Hunter Brothers band member Ty Hunter to speak and perform at More Joy Event in Regina
January 20, 2025, 2:57 pm
Ashley Bochek
Ty Hunter, the lead singer and youngest of the Juno-nominated Hunter Brothers, will be the keynote speaker at More Joy Regina on Bell Let’s Talk Day, Jan. 22, where he will bring his songs, as well as his struggles to the audience in his first-ever speech on the subject of his mental health.
He will give a 45-minute talk followed by a special acoustic performance of several Hunter Brothers hits.
More Joy Regina will feature mental health speakers, as well as booths from provincial mental health organizations in order to give attendees concrete coping tools. Organizer Christalee Froese says January is very hard on mental health, making in-person experiences like More Joy Regina even more important.
Ty Hunter spoke about his mental health journey with the World-Spectator last week.
The interview follows:
Tell me about your mental health journey.
I think everybody has their own form of mental health journey. I think opening up the conversation allows us all to share our own stories. I was diagnosed with a clinical mood disorder.
It has been a process of understanding what that looks like and living with it specifically. I had a misdiagnosis earlier on that led to a crash in my physical body as well.
Then, working through that to get to a place of a proper diagnosis and the tools to find my way through that has been a process for sure, but I have learned a lot along the way.
I have learned a lot about resiliency and opening up relationships and how to walk the roads specifically with this particular condition, but everybody has their journey as well.
What do you do now?
I am still doing music with my brothers. I am in Shaunavon and still touring with the band, going to Nashville and writing music, doing all those things.
That is my primary job, and I am involved very heavily in my community. I teach music lessons as well, so I keep myself occupied.
How did you get into singing and performing?
I was basically born into it. That is the truth, there is video footage of my mom performing on stage with me—like her pregnant on stage.
I grew up singing with my brothers, so it has always been a part of life for me. It was always my dream and passion from when I was little and it was something I pursued and it has been an amazing journey so far.
A lot of singers maybe don’t have the family aspect, but you get to sing with your brothers—what is that like?
It is awesome. There are five of us, so it is wild.
There are so many personalities in our family, and we don’t do it perfectly by any means, but there is a person beside you to always look out for you and we have worked on communication throughout the years and we are still figuring it out and how to work through differences, but how to also utilize those differences and bring them together.
Have you shared your story publicly before, and if not, why have you decided to do so now?
I have shared it in little bits, buy I have never really gone fully in depth of what that story entails, and so I think the reason I am doing it now is because I would definitely say things occasionally on stage or on social media, so I feel like people have picked up on it, and so I have been asked to do a couple of things.
So, this is probably one of the most vulnerable things I have done because it is an actual speaking engagement in conjunction with music.
I was just recently asked the question, ‘Why now?’ and I think what hit me was ‘Why wait?’ There are so many different things going on in the world and things happening with everybody’s journey and I think opening up allows us all to feel a sense of comfort and a feeling that we are not alone and that we can talk about these things, it is okay, and hopefully people walk away feeling a sense of hope and a sense of encouragement and relatability.
As I have shared pieces of it people have come forward and told me about family members or friends that struggled with the same thing and a little extreme, but ended in death in extreme cases, so I think just hearing those stories makes me think okay there are resources out there, but it is a difficult thing to navigate so if you don’t know the resources are there, how do we make sure we shine a light on those things. I was very fortunate to have the right people around to help and you have to put the work in, but I think shining a light on specific things is very important as well.
What sort of reaction do you get when you do share your story?
It has been one of those things where, when people hear your story, they come forward and then share about their own journey or somebody who is close to them, specifically in the realm of men’s mental health because it is being talked about more now, but has been one of those things that have taken a period of time to start being talked about.
But I think if you build the courage and speak up, then that allows others to do the same.
I think that is the natural progression of things that people start to share their own process of vulnerability as well.
What do you hope your appearance at the More Joy event will accomplish?
I hope everybody takes something away from the event.
I hope everybody feels a sense of hope at the end of it and encouraged that they learned something in a very positive way that impacts them in their life.
So hopefully, people walk away with resources, but I really hope that people walk away with a sense of understanding, belonging, and they are worthy of love.
What are your goals and what do you want to accomplish with your life?
There are so many things that honestly up to this point I feel I have genuinely accomplished, and I am very grateful for that.
My goal now is to continue to do music and to use that as the means—it is a gift I feel like I can give to other people.
Everybody wants to find the thing that makes them feel alive and hopefully helps others as well, and for me that is music.
I have lots of aspirations along the way. I have a family with three beautiful children and so I am very grateful for them as well.
So, I will be continuing to tour, making music, and continue to connect with people and travel, but also pour what I can into the lives around me and to the local community as well.
What is your advice for people going through a tough time?
Reach out to your close ones right away. Don’t be scared to pick up the phone if you are going through something.
Text message or call right away and just open up to those who are closest to you for that sense of comfort.
If you need more resources, they are definitely out there as well, so be intentional, put the work in, and find those people who really care to listen and they will help you along the way on your journey.
