Bob Heath - Mitos suson

I love and support Indie and traditional AuthorsI was drawn to the cover ‘Songs from a Window: End-of-Life Stories from the Music Therapy Room‘ by Bob Heath. I was fortunate enough to win Bob’s book from my favorite FB group, ‘We Love Memoirs’, and it did not disappoint. I was relieved that it wasn’t yet another a professional musician’s ubiquitous stories of sex, drugs and rock and roll with the familiar regrets and typical insights into the rock ‘n roll lifestyle. But there was sort of melancholic feel to his book cover, and I knew that I wanted to read it. His collection of stories was sweet, compassionate and truly highlighted the love that grew between Bob and his patients during their final days. After reading this book, I was so moved and compelled to know more about Bob and his work. Here’s my interview with him.

1. Tell me about yourself.
I’m 68 years of age, I live in Wiltshire, UK and work as a music therapist. I’ve been a musician all my life, flirting with the music industry until about 25 years ago when finally, I found myself working with profoundly disabled children and then everything changed. I’m married, love reading, art and music of all sorts. I also love to travel and do my best to stay healthy.

2. Tell me about the book you’ve written. Is this a series?
My book is called ‘Songs From A Window’ and is a memoir drawn from 10 years of work with adults in a busy hospice. It’s an account of some remarkable people facing the end of their lives and some of the things they shared with me as they healed their wounds, told their stories and created their legacies. I hadn’t planned this to be a series although I’m aware that there are still many, many untold stories and songs to share.

3. What inspired you to write your book?
I suppose the great inspiration were the people themselves. Their incredible stories (we all have them) and the songs they left behind felt like an important document that needed to be shared. I was also deeply inspired by many of their surviving family members who drew such strength from the work their loved ones had left behind…they frequently encouraged me to write the stories and to share the songs with a wider audience.

4.What message did you want your readers to take from your book?
That we all share the universal fear of dying and yet there are things that we can do at the end of our lives that perhaps we hadn’t even possibly imagined…and that these can often connect us to beauty and healing in some extraordinary ways. We need to be able to embrace our mortality as human beings in order to fully engage with our lives.

5. Are you currently working on a book at the moment? If yes, how many hours do you write in a day?
Yes and no! No, I’m not currently writing my next book but yes, every day I continue to formulate a plan and a shape and I’m just beginning to sketch out my ideas a little more clearly. When I’m writing I like to start really early in the day, often the mornings are my most creative time. When things are flowing I can write all day, 8 hours or more. When I’m writing stories drawn from my work I can often spend hours re-visiting my notes, my memories and, of course, the music.

6. If you are not writing, what are you doing when you are not writing?
I have a private practice and I’m usually busy with clients or fellow therapists that I supervise. I play music everyday regardless of my schedule, I still write and record songs and lately I have been part of a project that works with elderly people in the community, often very isolated, taking music out to them wherever they are. I’m about to start songwriting with three community groups which I’m very excited about.

7. What would you advise emerging Indie authors?
I’m not sure I’m qualified to advise…. but…I think I’ve learned that writing from the heart and from real experience without over-editing in the beginning helped me to enter a world where the stories began to flow and take on a life of their own. So, try not to overthink things, trust yourself and the creative process.

8. What are you reading right now?
Two books…not typical for me but driven, I think, by my own process of preparing to start writing in earnest. The first is a novel entitled Peterman by Edward Barham. We met at a wedding celebration a while ago and it was really inspiring talking to him. He writes beautifully, paragraphs that you read over again just to savour the language. The other is a book on Near Death Experiences called After by Dr Bruce Greyson. I’ve revealed a little about my own experiences in my book and connecting with Dr Greyson’s research is both fascinating and challenging.

9. What inspired you to get into music therapy?
Ever since I was a child chorister I’ve been aware that music connected me to the world in ways that were difficult to describe. I always felt that music had a very special role to play in the way that we as human beings define ourselves and try to find meaning, particularly at times when this can feel difficult or even impossible. Music has always had this role since the very beginning of our time and a world without music is, frankly, impossible to imagine. Working with young leaning disabled people and seeing at first-hand how music could help them to say what had seemed like the unsayable was a life changing moment for me.

10. What music instruments do you play?
My main instruments are guitar and voice but as a music therapist I’ve learned to be able to play most instruments well enough to be able to do something useful. I love the piano…. I’m still learning!!

11. What type of music do you play?
In my work we play anything and everything. Much of the music in therapy is improvised and often defies any categorisation. I’m a songwriter and my own material draws from lots of influences. I love the great songwriters, Paul Simon, Randy Newman, James Taylor, Tom Waits and many more and I guess you can hear their influences in my work.

12. Do you miss playing in a band?
I still play in a band…occasionally…and I love the experience. There is something quite magical about working with other musicians, it can feel like a real privilege at times…I used to play in bands all the time; not sure if I could sustain that now!

13. If you were a fruit or a vegetable, what would you want to be and why?
A pear I think; firm at times but also comfortable with being a bit mushy too!

Know more about Bob Heath here.