Breaking the stigma surrounding mental health is important for many artists. For Devon Manning, this is just one reason for creating music. “6 years ago, my life fell apart, and my mental health took music away from me,” Manning says. “I’m here to take it back.”

Forming a band in Edmonton, Alberta, Devon started playing music in his early 20’s. When that band fell apart, so did his musical identity. After 6 years of struggling with his mental health and writer’s block, his journey brought him into contact with therapy that changed his life. Being brought to directly address his mental illnesses gave Devon the strength to write music again. Inspired by a need to tell this story, Lionhearted was born. The project finds its main influences in the pop/punk and emo scenes, taking inspiration from the stripped down recordings of This Wild Life and the vulnerable lyrics of Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties.