Welcome to the Reality Check podcast. Psychosis is Real, so is Recovery. On this episode, Ashley Weiss and Serena Chaudhry speak with Tonya Boyd-Cannon. https://tbcexperience.com/home

Tonya is Mississippi born and Louisiana bred vocalist, songwriter, host, community educator, and a standout performer on NBC's The Voice.

Tonya will be performing at In My Mind 2026 - a Benefit bringing awareness to Psychosis at Margaret Place in New Orleans on Friday, November 13th. https://calmnola.org/events/

Aside from being a passionate supporter of mental health issues Tonya is also the executive director for the “Rise My Child” Foundation. This foundation has programs for children, ranging from ages 3-18 years old. When Tonya is off stage, she directs the “New Orleans Citywide Youth Choir” and facilitates vocal music workshops worldwide. https://risemychild.org/

Subscribe for more episodes of Reality Check, where we uncover the truth behind mental health, one story at a time.

For more information about Clear Answers to Louisiana Mental Health (CALM) and the Early Psychosis Intervention Clinic (EPIC-NOLA), visit:

https://calmnola.org/

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All right, good afternoon and welcome to Reality Check. We are super excited to have with us today Tonya Boyd Cannon, who is, if I've got it right, Mississippi born and Louisiana bred, singer, songwriter, musician, artist, all the things.

So we're excited to chat with you today outside of an event and get to know you better and all the things you do and what how and what brought you to us at Calm and Epic.

First of all, thank you all for having me. this is such a great platform. I mean, listen, Calm Alone is a great organization. And the programming that you've presented to communities as well as families and friends, it's been amazing. Great to be a part of. I learned of Calm through one of

your staff members Ashley Toney, who I think, yeah, Ashley Toney. Yeah, I got it right. who's such in a beautiful light. We we laughed for a moment because Ashley's an AKA I'm a Zeta. And so we're part of that D9 family. So of course we had our fun rivalry and then she brought up your organization and how she would love for me to host an event which was the I want to say last year was the first year, the inaugural of the mental health festival, right?

Yeah. Maybe this was yeah.

Okay. So to

I think yeah, I think last year was the first year that you were a chapter.

Yeah, this

Every mind matters.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah. Every mind matters. every mind matters health festival, mental health festival was great and great to be a part of. And ever since then I told her, like count me in.

I mean, we had a chant, we ended up having a big dance party. It was really, really good. And to say, you know, the turnout was really, really great for to be the first inaugural. And I just see elevation happening ever since and looking forward to seeing great greater things happen.

it was you know, we had thought about how to I think we're great at like creating ideas, but not the most like boisterous people in the room or like can't like get

Mm-hmm.

crowd going. And so when it when she

Yeah, yeah.

brought up like having you there to like keep the momentum and like keep the voice active, it was just I

I was like

Duh, like I can't believe we didn't like

Yeah.

think of this 'cause it was so worth it to have it was like a uniting you're like the uniting voice like

Mm-hmm.

now that I associate

Mm-hmm.

with Everymind Matters. So

I get it, yeah.

Yeah,

yeah, you definitely took it to the next level. And I think you and the DJ and the dance

Thank you.

party was a great way of bringing together right people like in our greater community, and to find the joy in yeah, the work that we're all doing.

Yeah.

It's continuous work, no matter what. So thank you all for doing, you know, planning the foundations to make sure resources are there for people, especially those who may not know, that every mind matters as well as

you as a person because I feel that people forget that at the end of the day you are a human being and a human doing. So you could be doing one thing. However, are you really taking time to be the human that you are? And I'm preaching to myself on that note, you know. So yeah, really take time to breathe and take into account that we're all amazing.

No, totally. And just for listeners who aren't aware, Everymind Matters is our community mental health fair. And we attempt to host it in May each year for Mental Health Awareness Month. We got rained out this year, so we pushed it to the beginning of June. But we've had it at the broad

Mm-hmm.

side, and it's been it's been really meaningful to

gather everyone together. I'm curious though, you

though Ashley Toney is a bright light and there was synergy and rivalry there simultaneously.

