When Passion Meets Purpose; OFA Grad Helps Veterans Heal Through Music

By Steve Lawrence —

In the summer of 1979, Mike Kelly – then 21, and a member of the OFA Class of ’76 – stepped out of his comfort zone and into a room full of elderly nursing home residents in Santa Cruz, California. As Mike opened his guitar case and prepared to play a few songs for that day’s Music Hour, he looked around the room at the two dozen or so residents. Some looked very excited to hear a different entertainment offering, some looked indifferent at best, and some looked utterly disconnected from that plane of reality. 

Also tuning up his guitar that day was Mike’s friend and fellow OFA grad (Class of ’74) who worked at the care facility and had set up the musical performance. “The same staff member plays the same ten songs on the organ every week,” Mike’s friend had told him. “I appreciate you coming in to give these folks some variety.”

Mike’s path to Santa Cruz – where he was studying the emerging field of Solar Technology at Cabrillo College – had contained a few bumps along the way. His early years in Apalachin had unfolded smoothly, with his WWII fighter pilot dad and his Homecoming Queen mom providing a stable – if not idyllic – upbringing. His two older sisters – Linda and Patty – had graduated from high school a few years ahead of Mike, and the youngest of the Kelly kids had developed a real love for music – the Beatles especially – and around the age of 12, Mike started playing guitar. A solid student and a good athlete, he put his typical sincere effort into learning guitar, and the better he got, the more he loved to play. And the more he loved to play, the better he got. Funny how that works.

Sadly, the Kellys’ idyllic, middle-class American reality was turned upside down when Mike was a 16 year-old 10th grader, and his dad died from cancer. His mom, Marge, took an IBM transfer to San Jose, and Mike, wanting to graduate with his class, split time between the West Coast and his grandma’s house in Apalachin. After graduating in ’76, Mike moved to San Jose (as did Grandma Pearl, who would live to be 103)! Mike worked a few marginally fulfilling jobs, but it was his love for music and his evolving skill as a guitarist that gave him something to look forward to while he charted his course and carved out his sense of purpose.

In ’79, his buddy from Owego moved to Santa Cruz, and given that Mike had always liked the vibe of that college/beach/Party Town – a half hour over the hill from San Jose – he and his friend got an apartment, and he enrolled in college. The two guys played a lot of guitar, ate, and drank their fair share of rewards for entertaining at campfires up and down the beach, and when Mike’s buddy asked him to play at the nursing home, he said, “Sure, I’m guessing some of the people will recognize some of The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Buck Owens tunes on our beach party set list, so let’s give it a go.” 

After tuning up, the two started things off with “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright,” and Mike noticed that the interested folks had really perked up, the indifferent ones now seemed interested, and some of the residents who had seemed rooted in some other reality actually started tapping their feet to the music. When the residents heard the opening notes of “Here Comes the Sun,” it really seemed that some mental cloud bank parted, and they brightened up noticeably. It was then – Mike would say many years later – that for him, the seeds of the convergence of passion and purpose were planted.

Life’s twists and turns would see Mike and his friend go their separate ways in the early 1980s, The roommate moved back east, and Mike began what would be a 33-year career with Pacific Gas & Electric. He would marry, raise two daughters, and his surfer shorts and sandals would be traded in for corporate attire. Staying in the Bay Area, Mike climbed the PG&E ladder, and while his life circumstances had changed, his passion for playing (and collecting and trading) guitars just kept getting stronger. 

Back to the convergence of passion and purpose: Mike recalled, “Around 1993, I was asked to play some songs at a facility that cared for people with Alzheimer’s, and I remembered that time back in Santa Cruz, how I watched people ‘come to life’ through music, if you will.” 

Toward the end of his PG&E career, a little more than a decade ago, Mike was looking for guitar strings online, and he recalled, “I came across a banner ad for ‘Guitars Not Guns,’ a program operated out of the inner city.” The aim, he recalled, was to use music as a tool for unity and to provide peaceful and productive pathways for young people who were at risk of seeing their lives unravel due to their ongoing exposure to chaos, stress, and violence. The young people were given a guitar after completing a series of lessons, and Mike experienced a deep sense of fulfillment that he longed to replicate in retirement. 

In 2015, Mike became the chapter director for the Martinez, Calif. branch of Guitars For Veterans, a non-profit organization whose mission statement says, “Guitars for Vets (G4V) serves at-risk United States veterans impacted by PTSD and other service-related trauma. Through our unique, 10-week structured guitar instruction program, we put the healing power of music in the hands of our nation’s heroes, helping to foster renewal, connection, and community.” 

G4V has served over 15,000 veterans and is proud to report that follow-up studies have shown that participants have experienced a 21% improvement in PTSD-related symptoms and a 27% decrease in related symptoms of depression. 

Not surprisingly, the Covid-19 pandemic brought some changes to the organization, some of which have turned out to be very positive. In Mike’s words, “In 2020, the VA Center (out of which the group and face-to-face lessons were operated) closed, so I created a YouTube channel and started making some rudimentary videos to stay connected to our vets.” 

Those “rudimentary” videos apparently resonated, and one of Mike’s early online lessons – a version of “Man of Constant Sorrow” – has garnered over 960,000 views. That video lesson, Mike said, “blew up.” 

Mike’s YouTube channel now has over 23,000 subscribers, with between 100 and 200 new subscribers coming on every month. While he has returned to face-to-face and in-person group lessons, his 211 videos have attracted two and a half million views, and five years into his online journey, Mike’s videos are less rudimentary, but the motivation and sense of fulfillment have not changed in over four decades. “I remember that life-changing day in Santa Cruz,” Mike offered. 

“People sat in their wheelchairs, heads down, seemingly disconnected; then they heard that Beatles song, and they lifted their faces and smiled,” said Mike, adding, “It’s the same concept – music breathes life into people’s souls.” 

Author’s Note: I am proud to say that I was the other guitarist at the nursing home in 1979, and in the ensuing 46 years, I have had the pleasure of visiting Mike and his (now three) daughters in California. We play some of Mike’s guitars – revisiting the campfire rock star days – and I was profoundly fortunate to attend one of the G4V jam sessions. 

Mike and I and about a dozen vets tuned up, Mike handed out the song sheets, and what may have been lacking in technical perfection was made up for by an abundance of connection, gratitude, and, of course, a shared love for the power and beauty of music. 

The relationship between the vets and their appreciation for their mentor was something I will never forget. Seeing my friend so utterly absorbed in – and fulfilled by – that convergence of passion and purpose was a beautiful experience; one I hope to revisit many times.        

Mike Kelly and a small group of friends will be visiting a local nursing home on Oct. 9 and playing a few songs. The group will also be featured on WEBO on the morning of Thursday, Oct. 9. 

In the decade Mike has run his guitar program over 100 veterans have graduated with their newfound skills. About 20 remain connected through weekly jam sessions and concerts played in the community. 

Guitars For Veterans currently has over 160 chapters nationwide. If you would like to donate, or learn where the chapters are based – or how to start one – please visit www.guitars4vets.org.