Mental health speaker, country singer DeShaw performing in Grapevine

Country singer Jason DeShaw is coming to Texas to bring a message of hope and recovery with a free concert July 2 in Grapevine.

The event will be at 7:30 p.m. at the Palace Arts Center at 300 South Main St.

DeShaw is a songwriter and performer born and raised in Montana. He was diagnosed in 2010 with bipolar disorder and alcoholism while on tour in Canada, according to promoters.

DeShaw began the road to recovery and turned to music as a way to deal with his own mental illness, promoters said.

What has emerged from DeShaw’s journey is “Serenity in the Storm,” a story of recovery with songs of hope and original music that follows the vein of Johnny Cash and Woody Guthrie.

DeShaw has toured across the United States, Canada and Europe and released five albums. In 2014, DeShaw received the Champions Award in Washington, D.C., from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), recognizing an individual with a mental illness who reduces stigma by “exhibiting courage, leadership and service on behalf of all people living with mental illness.”

The event is presented by Metrocare Services of Dallas and The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and all of his costs are covered.

Dr. Matt Byerly, director of the Schizophrenia Research Program at UT Southwestern, spearheaded the efforts to bring DeShaw here.

The two met earlier this year at a mental health awareness conference in Bozeman, Montana, where both were presenters.

“I saw Jason DeShaw’s presentation and it was the most moving and impressive thing I’ve ever witnessed in relation to helping people understand the essence and importance of mental disorders,” Byerly said.

Saying DeShaw was “totally the real deal” whose presentation touched him with his “storytelling and music interwoven,” Byerly made arrangements to bring the musician to the North Texas area.

DeShaw agreed, saying, “It was a neat deal us meeting. We just really hit it off and respected what each other is doing.”

DeShaw said he is glad the sponsors are making the event free “so no one would be turned away.”

The 34-year-old musician, who lives in Helena, Montana, enjoys doing his shows that are partly educational.

“Our world is in need of hope, especially in terms of understanding,” he said.

This story was originally published July 1, 2015 at 9:19 AM with the headline "Mental health speaker, country singer DeShaw performing in Grapevine."