Mm-hmm.

what prompted you to say yes to her to come and host our event? You're a busy woman with lots of talents. What what what sealed the deal?

Hmm. first of all, anything and all things mental health is home. It's it's near and dear. Being one who can share stories of surviving, mental, you know, different psychosis, depression, anxiety, even suicidal ideations, being in those head spaces, not knowing when, where, who, what, how, just wanting to find relief.

And through my

and finding this common ground of

You know, we often say do unto others as you would have them do unto you. However, how often do we say do unto self as you would want people to really treat you? And I had to take into account that I am one person. I am me because everybody else is taken. And I have to own every part of me, from every strand of hair on my head to the skin on at the bottom of my feet, you know, to my nails and so forth. I have to own me and love me. And it

Took some serious

Prayer, meditation, journey, journaling, some great mentors, therapists, psychiatrists, life coaches, like all of these people who have been a part of my life through the process. However, I always go back to self and give gratitude to me for willing to, for Tonya to take the time to say, This is what I need to do. This is what is needed for me. And it's not gonna feel good.

The outcome will be so much greater. And so that has been the sounding voice for me is the six-year-old Tonya that I had to help rescue and allow her to live rent-free within me. So I feel that that journey of learning to thine own self be true has been that that sounding voice that

grounding platform space that has allowed me to heal daily and also be able to help others reach their levels of healing. one of the philosophies that came to my to that came through my process of of healing is we often talk about climbing a mountain and once we get to the top, it's like, woo, we celebrate, woo, it's success, success.

And then once we get to the top of that mountain, if you look up, there's another top that you have to reach. So celebrate that that journey that I've gotten to. However, I still have every day of life to live, every minute, every second, every hour. So each climb is gonna be worth it. So celebrate. However, don't forget from once you've come in order to keep elevating. So that's been my sounding.

space and platform for life.

that's amazing. And it comes through in your work. I wanna say,

Thank you.

it's an energy you carry and that's you can, you know, I I think that when you're around people that are very authentic and in their selves and that they've explored that level of self and are really in touch with what they're doing, it comes through.

See, I just

You

wanna share that thought.

Yeah, no, for sure. And I think right what you are sharing here with us now is what we've heard reflected in some of the spoken word that, right, at our events. And that that's

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

why you said yes, that synergy is so it's so

Mm-hmm.

real. and I really appreciate how you spoke about healing in the context of the lifespan and thinking about the

Mm-hmm.

six-year-old Tonya and that healing her was where

you what you needed to do. And we hear that a lot from our patients at Epic. and I think that's where, right, where the the core of the work really happens to help bring them

Yeah.

back to the present moment and then move them in their process of recovery into the

Yeah, yeah. I I that that you know the the the yes alone is we we often say yes to things, right? And I find myself saying no more now because I will often say yes so much that I will forget me.

Uh-huh.

And while

myself was saying, yes, you need to stay home. Yes, you need to get a break. Yes, you need to relax, I'm saying, I'm going do this, I'm going to do that, and found myself depleted because it's what do we say yes to? And when when mind, body, and spirit says, take a break.

Think about what you said, take a moment, talk to someone. Those are the the and that's another reason I said yes, because after agreeing and seeing from whence I've come, and then just get into the event, it's like, yep, that's why I say yes. Mm-hmm. All of the the different, you know, sponsors, partners, the the attendees, what I see at

The event, the Every Mind Matters, you know, mental health festival, the first word that comes to me was from the very first year was vulnerability. Everyone is coming, just you can see who we are. This is who I am. This is what you get. And no one is looking down on anyone. It's all genuine love. It's all support. And it's one of those festivals, everyone either has a smile on their face.

