There was a big storm today. I had a small tree knocked over in the driveway and a small leak issue but made it through O.K.
I have several things coming to culmination this week. First, the C.D. is due for delivery tomorrow. This project has been sort of a journey. We recorded the basic tracks in the latter part of 2004. We finished recording I believe in August 2005. During this period, we also finished the Bill Dees C.D. Castin’ My Spell. There is always a period of time between the completion of recording and the release of the record.
Rollo and I had been threatening to put a band together, so we got together with Bill and decided to give it a go. We thought we would play some of Bill’s new songs and some of mine. We drafted Sam Clanton to play bass and Mark Alexander to play guitar. We called ourselves The Sharecroppers. We started playing a few shows and it was fun.
One morning after a show, I awoke and my hands were tingly and numb. I had never experienced this before. I thought I must have pinched a nerve or something. This went on for a couple of months. I stopped playing altogether, fearing that I would make the situation worse. So I went to a neurologist. His first opinion was Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. After a series of tests, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.
I will talk more about M.S. in the future. I will say that Dr. Hopewell and all of the people at the Skaggs Community Health Center in Branson Missouri, The Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, M.S. Pathways, and The Betaseron Foundation have been very pleasant and helpful during a tough time. I do not have insurance and there are many details to take care of. My family and employers Bill and Nancy have been extremely understanding and supportive.
I have started playing again and we are in the beginning stages of putting together a full band. In the interim, I am going to play some duo shows with Mark. The first of these will be Saturday night at the Outback Pub in Branson. We will play some songs off the C.D. and a bunch of covers that Mark has been doing in solo shows. I have known Mark over twenty years and we have done many of these gigs in the past. We have a strong tendency to wing it as far as a set list but that’s part of the fun. If you happen to be in town stop by.
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Tags: Betaseron Foundation, Bill Dees, M. S. Pathways, Multiple Sclerosis, Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, Sharecropper, Skaggs Community Health Center
Stacey wrote,
Glad you’re able to play again. Seth and I are planning on coming to one of the shows, once we find one of those ever elusive babysitters!
Link | July 11th, 2006 at 1:13 pm
Jayne d'Arcy wrote,
I wish I could be there. I think the last time I ever saw you play in public was in the garage in Hermann, MO. I’m really glad you can continue to play the guitar. As someone just recently told me, “Jack just doesn’t look right without a guitar attached to him.”
Hey, an anonymous donor just pledged $50 to my charity for the Blogathon. Yay!
Link | July 11th, 2006 at 2:40 pm