The band Rosehill has not only musical talent but a mission. This Texas country band has used their to be a platform after their drummer, whose name they declined to give, committed suicide, an event that irrevocably altered the course of their lives and the direction of their band.
Rosehill will be opening for Brandon Rhyder Wednesday at 9 p.m. at Hurricane Harry’s, but they are no strangers to College Station. The duo of Blake Myers and Mitch McBain have been friends since their youth, and when Myers went to Blinn after graduating from high school, McBain frequently visited to collaborate on music.
“College Station is like my hometown,” Myers said. “I spent four years here – it is my favorite place to play.”
As their success grew, Radney Foster became their producer, helping them produce two live records. Everything was going well for the group until tragedy struck.
“We originally got into music for the lack of responsibility,” Myers said. “After our drummer’s suicide happened, we decided that we wanted to honor and grieve him the right way.”
To honor their drummer and friend, Myers and McBain co-wrote the song “Bible and the Gun” which illustrates a young man struggling with suicide.
“He was more than just our drummer,” McBain said. “It was tough to go through that. You hear about that type of thing happening, but this was real and it hit home. Our grieving process was done through this album.”
Suicide is one of the top 10 causes of death in the United States, particularly among college aged groups and military personnel, but Myers said he couldn’t find many people talking about it.
“He had just left Blinn when it happened,” Myers said. “This is something that college aged students are going through but no one is really talking about it. After we finished our second record we decided it was time to confront this issue. No one talks about what gets people to that point and we want to.”
The duo hopes that by publicly talking about suicide, awareness and prevention can take place.
“We heard from a guy in College Station that said he listened to the song and it saved his life,” Myers said. “He had been struggling with suicide. If this song can save one life, how many more can it affect?”
The band is calling their campaign “Save A Life Tonight”, which will officially begin in September, which is suicide prevention and awareness month. All of the money made from iTunes sales from “Bible and the Gun” will be donated to various suicide prevention organizations.
“This starts in September but we want it to continue for as long as it can,” McBain said.
Adam Drake from 98.3 KORA in College Station said he listened to Rosehill’s newest CD, “Crooked Thoughts” in one day and called Myers and McBain directly after.
“When I got the advance on their new CD,” Drake said, “I called them immediately to tell them my favorite song was ‘Bible and the Gun.'”
Not only was Drake impressed by Rosehill as a band, he said, but he found “Bible and the Gun” a song that can impact anyone.
“I have never personally dealt with suicide but this song can hit everyone in some way,” Drake said.