Or they're or they're in a moment where they're dancing and yet they have that seriousness. Either way there's joy. And I feel that that's what I said yes, not only to the event, however, to the joy that I was embarking upon.

That's a really beautiful way to put it.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah,

it was you mentioned vulnerability and s saying yes to things that sometimes you realize why are you saying why did I say yes to this? And

Ha ha ha ha.

this moment happened yesterday where I realized I had said yes to teaching for four hours straight to our psychiatry residents. And I was, you know,

making my way there. and, you know, realized like and what I got to to teach them about was just really basics of therapy. and, you know, it became this really amazing discussion with these people just learning to become therapists. And a lot of it was about self and vulnerability. And,

Hm.

you know, about being

that that's the space you have to maintain and not protect, but you have to like grow yourself in order to then establish

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

this relationship with another human to help them

Mm-hmm.

do the same. And and how complicated yet basic it kind of is in that you're like enacting just this very

Mm-hmm.

healthy relationship with another human.

Mm-hmm.

And

it was actually just like a great time and like a

Mm.

great, very lengthy discussion, but you know, we're all just as vulnerable too, like just because we're clinicians and do clinical work, you know, we're all bringing our own lived experience in some form or fashion and all feel that vulnerability. And then with our patients.

feel their vulnerability and I think that that's why the team s feels so genuine. Like they

Mm.

they they all have that same vibe around them of like being

Mm-hmm.

able to be vulnerable but also being able to be in a position to really help people.

Right.

Well picking up on or just carrying on the conversation about vulnerability, it strikes me, and you could correct me if I'm wrong, that you've really used the arts to cultivate your vulnerability. And I was wondering if you could talk to us a little bit about that.

man, one of my favorite things when people meet me, I have tattoos. Like tattoos are, I love tattoos. I my my very first experience of tattoo, and I was just sharing this with my dad about an hour ago. his mom, that's that's my girl. She's my ancestor. however, the communications of lessons that she taught me as a little girl.

that still lives now on in my adult life. And I was sharing with him how on her birth I mean, on her death date, I still remember that date. I remember where I was when I got the call. I remember

What the temperature was outside, how we jumped in the car, headed straight to Mississippi to prepare for her life celebration. And the very first tattoo when I got back home, I was in college at the time, a freshman in college. I went to get her name tattooed on my left arm with an ankh

and I said, yeah, she's she's the the life, you know, the life of everything that I understand in this world. And her middle name was Precious. And so from that very instance of dealing with pain, one was art.

Getting it tattooed on me, right? So to one, it may say, it's painful. However, it's beautiful to me, especially when I see the art now living as I'm a walking museum. at the same time, while getting the tattoo, I remember listening to songs from going from Tupac to some jazz to some RnB, just always music.

always music. And that fast forward from nineteen ninety seven to where I am today, after let's see, probably after Hurricane Katrina. I'ma go back. After her twenty years ago, twenty-one years ago, it was Bobby McFerrin's Beyond Words album.

I couldn't process what was going on. We're still talking about less than a year post-Katrina. Living in Mississippi, I want to go home to New Orleans. I want to go back home. Yes, Jackson is home. However, I've been in New Orleans now over 20 years. This is home. I need to get home. and it was Bobby McFerrin's album, Invocation.

That kept speaking to me, that willed me to live. It was the frequencies. I never knew what it was, but it was the frequencies. It was the the tone, his approach. It was soft yet forceful. So hearing those sounds, fast forward to where we are today.

I use that same methodology of healing for when I know I'm overwhelmed. Sometimes it's silence. Right? It's it's silence because now I can hear what I'm thinking and I can also process it. I'm aware of how I feel. If it makes me feel uncomfortable, I take deep breaths. Like all of this, these this this music has really become melodious.

being heard and sometimes unheard as I say. Because you can still hear sound even without sound that we know physically happening, right? or audibly happening, I should say. And to this day I am a lover of all things music. My brother, who's my eldest brother, is

Fighting, he's a he's a strong fighter, strong fighter. He's a survivor, he's a winner. And I tell him this every time, you're amazing, you're strong. he's fighting glioblastoma for the second time. And whenever I'm near him, the first thing, you know, once I rub my hand on his chest and make him aware I'm he I'm present with him, we say our scriptures, we say our prayers, we say our meditation.

