In early January, Jacob Merrithew released the single “988,” a song that aims to spread a message about mental health and raise awareness for those who may be struggling. After releasing it, Merrithew was nominated by the International Singer Songwriters Association, being recognized for excellence in independent songwriting. Merrithew is a BYU Idaho alum who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in international studies, business and a minor in French.
Merrithew didn’t come from a family with musical history. He started his musical journey in middle school with some friends who helped him write, produce songs and upload them to YouTube. His songs started doing really well and he enjoyed it, so he began releasing more. By the time Merrithew graduated high school in 2021, he had two, almost three, whole albums finished.
Soon after, Merrithew wanted to transition from making fun and catchy music to music that was more meaningful, with the idea of helping people. He changed his musical style, going from pop/rap-style to piano/instrumental storytelling.
Merrithew recorded “988” in 2023 after having previously struggled with mental health throughout high school.
“I was never actually planning to release it, due to how emotional it was. It was almost like a message for me, and for anyone I know closely, who maybe struggled… when I finally got the courage that I needed to release it, I knew that it was more than a song; it was a movement that I wanted to associate with it,” said Merrithew.
With this song, Merrithew has started his mission in 2026 to normalize the conversation around mental health and to help provide students with a message of hope, while bringing awareness to Idaho’s high suicide rates.
With Merrithew’s efforts in this, he has shared his song and his message with over 20 mental health organizations and partnered with some, such as Chasing Red Flags, Mindless Labs, Headspace, ICS Hotline, Hope Means Nevada, the National Alliance on Mental Illness and Talkspace. To help spread the message within his song and bridge the gap between independent music and professional support resources, he’s making sure his work has a real-world impact.
“As an independent artist, it just took a lot of doing the nitty and gritty to find these, to share and just to be vulnerable. Just to tell them ‘Hey, this isn’t just like a song,’ [and] this isn’t about how many people listen to it. I really have an impact that is tied to this, and it can be very helpful,” said Merrithew.
While connecting with these organizations, Merrithew’s goal wasn’t to promote his song. He wanted to spread a message through his song. Many of the organizations loved this and gave him positive feedback and were able to provide him with resources to help him with his mission.
When creating the song, Merrithew decided to name it “988” because he wanted the song to be a bridge between him and other people struggling and to connect people to the help they need. Therefore, by naming it “988,” when people look up the song, it directs them to the helpline.
Merrithew was inspired by several songs that also were expressions of mental health, overcoming suicide and people struggling. A few of those songs were “How Could You Leave Us” by NF and “1-800-273-8255” by Logic. Being inspired by these songs made Merrithew want to make something just as powerful.
Through the creative process, the biggest struggle Merrithew had was finding and creating a beat that would be able to carry the vibe he wanted throughout his song. He wanted it to be more emotional and intentional, hence the violin, drums and piano blending together to create more emotional depth within the song.
“Once I made that, I heard it and I knew it was going to be the one, and I think I spent the rest of that day writing the song. It took me probably about eight hours of just straight writing, but by the end I was so pleased with how it turned out that I ended up recording it that same night,” Merrithew said.
After coming from no musical background, Merrithew had worked hard throughout his life, and with great courage, was able to release this song. After around eight years of making music, he is now getting recognized for his efforts. He has been nominated for several awards, all for a song he never planned to release. His message to other independent artists and anyone trying to create or follow their dreams is to work hard, and don’t be afraid to be vulnerable.
“I feel so grateful that I made the decision to release a piece of work that was this vulnerable and, honestly for me, kind of scary to release because it’s so emotional. I’m just so glad I did it because there’s companies and people that are backing it and supporting this message and that’s just so beautiful and powerful to me because every person we can touch is someone who can be saved or someone who may be struggling,” said Merrithew.
Shelby Sandford can be reached at [email protected]