Building Up From Rock Bottom: Philly’s Matt Kerr on making music with incarcerated youth

Matt Kerr of Beyond the Bars at Philadelphia Industrial Correction Center | Photo by Rachel Del Sordo | racheldelsordophotography.com

Restorative. Not punitive. That’s what musician and teacher Matt Kerr believes all prisons should be.

Kerr, a teacher in the Philadelphia school district and former guitarist in the local band Family Vacation, decided this year to start a music after-school program at the school he was teaching at, which led to a thought-provoking conversation with the mother of one of his students.

“She was the warden of Philadelphia Industrial Correction Center,” Kerr said. “She told her daughter, ‘Tell Mr. Kerr it would be great, if he has time, if he could start a music program at the jail.'”

He reflected on the idea and realized how essential this type of program is. “We talk about how there are so many people incarcerated, but once you’re in jail, the relapse rate is so high because you’ve lost a significant amount of your development time,” Kerr explains. “A lot of doors have been closed to you because of it, you’ve been exposed to a negative culture. If we want to look at jail as a restorative thing rather than punitive, then a music program would be a great [step in that direction].”

The warden and Kerr began talking and set up a time for him to come in and teach; he began rounding up instrument donations and launched GoFundMe campaign to acquire money for more gear.

Each week, Kerr goes for a few hours to the Philadelphia Industrial Correction Center in Northeast Philly and teaches ten students ranging in age from 14 to 17; all have been tried as adults. He provides instruction in drums, guitar, bass, and piano, and gets them jamming together too.

This led to Kerr establishing Beyond the Bars, a nonprofit that seeks to bring music instruction to incarcerated youth. The organization is quickly growing; since founding earlier this year as Kerr’s one-man show, the program has been joined by several volunteers who provide music instruction as well. And this past week, Beyond the Bars partnered with Temple University. “They [Temple] will be helping supply a steady source of volunteers from their music education department,” said Kerr.

Kerr also works alongside The Youth Arts and Self Empowerment Project (YASP), another Philly nonprofit that has a program at PICC; it launched ten years ago as a project of the American Service Committee, and has since gone independent. The organization holds workshops that center around the arts such as painting, poetry, an theater. They often bring in different musicians and poets to the weekly workshops.

Sarah Morris, co-director of YASP, received a fellowship after college to help coordinate the workshops and she continued with the program after it concluded. Today, YASP is primarily youth-led. “Other than me, the staff has been young people who have been incarcerated,” explains Morris. The program teaches workshops in prisons as well as schools. They also provide support such as employment assistance for youth when they come home after their sentence ends. The organization connects them to arts groups such as the Philly Youth Poetry Movement if they show interest. Many former participants are now employed by YASP. The group also leads a campaign to amend Act 33, the Pennsylvania legislation modified in the mid-90s, allowing juveniles to be tried as adults for violent offenses.

Terrance Williams participated in the workshops when he was incarcerated. He now is employed by YASP and often leads workshops to the youth in the prison. He said the art programs are different from others because of the creative aspect. “You were listening in the other programs,” he said. “You weren’t expressing yourself. It is important because I could talk…sharing what I’m thinking.”

Morris said, “[Some programs] talk at young people…we are creating a space where they are talking for themselves.

Kerr noted that having a creative outlet is important for anyone, and that is a goal of his with the program. He told his students, “All the experiences you’ve gone through, you should write about it. Your emotions and your experiences are just as relevant and just as important as whatever you are gonna hear on the radio.”

Both Kerr’s program and YASP aim to keep it fun. “We try to balance a fun and creative space and let the young people shape it to how they want to,” said Morris. “And pushing the groups to [consider] ‘what are the bigger issues? And how can we be a part of making changes?'”

Williams has also lead workshops with topics like peer pressure and “How to Get Away From Your Environment.” “I try to make the workshops fun and interesting and share my experiences,” he said. “I want to see kids come home and get a job.”

In addition to his job with YASP, Williams works with Mural Arts Program as well. “I came home in January 2015 and a lot of places were turning me down,” he said. After speaking with YASP, he was called in for an interview. “She hired me. Two months later, she talked with Mural Arts Program and got me a job there.” The job was for the duration summer, after which Williams received job training. There is a 90% chance of him successfully acquiring a position.

Both Beyond the Bars and YASP are voluntary; all the youth chose to participate in these programs. Williams heard about YASP via word-of-mouth and was encouraged by peers to attend.

YASP also conducts workshops with the young women at Riverside Correctional Facility. “There are not many [women] there right now,” Morris said. “It’s still voluntary but most participate.” She said it is difficult to conduct a weekly workshop there because there are no other programs for the young women besides YASP.

Kerr eventually wants to create an inside/outside program and provide resources for youth when they return home, similar to what YASP does. “I had a student say ‘I’m getting out in two weeks, and I finally feel like I know how to deal with my anger. I wanna keep my music,’” Kerr said. “That’s when I realized there’s so many musicians talking about what’s wrong, but they’re not using their talents to help people.”

Beyond the Bars is working with Settlement Music School and other music schools so that the youth can continue their music instruction once they are home. The organization is also planning to add recording classes into the program and eventually build a recording studio.

“Philadelphia has a great music community,” he says. “But I want us to be a selfless community. “

Kerr believes if you have a talent like music, you should use it to help someone. Teaching music and volunteering have been more rewarding for Kerr than any live show he’s played. “It feels a billion times better than it’s ever felt for just doing something for myself,” he said of the program. “You see the best in people come out in music.”

YASP receives grants from different foundations and individual donors, though they are always trying to fundraise to provide more resources. As Kerr’s organization is in its infancy, they are seeking financial assistance, musical instruments, and more volunteers so they can expand. All money received, Kerr said, goes right into the program. Eventually, Kerr believes Beyond the Bars could be a national program.

“There’s a lot I want to do, I just need other people who are equally interested.”

There are some challenges to running an arts program in a prison. Both Kerr and YASP can only meet with the youth once a week. Kerr noted that they can’t practice their instruments in between then. Morris said occasional a problem arises where they can’t get into their room and lose time. But these are mostly minor, and overall they’ve had good experiences and a positive response.

Kerr said all the guards are friendly and are glad he’s there. He noted that it is much different than his experience teaching in schools. “When it comes to working in schools…you don’t want doors closed. But here, at jail, [they are]. We’re at rock bottom, so let’s build up.”

“500 people in PA sentenced to die in prison were sentenced as children,” said Morris, noting that this statistic is one of the many reasons they work hard to provide these creative outlets for the youth.

Morris always asks for the participants’ feedback at the end of workshops. “A number of times they have said it got their mind off of things,” she said. “They forgot where they were.”

“There’s a hunger for it,” added Kerr. “All experiences are relevant and need to be heard. [You have to] realize the goodness in them. It’s not the end of the road. ‘Here’s where you’re at. Get back to being happy.’”

Beyond the Bars is actively recruiting volunteers; if you’re interested, contact Kerr at [email protected] or get more information at beyondthebarsmusic.org. For more on YASP, visit yasproject.com or email [email protected] / [email protected].