If you like classical music AND football or sports of any kind, it’s not that far afield for you to imagine musicians are like pro athletes. They suffer the same type of injuries but don’t make the same kind of money to treat those injuries. In comes the Musician Treatment Foundation founded by Dr. Alton Barron, which treats musicians for little or no money.
From Musician Treatment Foundation, this month’s Get Involved spotlight organization:
About
The Musician Treatment Foundation was founded in 2017 with the primary mission of helping uninsured and underinsured professional musicians access essential orthopedic care for their shoulders, elbows, and hands at little or no cost. Common shoulder, elbow, and hand injuries and problems that don’t prevent most of us from continuing to work can stop musicians from making music, making a living, and supporting their families. The foundation helps with surgical and nonsurgical care through its Physicians for Musicians network of skilled orthopedic surgeons to keep the music playing for us all.
Musicians bring beauty and song to the world, but the majority cannot subsist from just making music, and many live below the poverty line. When they lack health insurance or what they have is inadequate, a musician’s prospects seem dim in the face of the costs of specialized orthopedic surgery, the time away from playing for recovery, and the loss of income throughout. Without help or insurance, an injury — whether from accidental trauma or repetitive stress — can easily mark the end of a musician’s career. The Musician Treatment Foundation strives to identify musicians in need, physicians willing to provide care at no cost to the musicians, and funding to cover the related costs, such as anesthesia, devices, equipment, medicine, and surgical facilities. Professional musicians who need help with care for shoulders, elbows, or hands may contact MTF here to see if we can help.
Like the SIMS Foundation, the Musicians Treatment Foundation aims to facilitate free and low-cost health care for uninsured/underinsured players – specifically targeting the hand, shoulder, and elbow issues pro musicians endure after spending years on the road. This pair of interlinked benefits intends to raise funds and awareness for the organization. The party begins at Parker Jazz Club on Friday, with a ripping lineup headed by fusion guitar star Mike Stern, who cut an album with Austin’s Eric Johnson a few years back, and eclectic saxist Bill Evans, with whom Stern played in Miles Davis’ early-Eighties comeback band. Given the dearth of touring jazz acts to our city and the intimacy of Parker Jazz Club, expect this one to sell out.
Grammy-winning singer-songwriters Shawn Colvin and Sarah Jarosz will headline a July 24 outdoor concert at the Long Center Terrace and Lawn benefiting the Musician Treatment Foundation.
Colvin, who lives in Austin, and Jarosz, who grew up in Wimberley and now lives in Nashville, will each play 30-minute sets to cap a three-hour event that begins at 7 p.m. Jarosz also will play with Colvin during her set. Renowned producer-instrumentalist John Leventhal, who has produced albums for both Colvin and Jarosz, will accompany both of them…
The Musician Treatment Foundation helps to heal musicians suffering from the kind of repetitive stress injuries that make it harder, if not impossible, to practice their craft, including injuries to the shoulder, elbow and hand. Founded by Dr. O. Alton Barron in October of 2017, the non-profit MTF has already provided more than a million dollars worth of surgical and non-surgical care to area musicians. On the latest episode of the Sun Radio Regional Report, Kevin Connor talks with Dr. Barron about the work of MTF. You can hear that conversation here. And be sure and check out their livestream benefit concert featuring Elvis Costello and Shawn Colvin on their website through July 26.
Since MTF’s establishment in Austin last year, it’s provided $565,000 worth of free medical care to musicians—making it just the latest organization to try to crack the city’s musician welfare problem. But even with its growing Rolodex of do-gooders, the Live Music Capital of the World is still struggling to keep the show going. Affordability continues to be an ongoing issue—one that’s hardly confined to Austin’s musicians—and consistent streams of revenue have been difficult for artists to access, especially in the era of digital streaming and low music sales. According to HAAM’s most recent reports, more than 60 percent of its members are barely making enough money to get by every month.
Austin is dubbed the Live Music Capital of the World. For some, it’s hard to make it a living at it, especially if you…say….break an arm. CBS Austin anchor, Allison Miller, introduces us to the nonprofit, Musician Treatment Foundation, making a difference, keeping artists playing without skipping a beat.
“Okay, now I’m getting nervous,” admits Jonathan Horne, crossing a skyway between a parking garage and the adjoining medical center.
The night before, he’d endured grisly, pre-surgery nightmares, but the morning arises serene. As Horne enters the lobby of an orthopedic practice, the receptionist presents him with paperwork: “You know what to do.”
Indeed, he does. This is the third hand surgery in the last nine months for one of Austin’s premier guitarists.
Jenifer Jackson, an Austin-based guitarist, was on the verge of taking out a loan to fix a shoulder injury that had forced her to cancel several tours when she received some good news: She had an appointment the following Monday with a top orthopedic surgeon and wouldn’t be paying a penny for his services. The assistance was career-saving.
Austin is home to pioneering nonprofits, such as HAAM and SIMS, that serve the health needs of the music community. Add another: The Musician Treatment Foundation, which aims to heal vulnerable shoulders, elbows and hands, and kicks off with an Elvis Costello benefit concert Oct. 22 at the Paramount Theatre.