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In January of 2007, Kerry was diagnosed with MS (multiple sclerosis). Within a short period of time he lost the ability to play the fiddle. This has been devastating for Kerry, and it is also a great loss to the contra dance community: Kerry was one of the finest dance fiddlers in the country, and he played with the best.
This Web site has been established as a way to show support for Kerry - to provide a forum for people to write about him, post pictures, and buy his recordings. All of the comments posted to date have been read to Kerry, and he has been inspired and strengthened by them. Please visit the comments page, enjoy reading, and share your own stories.
Being a perfectionist, Kerry was reluctant to reissue his recordings, which have long been out of print. He has now agreed to let this happen. Hand crafted reissues of his two albums are generously provided by Tom Daly at Crooked Cove Records, with all proceeds going to Kerry. Please go to the Recordings page to order the recordings.
Bob Childs (who made Kerry’s fiddle, as well as those of many other contra dance musicians), organized two benefit contra dances, on September 13 in Greenfield, MA and September 19th in Concord, MA. The dances raised $3,500 directly for Kerry, and $500 which was donated to the Accelerated Cure Project. We have kept the “poster” page active on this site, as it was such a lovely work of art.
On November 26th, a dance for Kerry was held in Seattle, where he has a large following of friends: dancers and musicians. This message came from one of the organizers, Joan Vermeulen:
It’s the morning after the benefit dance. More than 130 people turned out. At the height of the evening, we had four solid lines going, with a band that mushroomed into a 15+ mega-band.
Before the dance and during the break, a boom box in the lobby played Kerry’s fiddling, promoting the re-released CDs.
Long story short:
We raised over $2,400 ($800 or so from the door—the rest spontaneous donations), and sold well over $900 worth of CDs! It was a great event!
Anyone who ever heard Kerry play knew they were experiencing something unique and beautiful. He played with great energy, as befits a good contra dance fiddler, but he was also able to make the fiddle sing in a way that few others can. Even now just listening to the recordings, there is truly a spiritual energy about the music.
Please browse the Photos, and if you have pictures to share, please send them to the Webmaster, and we will include them in the slide show.
Thanks for visiting this site, and for your support for Kerry.
