Singer-songwriter Adam Levy will perform at a New Haven gastropub October 22, then deliver a Grand Rounds lecture the next day at the Connecticut Mental Health Center.
Levy’s 8:00 pm concert at Three Sheets, 372 Elm St., will precede his 10:15 am lecture October 23, “Surviving an Adult Child’s Suicide: Mental Illness, Grief, and Creativity.”
Both the concert and lecture are free, although Three Sheets has a full pub and bar menu if people want to eat and drink while they listen to Levy perform his original indie music.
The concert will open with a short set by Gordon Weiss, MD, a faculty psychiatrist and local indie musician.
Levy, who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1988, has written, recorded and performed music for 20 years.
He founded the indie rock band The Honeydogs, which is based in Minnesota, and performs with about six bands. His musical interests span many genres, from rock, orchestral pop, and experimental sounds, to children’s music.
What came out were songs that expressed the longing and self examination (Levy had) been experiencing in the wake of his son’s death
Besides being a musician, Levy is a social activist and teacher. He has worked as an advocate for at-risk youth, offenders, teenage parents, immigrants, and refugees, and has helped them find employment.
He suffered a personal tragedy in 2012 when his son, Daniel, committed suicide. Levy initially was unable to write music as he mourned Daniel's death, but eventually creativity returned.
“What came out were songs that expressed the longing and self examination (Levy had) been experiencing in the wake of his son’s death,” according to Levy’s biography. “The songs don’t wallow in the agony. Rather they dignify Daniel’s suffering and his genius as a visual artist.”
The songs are recorded on Levy’s just released album, “Naubinway,” which, according to his biography, is named for the last track that describes Levy burying his son’s ashes in a sandy lagoon in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Levy has spoken at several conferences about mental health, and his visit to Yale is part of his effort to lift the stigma that surrounds mental illness, and to help prevent suicide.