Our mantras, and then I'll say, You want to hear some music? And he'll say, Yeah. So I'll turn this Miles Davis playlist on, which he's currently listening

right now. So my dad was

Okay.

in the room. My dad says, Tonya, what what what playlist that is? Can you put it on my phone? I said. I said, Yeah, daddy, I can

put it on. I I gotcha. And it's one of those, it's one of the one of those playlists that goes from

Songs probably somewhere around the 300, you know, megahertz, all the way up to sometimes the 700 megahertz. Sometimes it can drop all the way down to the 100s. However, the main takeaway for that for me is my brother is resting, he has peace, and y'all can leave him alone. He doesn't need, you know, he doesn't need anything else. That alone has encouraged me.

even more deeply to always remember music, how powerful music is, how transformative music is, and how medicinal music is, even when we don't think we need it, it's always needed.

I I agree. and you know some people don't

I I love what you said about music and there's there are certain frequencies and there's certain key signatures that like I get really like cry, like I get really moved by and

Mm-hmm. Four. Mm-hmm.

and and of course that got me a reputation of being like too emo or whatever. I'm like

Not really. I mean this has been happening since I was since I remember being in first grade listening to the radio.

Mm.

You know, but all and all the songs sort of have the same tone.

Mm-hmm.

fun that's amazing that you said that.

But I would love to know sort of what you see for yourself and your own career development over the next like decade here in New Orleans.

wow. I really Yeah.

Or year, whatever you like.

Yeah.

Well no what's beautiful is I see myself when I'm not performing around the world, whether it's singing or hosting or just being on stages. Sta the stage is always my

my playground, my home, my space, my safety. I see myself around the world just making sure that number one, I'm always using my gifts fully. And those gifts that I've haven't discovered yet that I tap into those while

while still finding time for grounding and peace so I can first heal continue to heal me while helping others. one of my brothers told me, he said, Tonya, I can see you around the world doing consultations of just encouraging people of how to hear hear music. You know, it's it's and it's something I teach my students at Tulane. I said, you can hear music, however do you really listen to music? You know, and then they say, Well professor, what do you mean? I

said,

Yeah.

You heard me talk

Right, and they're like, Yeah. I said, Well, did you listen to what I said? And they're like, What do you mean? I said, Okay, so here's your assignment. And so

Yeah.

I gave them an assignment to do what is it, inside out the movie, to watch inside out

one, one and two. You know, I said, if you want to watch two, go ahead. You know, whatever you perceive from one, go deeper into two. And one of my students came to class to give me their excerpts from the movie, and

one student she says, I love how each emotion had a certain melody or tone that matched who they were. And I said, Well did they really match?

And she said, Well, I mean, the tone matched what I saw. I said, So if that was your emotion, would you want that melody to match you? She said, No. I said, That's the

Mm-hmm.

point. You heard it, however, listening may allowed you to hear that that's not who you were. That's just like people saying, you look like this. However, you're perceiving based on look, you don't really know me. And so that's my one of my goals is really to have people to open their eyes.

well as their ears and their heart to music. Because it's seeing Robert Glasper .. award-winning musician who's playing out in Italy at a beautiful festival, and he's moved by the chord structures, the melody as he's playing. No words, just chords, just melodies, sound. That's that, yeah.

Yeah, so that's I feel that's my mission is really to just to allow people to hear and listen while having a greater understanding for self, what speaks to them and how what what is your natural melody. Find

Mm-hmm.

that. Yeah.

