Blue October Answers the Call

Next month, Blue October will headline the first suicide prevention music tour. The month-long jaunt, which will follow a press conference on Capitol Hill, will take place in collaboration with the 1-800 SUICIDE National Hopeline Network, To Write Love on Her Arms, Synclive.com and PostSecret. Hip-hop producer B.o.B. (Bobby Ray) will be the supporting act.

Justin Furstenfeld, singer for Blue October and spokesperson for the Pick Up the Phone Tour, remarks, "It has taken 20 years to have the chance to do a tour focusing on mental health issues which have been a daily battle for me for most of my life. It's great to finally be a part of a positive, progressive-thinking tour for an important cause which will make a direct impact and help people in desperate situations that need it the most."

The tour hopes to reduce the stigma associated with mental health and to provide a platform for young people to receive help now. The D.C. press conference, which will take place at 10 a.m. on Oct. 21, will be followed the next night with the opening concert in Charleston, South Carolina. They also hope to urge Congress to fund the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act, which would fund the majority of suicide prevention programs in the U.S.

Pick Up the Phone also hopes to promote a new way to people to receive help -- through instant messaging.

"In moments of bravery and confusion and honesty, people turn to 1-800-SUICIDE -- over three million of them," adds Jamie Tworkowski, founder of To Write Love on Her Arms. "The folks at the Hopeline Centers have been answering those calls for ten years, picking up the phone when it's mattered most. Now to help those who will not pick up the phone, together with 1-800-SUICIDE we are launching the first 24x7 online emotional support network called AliveIM!, which will soon be available at www.suicide.net."

She then adds, "We can hold back the darkness. Rescue is possible."

Blue October/Justin Furstenfeld images by Guus Krol courtesy of Flickr.