In September of 2024 my father passed away. He had cancer, something so many people deal with, I know. It's not an easy thing to watch someone so strong, so essential to your life, simply wither away. He was still dad - strong, intelligent, and funny. There was just less of him.
After he passed I was helping clean up some of the house with my older brother and I stumbled into his old portable reel-to-reel player. Memories came flooding back: an old house in town, near the railroad tracks. Dad hooking up his record player to that reel-to-reel and making mixtapes. Lots of music. He'd take that thing to the garage, out in the yard, picnics for his Pharmacy and employees, all of it.
I had looked for a long time for a way to give back, maybe help other cancer patients. Nothing hit home. Then it this struck me: make an album. Make covers of your own arrangements of these songs he loved: Isaac Hayes, Bill Withers, Grand Funk, Little Feat, BB King, Buddy Guy… so many. I wrote two songs.
The result comes Feb. 28th: “Songs for the Sheik.” My dad's nickname - don't ask me why - was Sheik. It stuck, his friends calling him that until his passing. Even today. So that's the title, the story, the album. I have to pay off the recording session so 50% of sales of the LP's ($30 plus tax and shipping) and CDs ($20 plus tax and shipping) will go to the American Cancer Society in his name. It's an amazing opportunity to have a last conversation with dad… and to help pay his legacy forward.
