Olga Trehub
It’s not easy to locate Music Heals, a tiny store on North Palm Canyon Drive. The best way is to wait until Friday nights, when a drum circle forms. “Sometimes, they have 25 drums out there,” says Jason Nutter, owner of Music Heals. “Oneko is from South Africa, and he has a non-profit called Kids for Kenya. He teaches the history of drumming and different techniques and drumming patterns. It’s all for families and kids.”
Nutter knows a bit about that. The Beaumont, California, native’s life is devoted to music. The singer/songwriter says he’s played guitar in so many bands over the years that he can no longer recall all of the names. In addition to writing scores for films plus playing and writing music for a reggae band, he’s a full-time member of two other bands. One is called the Rebel County Saints; Nutter describes the music as “outlaw country rock.” The other band specializes in blues, soul, and gospel music. It’s called the Nutter Family Blues Band. Nutter and his father, mother, brother, and sister are members. “It’s basically everybody in my family,” he says.
Nutter is passionate about music. So, 15 years ago, he started a music school in Beaumont. From there, he began offering his services as a music teacher to school districts. Along the way, he developed a facility for working with special-needs students, particularly those with autism. “I’ve worked in many school districts and I've worked with thousands of kids – special-needs kids,” he says. “I teach them and I form them into bands. And then once they're in a band, we go perform in the community. I currently have four music programs going in the school districts.”
In addition to the incredible satisfaction that students feel when they find their voices through music, it is immensely gratifying to see the reaction of their parents, according to Nutter. “If someone's already gifted with music, you just got to expose them to the music,” he says. “So, [I do that] weekly, if I'm playing with someone who's autistic [with a] natural ability to play music. Then, every week, they start progressing just like [anyone].
“People with Down syndrome or autism, they feel music and play music the same way anyone else does. And you would think that maybe they would be slower and stuff like that. No. But, … your average person who's not musical[ly] gifted with music or rhythm is the same. It's cool to have a whole band where everyone's just jamming, and then the parents and the people that know them are like, ‘What is going on?’ I've had students who barely even speak, but they'll sing the whole song perfectly. It's like meaning in their life. So, that's why I do what I do.”
Nutter became so committed to his educational mission that he formed a non-profit called Music Heals. The organization’s purpose is to teach kids of all abilities (which is less stigmatizing than saying “disability”) to play a musical instrument or train their singing voices.
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That brings us back to the little store called Music Heals, which Nutter opened in 2019. Though the store operates separately from his non-profit enterprise, it still benefits kids in his programs. Nutter makes sure that every kid who goes through the program receives a musical instrument as a gift. Many guitars and keyboards that hang on the walls of Music Heals, line its shelves, or pile up on the floor find their way into the hands of Nutter’s students. He has a extensive network of friends and supporters who donate musical instruments, as well.
If there is a theme to the store, it’s basically anything music-related. You’ll find racks of band T-shirts plus racks and racks of vinyl records with varying degrees of quality, wear, and desirability. (I scored four favorite records, including a near-flawless “Madman Across the Water” by Elton John.) There’s fun stuff everywhere that Nutter finds at garage sales and flea markets and brings into the store. (“You really have to search hard and be patient to find the good stuff,” he says.)
Though Nutter struggles to keep the store open, he is more interested in having a place for his students to come and hang out than he is in making a profit. “I really opened the store for the kids – a safe place for them to come and listen to music and play their instruments,” he says. “There have been nights when I’ve had 25 kids crammed into this space, jamming their hearts out. And people outside on the street have their faces pressed against the glass. It’s just a really cool scene.”
