Healing through music

Music has been considered therapeutic for many people over the years.

It provides a sense of connection and support during difficult moments, helping reduce stress, anxiety and depression.

For the members of The Resilient, music has provided much more than that. Four of the members are military veterans who were wounded in combat, discovering the power of music during their recovery time at Walter Reed Medical Center. Now, they share that message of hope and perseverance through their band.

“It's basically us drawing on our experience through what we’ve learned because of what we’ve experienced. I think we utilize the imagery, the ability to grab people’s attention with our stage presence. We communicate, overall, why we’re resilient. It’s our theme. We kind of communicate through the show the stories and the music and how we put it together,” said Nathan Kalwicki, guitarist for the band, who was injured in Afghanistan.

The first stop on The Resilient’s Leave No Man Behind Tour will be Sunday, July 20, at 2 p.m. at the Woodward Opera House. Six Miles to Nellie will open the show.

The band formed in 2018, but met a few years before that at Walter Reed. Kalwicki, singer Tim Donley and guitarist Greg Loman met in the MusiCorps program offered at the military hospital in 2012.

MusiCorps was a music therapy program led by Arthur Bloom that taught music to the veterans recovering at the hospital, whether it be the guitar, drums or whatever instrument they wanted to play. Kalwicki had taken music lessons as a teenager and MusiCorps helped him get through the long days of recovery after losing a leg in combat.

Things really took off for Kalwicki and the other members when Roger Waters of Pink Floyd came and recruited members of MusiCorps for his band that would play at a veteran’s benefit concert – Stand Up for Heroes.Kalwicki initially had to force himself to accept the invite, not really feeling the excitement of meeting a rock star that would be there.

“I just wasn’t in the mindset of being excited about things. I was relatively fresh out of the hospital and still pretty weak. It was a relatively common state for people in that environment at that time,” Kalwicki said. “It didn’t really turn into what the band became until this guy, Roger Waters, got involved. He basically came to Walter Reed in 2012 after communicating with Arthur. He was basically looking for a veteran supporting band to play with him at a benefit concert in New York City. He was one of the artists performing artists performing for this charity concert and he didn’t want to perform by himself.

“I had not been in New York City before and here I am in a wheelchair and in a whole new world. Not many of us had gotten out of the hospital much since we’d been injured. It was one of those fun, sort of foundational trips and moments for me as far as how it shaped my life, my experience and the show itself. We played to a crowd of decorated military people from the wars up until that point. A lot of wounded guys that had gone through this similar process and story that we had. I remember seeing a lot of emotion. It was a powerful show.”

Juan “Dom” Dominguez, a triple amputee who plays the drums, joined them the next year and the group played several benefit concerts and a nationwide tour as a wounded warrior band around the Eastern part of the United States. Kalwicki’s brother, Erik, joined as the bass player after meeting the guys in New York.

After a couple of years, the guys went their own ways, but Loman persuaded them to get back together and they began performing at a few stops as a cover band. They eventually began performing their own songs, most of which were written by Donley, and have increased the size of their tour to include nearly 20 stops this year.

The No Man Left Behind Tour is more than just a concert – it’s a full-scale experience for members of the audience. The band shares their experiences with the crowd between songs and also include an audiovisual portion.

“We’re going to be hanging around before the show starts, meet and greet type of thing, meeting people. That’s the best way for us to accomplish a mission that we have for the shows, which is connecting with as many people as possible. Hopefully, find that bit of hope in there or being somebody’s catalyst for change,” Kalwicki said. “The way I speak about it now is different than how I used to speak about it when I didn’t accept and have as much testimonial stuff. Basically, recognizing that there’s a lot of people that come up after they see us play and it will trigger something, they’ll have some sort of emotional response or revelation that they’ve been burying this heavy, crazy stuff. I think that kind of fuel is what makes it easier, at least for me, to go up and tell my story over and over. Even though it’s therapeutic for me, in a way.

“I get emotional telling how I was wounded but trying to communicate this theme that every step along the way, people were there to support me. Initially, when I was wounded, I wouldn’t have survived if I didn’t have my teammates there to literally keep me alive. Then, the next step of the journey where I wake up two weeks later in a hospital bed. Basically, wake up to my dad saying, this is what happened and now you’re missing your leg. Then, having to rely on nurses and staff and family and friends. I’ll touch on a couple points throughout my journey and try to tie into the theme that we always need this support network.”

Tickets for the concert are $20 and available atwww.mvac.org. Veterans can call 740-462-4ART for a specially priced ticket.