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A stage III cancer patient, Jewell spends long hours in a
recording studio in Falls Church, Virginia, as he battles his
disease.
"When I play music, I don't feel like a cancer patient anymore,"
he said between takes. "I still get stage fright, I still flub
things up when I play, but I don't care. I just want to be able
to play out as much as I can."
The fourth cancer patient to use the studio space provided by
the Cancer Can Rock foundation, Jewell wrote "Perseid Rain" in
1986, before he was diagnosed. After his illness, he decided to
record the roots rock song and leave behind a musical legacy for
his family and friends.
"I don't really know in terms of my condition how much longer I
have to live," he said. "Given an opportunity like this to get
my song recorded, it's totally gratis, so how could I turn it
down?"
His wife, Janice Jewell, said she was thrilled that he had a
chance to focus on his passions during a challenging time in his
life.
"Music is church for Stuart," she said. "When you live with
cancer, you have things that weigh on your mind in a negative
way, and it's a way for him to put those things aside for a
while."
Established three years ago by music producer Jim Ebert, Cancer
Can Rock allows musicians with cancer to record a song for
posterity.
"There's no perks in cancer, so I said, what can I do?" said
Ebert, himself a brain cancer survivor who 14 years ago was told
he had one year to live.
Ebert said his cancer shrouded his life with a constant sense of
impermanence, and he wanted to leave behind something for his
friends and family.
"I thought, well, I can make a song for an artist that's
permanent for them (and) their family," he said. "Regardless of
what happens health-wise, their family will always have it."
(Reporting by Pavithra George for Reuters TV; Writing by Piya
Sinha-Roy; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
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