Ottawa's CBC Creator Network is pulling back the curtain on one of the music industry's least-talked-about realities: how artists keep touring while managing chronic illness. In a new short documentary, Canadian indie musician Hannah Judge — better known by her stage name fanclubwallet — shares the guitars, medication and heating pads that have become essential parts of life on the road.
A breakout career, and a hidden struggle
Judge's music took off during the pandemic lockdowns, the kind of overnight momentum most emerging artists dream about. But that success came with a complicated twist. She lives with Crohn's disease, a chronic inflammatory bowel condition, and navigating the relentless schedule of a touring musician while managing her symptoms has been anything but simple.
Touring is physically punishing even for healthy performers — long drives, late nights, irregular meals, unfamiliar venues and very little control over your environment. For someone managing a chronic illness, every one of those variables becomes something to plan around. Judge's documentary explores how she and other musicians make it work without letting their health derail the careers they've fought to build.
The tools of the trade
The film's title says a lot: guitars, medication and heating pads. Alongside the instruments and gear you'd expect to see loaded into a tour van, there's a whole second layer of preparation — prescriptions to keep on schedule, comfort items to manage flare-ups, and routines designed to protect fragile health on the move. It's a side of the music industry that fans rarely see and that artists rarely discuss publicly.
By sharing these details, Judge and the other musicians featured are helping to normalize conversations about invisible illness in creative fields. Chronic conditions don't always show on stage, where the lights are bright and the energy is high, but they shape every decision an artist makes behind the scenes.
Why this matters for Ottawa
The documentary comes out of CBC Ottawa's Creator Network, a program that gives local and emerging creators a platform to tell stories that matter to them. For Ottawa audiences, it's a reminder that the capital's media ecosystem isn't just covering city hall and transit — it's also nurturing personal, human storytelling that resonates well beyond the region.
It also speaks to Ottawa's growing role as a hub for independent creators. The city has a vibrant music and arts community, and projects like this one help connect local talent with national conversations about health, accessibility and what it really takes to sustain a creative career.
For anyone living with a chronic condition — whether they're a musician, a student or a nine-to-five worker — Judge's openness offers something valuable: proof that ambition and illness can coexist, even if it means packing a heating pad next to the guitar.
The short documentary is available now through CBC Ottawa's Creator Network.
Source: CBC Ottawa Creator Network
