional Adversity through Integrated Care (TRAIC) grants program.

TRAIC encourages community-based groups to develop and promote mental health support in regions affected by droughts, disasters and other crises.

"We've been running Facebook workshops around educating people on some mental health information and knowing the signs that somebody may be wanting to take their life and how to help them," Ms Moore said.

"We've also been doing these wellbeing and drought outreach events to get people in touch with service providers to help them get financial aid and other forms of assistance.

"These shows and our programs are really important because there's a lot of focus on communities being able to manage their own wellbeing but, unless you go out and there and show them, it's something that will never improve."

Entry is free and there will be plenty of food and drink to purchase to assist local groups with their fundraising efforts.

There will also be a health service navigator and other resources to help people connect with health services.

6.30-9.30pm from the Taroom Town Hall, 16 Yaldwyn St, February 8.


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