We were set to play St Jude’s in January. The night before we were to travel to Memphis,I was a little sneezy,I thought: if I get a good night’s sleep, I’ll make the gig. I woke up at 1: 30am.. 2: 30.. by 3:30, I was texting the band to say we’d have to cancel. I called my contact person at 5am ,apologizing profusely. They, of course ,were wonderful, and pitched a few more dates that we could perform.

A month later, the same thing happens: I got sick and we had to cancel :( (in my defense,pollen count was a record high here in Nashville) So ,the St Jude’s people are once again, very tolerant, and we begin to reschedule(they like me, they really like me!) A week before the gig, my percussionist,Tony, says he can’t go, due to a work audit issue. We absolutely cannot cancel again! So, I call my people to find a replacement for him. The lucky thing about Nashville is that there are plenty of musicians here. I found a guy willing to go with us,complete strangers,to Memphis for a day. The first time we try to get together to rehearse, his car has battery trouble. In my younger days I would have panicked, but, I took a deep breath, let my stress go and said” We’re going to play as well as we can, and hope for the best.” It worked out great,Billy was a lot of fun and a good player. We brought some smiles to the patients and parents and that’s why we were there.It’s wonderful to be able to “give back” through music.