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Connections
A smiling man with short dark hair wearing a blue button-down shirt and a grey blazer. He is holding a pair of eyeglasses. The word "Connections" appears on the left side of the photo in vertical letters.
Connections

How music can help people in recovery thrive

By Evan Dawson,
Megan Mack, Julie Williams
Published November 25, 2024 at 2:42 PM EST
Four men wearing headphones sit at a table in a radio talk studio: a man front left is wearing a black t-shirt, beige pants, and black sneakers; a man back left has dark hair and a dark beard and is wearing a short-sleeved black paisley patterned button-down shirt; a man back right is wearing glasses, a black baseball cap, a blue quilted vest, and a black t-shirt; a man at right has short dark hair and is wearing a white long-sleeved button-down shirt and jeans.
Julie Williams
/
WXXI News
(foreground) Scott Fitzgerald, (background) Eli Flynn, and Matthew Hoye on "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Monday, November 25, 2024
A smiling man with short dark hair wearing a blue button-down shirt and a grey blazer. He is holding a pair of eyeglasses. The word "Connections" appears on the left side of the photo in vertical letters.
WXXI News

Fatal overdoses have soared in recent years, and while opioids are a big factor, they are not the only reason for the increase.

An organization in Rochester called Sobriety Sounds aims to give people suffering from addiction a chance to thrive. The origin story is a tragic one: founder Matthew Hoye remembers kneeling at a coffin and wondering if music could have prevented a friend's death; now, he’s working to create musical spaces that are safe and accessible to others – both now and in the future.

We discuss it all with guests from Sobriety Sounds.

In studio:

Connections
Evan Dawson
Evan Dawson is the host of "Connections with Evan Dawson." He joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.<br/><br/>Reach him at <a href="mailto:edawson@wxxi.org" target="_blank" link-data="{&quot;cms.site.owner&quot;:{&quot;_ref&quot;:&quot;0000017a-9b5e-d1df-a7fa-dfffdd1f0000&quot;,&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;ae3387cc-b875-31b7-b82d-63fd8d758c20&quot;},&quot;cms.content.publishDate&quot;:1775161543623,&quot;cms.content.publishUser&quot;:{&quot;_ref&quot;:&quot;0000017c-9927-dcdf-a97d-db2792350000&quot;,&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;6aa69ae1-35be-30dc-87e9-410da9e1cdcc&quot;},&quot;cms.content.updateDate&quot;:1775161543623,&quot;cms.content.updateUser&quot;:{&quot;_ref&quot;:&quot;0000017c-9927-dcdf-a97d-db2792350000&quot;,&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;6aa69ae1-35be-30dc-87e9-410da9e1cdcc&quot;},&quot;cms.directory.paths&quot;:[],&quot;anchorable.showAnchor&quot;:false,&quot;link&quot;:{&quot;cms.directory.paths&quot;:[],&quot;attributes&quot;:[],&quot;linkText&quot;:&quot;edawsonwxxi.org&quot;,&quot;target&quot;:&quot;NEW&quot;,&quot;attachSourceUrl&quot;:false,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;mailto:edawson@wxxi.org&quot;,&quot;_id&quot;:&quot;0000019d-4fdc-dfd5-a3bd-fffd03b40000&quot;,&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;ff658216-e70f-39d0-b660-bdfe57a5599a&quot;},&quot;_id&quot;:&quot;0000019d-4fdc-dfd5-a3bd-fffd03b40001&quot;,&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;809caec9-30e2-3666-8b71-b32ddbffc288&quot;}">edawson@wxxi.org</a>.
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Megan Mack
Megan Mack is the executive producer of "Connections with Evan Dawson" and live/televised engagement programming.

Reach her at mmack@wxxi.org.
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Julie Williams
Julie Williams is an associate producer for "Connections with Evan Dawson." She started at WXXI in 2019 and has been working on Connections since 2022.
See stories by Julie Williams