On Tuesday, Jan 14 at 8 p.m., Jammin Java will be hosting its fourth Cancer Can Rock benefit concert. Cancer Can Rock, a Falls Church-based nonprofit, gives musicians diagnosed with terminal cancer the chance to record their work in the studio.
Each benefit concert has its own unique line up of local artists who love the idea and want to help by contributing their talents to the performance. The idea is that cancer takes away so much, and Cancer Can Rock gives something back.
Rather than a traditional cancer research-based group, Cancer Can Rock focuses on people. About helping those who are fighting achieve their dreams. Cancer Can Rock offers musicians who are suffering from terminal cancer a chance to record their songs. Using studios in Falls Church, and the board of prominent successful artists, such as Butch Walker and Mary-Louise Parker, Cancer Can Rock will ensure quality record production.
Cancer Can Rock founder and president, Jim Ebert, is also a multi-platinum record producer who has worked with prominent musical acts like Meredith Brooks and Cowboy Mouth, among others.
“What I see in my brain is someone coming forward saying ‘I’ve got this song and I’d like to perform it.’ I’ve got a list of session players that I use, and they’re all ready to do it at any point in time, and I’ve got the studio that I use in Falls Church,” Ebert said.
“Our plan is to bring in whoever they are, and bring them to D.C., and they record at Falls Church with me. I can send their family out with what we have budgeted so far: A D.C. tour, if they don’t want to be (in studio).”
This will be one of the last shows at Jammin Java before Cancer Can Rock goes off to play two events for the spring in both California and Las Vegas.
Tuesday’s concert will feature Scott Kurt & Memphis 59, Justin Trawick (from the Circus Life), Michael Sheppard, Craig Honeycutt (from Everything), and Crooked Crow.
Ebert said when he told the recording artists he works with about what he wanted to achieve with Cancer Can Rock, they were eager to contribute time with benefit concerts.
“I’ve had several people play a couple of them. Justin Trawick, this will be his third. I try not to overextend my welcome, but they all have come forward and said ‘No, we love doing it,'” Ebert said.
Scott Kurt, of Scott Kurt & Memphis 59, said, “I’ve worked with Jim Ebert in the studio and when he mentioned Cancer Can Rock to me, I told him to call me up anytime.”
While Cancer Can Rock is based here in Northern Virginia, its reach is global. From New York City to Seoul, if you are a musician battling cancer and need just a little help getting your message out, Cancer Can Rock wants to help.
Scott Kurt & Memphis 59
