Meet Jason Davey

We recently connected with Jason Davey and have shared our conversation below.

Jason, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

VetJams was originally founded by Chet and Jason at a VFW social discussing the challenges of reaching veterans who suffer with mental health problems. As of 2024 we lose around 18 veterans a day to suicide. Jason had lost his first wife to cancer and was really struggling before finding therapy. After some discussion about how hard it is to find a good veteran therapist, and overcoming the stigmas associated with seeking mental health help, we decided to start a band to promote mental health and access to free therapy via the VetCenter. Jason had worked in the veteran community before as a yoga teacher and Chet had been working with veterans at the local VFW for many years. The band really cemented when Javier a Marine Officer joined playing pedal steel and Becca a professional drummer joined the band. They decided to join forces, play music, create community, and encourage veterans to seek therapy. After playing music in the community, they created the mission statement for VetJams: Vet Jams is a collaborative project of musicians and veterans with the mission to promote mental health in the community. Vet Jams discusses the stigmas of mental health at every show. It’s ok to go to therapy, and through the VetCenter free therapy is available for all veterans.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

VetJams is based in New Orleans Louisiana and we wanted to tap into the community by doing what New Orleans does best, playing music. Our ultimate goal is to play a gig a week in each part of the city. New Orleans is a very neighborhood centric city and in order to reach as many veterans as we can, we’re building towards playing four shows a month in different parts of the city to spread the word.

It’s ok to go to therapy. It’s ok to talk about the things in your head. Free therapy is available to any veteran through the VetCenter.

In order to maximize our efforts we focus on creating several things:
1. Getting Veterans together to play music. VetJams believes that through community and music we can create bonds that will help veterans feel less isolated. Playing music with friends is a great way to forge bonds and breakdown barriers to communication.
2. Creating a space where veterans can interact. Each VetJams gig is an opportunity for veterans to come support veterans. Some veterans aren’t in a headspace where they’re ready to start therapy. We believe that once you create community, naturally veterans will talk to other veterans. Many veterans will tell their stories to another veteran long before they would tell that same story to a partner or loved one.
3. Advocating for therapy and breaking down social stigmas. Many veterans are taught that we must “suck it up” and muscle through our issues. This mentality works for charging machine gun nests, or working on a ship or tank, but acknowledging the trauma we carry and openly talking about it is a difficult thing. We purposely say over the mic “It’s ok to go to therapy, and through the vet center, free therapy is available.” We get a lot of sideways looks, the bartenders cheer, but the point is to normalize talking about mental health. All veterans know the challenges and the burdens of our service. Recognizing the elephant in the room or in our minds is a key step. Jason in particular talks about the challenges in his life and his path to therapy. It’s important to share our stories so that others can follow by example.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

1. Be social. One of the challenges that we face as a community in the new age of social media is how to say hello. Chet one of our founding members is always be quick to shake someone’s hand and introduce himself. In our inter connected phone based world, we have lost the ability to connect as friends and community members. You never know how someone is feeling, and when engaging in discussion of hard topics, we have to learn to welcome each other and how to connect with them.

2. Be authentic. There’s nothing more powerful than the truth. When you speak from the heart, and share your experiences honestly, people can feel the difference. We are lucky that we get to promote something that we all believe in. Playing music together, and talking about how we can help one another live better happier lives is a mission we all want to spend our time doing. Putting down the preconceptions of what we’re suppose to be, and connecting with what we are, here and now makes bridging the gap between people and increases our ability to communicate real concepts.

3. Listen. Listening to music or listening to someone tell their story are equally powerful. Sometimes the greatest positive impact you can have is asking someone how they are doing, and actually listening to their response. In VetJams a big part of playing music together is listening to one another. Tempo, notes, phrases, the more we practice and listen to one another the better we feel about playing together. Forging relationships between people can sometimes be not what you say, but what you hear. We all want to be heard in one way or another, so actively working on listening can help bring everyone together.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

VetJams main goal currently is trying to get a gig a month in each part of New Orleans. We are currently meeting with our veteran community leaders and groups and spreading the word regarding mental health and the role music can have in the fight against veteran suicide. We have all discussed the short and long term goals as a band, and we’re all focused on spreading the word and trying to get gigs in our community. At the same time, we are not losing sight of what we’ve done already. We’ve found new veteran musicians that have became a part of our shows. We’ve made new friends. We’ve had veterans reach out and tell us they’ve started playing music or going to therapy after coming to our shows. We think that while it’s important to have goals that will further our mission, it’s important to recognize where we are currently, and the good that’s already come from the band, our friendships, and starting to change the stigmas about veterans and mental health.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://vetjams.org
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/nolavetjam