That's cool. It makes me very excited to think about you touring

Hehehehehe.

the world, doing this and carrying right, like your own your own experience journey and relationship with vulnerability, taking that out in the world because we need a lot more of those.

you

know, because I feel like

Really

don't tempt us with a plane, we'll

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cause then there need to be some intersecting. There there's you often

We'll have fun. Call us. We'll talk. We'll we'll share. But it is it is really cool. One hundred percent.

often hear about the intersecting, you know, there's interdisciplinary studies, right? At the same time when we start talking about the mind, that was something I brought up to my professors at Tulane, my first year of grad school. I said, Hey, can I take a psychology course?

And they were like, well, it's not being offered in the curriculum. I said, can we make a change? Because I'm the first

Yeah.

class of this new program. So can we make changes, you know, moving forward so students can partake? And they were asking me, why is it important? I said, well, this program is called Black American Music. When we begin to deep dive deeply into Black American music, oftentimes it all goes back to slavery.

And

then when we

Mm.

start looking at slavery and we're looking, we're looking at the songs that were birthed out of that, we're looking at the lamenting, the pain and hurt. As a musician, you're gonna ask me to sing one of these songs. Now I have to channel that energy, which I may not want to.

So having a greater understanding psychologically will help me have a better understanding to what they dealt with and why they were able to overcome so much while still having joy. And so it's it's that interdisciplinary studies of not just music, however, music and the mind.

Which

is perfect because life is interdisciplinary. We have this academic institution that creates these silos that don't necessarily need to be there. And I appreciate you pushing the bounds.

Absolutely.

and bringing that in because it's so important. And you will stay with us and connected because you're going to grace us with your presence at In My Mind, our

Yes.

annual gala, which for listeners is Friday, November thirteenth.

we'll be at Margaret Place in the Lower Garden District in New Orleans. And we're super excited. Tickets are gonna be going on sale in the next month, and we're excited to bring in new people, new faces, and more energy this year.

you're how you talked about like the intersection, that's kind of why this happened in the first place

of this event. I asked my favorite band to come play at a mental health awareness event that we were gonna have for calm. And this was like years ago,

Mm-hmm.

pre COVID when we thought about it.

Mm-hmm.

And

then we couldn't

do it. And then so we had to push it off. but it was like the idea of like, wow, we have this passion for like these two things and how fun would it be to like bring it all together and like see what happens. And it ended up becoming

very focused on people with lived experience and their own artistic expression, and

Mm-hmm.

their own music and

And their sharing in whatever their creative expression was. So that's like the total purpose of it. last year the band ended up actually coming. So that was like a great way to celebrate actually our tenure of our clinic. but yeah, so we we do different music every year. we

Mm-hmm.

have a group of artists that are also patients at our clinic that are there every year.

Mm-hmm.

you know, share their growth, I think. Now that's kinda how I'm seeing it. It's like I get to see like their growth every year or whatever their interests are.

Awesome.

But we'll be happy to have you. It'll be I think you'll love it.

Yeah, I was thinking, again, everything goes back to music when I hear certain titles. the first thing you say, in my mind, are you familiar with the Silent night version from The Temptations? So it the very first line of the song is In My Mind.

I want you to be free. So it's as soon as you say in my mind. So

Yeah.

it so just know

Yeah.

if you hear me, if you hear me reference in my mind, that's you know, giving credit to the temptations from their their

Love that.

Amazing. See?

Silent night rendition. Yes. So yeah,

one of my favorite songs by this band cold was called With My Mind. And I

Okay.

was like, we should call this event in my mind. I don't want to

Mm-hmm.

think it's not the direct

Yeah, yeah.

title, but it it fits with our work and

Yeah.

you know what we do.

Yes, exciting.

Looking forward to it. Thank you all so much.

Yeah. Thank

you. Thank you for joining us today. I love this is a perfect bridge between our June event and our November event and allowing people to hear you, learn about you, and then see you in November.

Awesome. Looking forward to it. Thank you all again for having me here today.

Thank you.