The longest music jam in town - the legacy

On the 25th February 2022, my beautiful wife Kelly was formally diagnosed with a very aggressive and terminal form of Motor Neurone Disease called Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). In 12 short months, Kelly has gone from a very outward going, fit, energetic 47 year old person to one who now requires full time care. This has resulted in me giving up my Music Therapy work and my role as a Reserve Director of Music with the Lancashire Artillery (V) Band to care for Kelly, look after our two daughters and keep the home functioning. It has been and continues to be a hugely difficult and challenging time for all of us as a family to come to terms with. We have become intrinsically linked to two charities, our local Severn Hospice in Shrewsbury and the more national Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) and various incredible professionals who work for those charities. They will be with us on our journey however long that may be.

So, what do you do when you're up against it as a musician? You decide with the support of family and friends to undertake a 24 hour 'Music-a-thon' or 'The longest music jam in town' of course, to do some good for others like us facing this daunting and scary future. We plan on making music for 24 hours, some of which I know will be top quality, some of it might not, but who cares. I can guarantee that we will have a load of fun doing it and hopefully raise a stack of money at the same time. There may even be cake so what could be better than that!

P.S. Just a little crazy family video from July 2020 during the virus for you to watch, a year before Kelly began to show symptoms.