EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Julian Kalel, an 18-year old singer-songwriter and recent Coronado High School graduate, has turned his own battle with depression and anxiety into a powerful song of hope for youth struggling with mental-health issues.
The song, called “Lone Guitar,” was released nationally on Sept. 1. It is now available on all major streaming platforms.
The release of the song is also attached to a campaign for Suicide Prevention Month, called #iShouldStay. The campaign marks a collaboration between Kalel and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) El Paso.
“I wrote ‘Lone Guitar’ from a very personal space,” Kalel said. “It explores those demons that come from anxiety and depression, and suffering from that. But it’s also about seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and realizing that there’s so many more reasons to stay, especially for your loved ones, for the people that need you here and for the people that care about you.”
“Lone Guitar” marks the fifth original song that Kalel has released in his fledgling musical career, and has three more releases slated for the upcoming winter and spring in 2026.
The songs deal with themes of vulnerability, self-acceptance, and coping with depression, but offer an overarching message of hope.
To listen to the songs and learn more of Kalel’s musical library, you can visit his personal site here.
Kalel said “Lone Guitar” was born out of his experience during an intense period of self-isolation, dealing with his own mental-health struggles.
“I let the thoughts in my head really get to me. Everything that didn’t exist, I believed it. Those insecurities, reading into your flaws,” Kalel said.
But the song ultimately becomes an anthem of hope midway through the track. Kalel said that part of the song was born out of life-altering experience when he was involved in a head-on collision, which he came out of miraculously unscathed.
“I was blessed. The person involved was also perfectly fine, and I just started looking at life in another way. I realized, ‘Wow, things can really change so quickly. Life really is such a fragile thing,’” Kalel said.
From that experience, Kalel said he found the courage to speak out about his mental-health struggles and the courage to voice his musical talent.
“My lifeline was music. I started writing. I started journaling. I started making songs out of these thoughts, out of these experiences and sharing them with people,” Kalel said.
For about three years now, Kalel has been making strides in his young musical career. He has been a featured performer in Nashville, including the renowned country music event CMA Fest, and in Nashville’s Playlisted Podcast with Austin Burke.
Kalel, however, has blended his musical journey with a mission to become a vocal mental-health advocate.
“You can feel so alone. You can feel so isolated. It can be just so hard to speak up about what you’re going through. But I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t put my foot down and talk to someone that I cared about,” Kalel said.
The #iShouldStay campaign will also feature a social media effort to share resources and stories using #iShouldStay.
For the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, you can call or text 988.
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