BONUS
Country Musician Sterling Drake Tackles the Rural Mental Health Conversation
Sterling Drake is a musician from Philipsburg, Montana, who is using his platform to talk about mental health in agricultural communities. In effort to destigmatize the topic and connect people to resources, Sterling is talking about it in his lyrics and on the stage. Sterling and Megan met up in May 2025 at Live from the Divide in Bozeman. In addition to the impact he's making on the rural mental health crisis, the conversation ranges from how he simultaneously built a career as a rancher and a musician, to the role of folk music in helping us understand our history and the sonic identity of Montana he is helping to create.
Photo by Taylor Hoover.
"I play a lot of shows to a lot of cowboys, a lot of agricultural people all over the country, and when I started playing some of these songs that kind of touched on mental health, I didn't realize how impactful that was. Like I would mention it and then I'd go to the merch table and I'd get a line of people telling me stories of somebody that in their family that had ended their life or struggled with alcoholism."
STERLING DRAKE
Guests
Sterling Drake
Montana songwriter Sterling Drake has a penchant for honest storytelling, weaving his own perspective into the American songbook and rooting it in the landscapes and traditions that shaped him. His music carries the character of the rural West, often speaking directly to the people, places, and working cultures that define it. In recent years, Drake and his band have become fixtures at cornerstone gatherings such as the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Under the Big Sky, AmericanaFest and more, further cementing their place in the country and roots community.
Through it all, Drake champions the pride, diversity and shared heritage of American roots music. His songs aim to build unity, giving small communities a place in the broader cultural conversation and reminding listeners of the common threads that run through the American story.