Cancer, children and friendship led the members of Switchback, a Celtic rockabilly band, to the idea of a benefit tour that would take them from Austin, Minn.

Tuesday, October 03, 2000

Cancer, children and friendship led the members of Switchback, a Celtic rockabilly band, to the idea of a benefit tour that would take them from Austin, Minn., to Austin, Texas. It was an idea, they said, that came to them somewhere between late-night club gigs and daytime performances and cans of chili.

It was an ambitious idea and one that will see them travel … if not to Austin, Texas, at least as far as Wichita, Kan.

"We’re aiming for Austin, Texas, next year," benefit organizer Jayn Lando said. "We just couldn’t pull it all together fast enough this year."

That’s OK, the band with a Celtic flavor is starting in the right place – that would be the J.C. Hormel Nature Center here in Austin at 7 p.m. Wednesday night. The performance in Austin is free of charge, but donations for the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital – the world famous center for childhood cancer research in Memphis, Tenn., that the tour was organized to benefit – will be accepted and encouraged.

"I think the show will appeal to all ages," Lando said. "Switchback doesn’t just fit one musical mold. I guess you could say they are chameleonlike – they can play a community center, a nursing home or a preschool and get an equally enthusiastic result. Their love of music shows when they play and it’s infectious."

From Austin, the band will head to St. Louis for a Thursday performance in the coffeehouse at the city museum and then on to Kansas City and finally to Wichita. All their performances after Austin are scheduled in galleries or coffeehouses or both. Involving as many different arts as possible is part of the goal of the tour, which also will intersect with nationally renowned Chicago wordsmith Marc Kelly Smith and equally renowned St. Louis artist Bill Christman at different points in the tour.

Austin to Austin 2000 is a non-profit venture with all proceeds going to St. Jude’s. The benefit will be for two special friends of Switchback. One of the inspirations of A2A2000 is the memory of Nora Waterloo Persons, a friend of Switchback who passed away in 1999 in Austin, Texas, after a long battle with cancer. She was a writer of children’s books and enjoyed working with children. Another inspiration is to honor Terry Vest, the son of a Switchback friend in Memphis. Terry is a patient battling liver cancer at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Marty McCormack of Switchback knows it’s an uphill fight to raise these funds.

"We need some luck, but we hope that what we’re doing will catch the imagination and interest of people," he said. Donations and sponsorships are being sought. The Austin To Austin project has been officially endorsed by ALSAC/St. Jude. Tax-deductible contributions are being accepted at 8889 Hampton Court, Cordova, Tenn. 38018, and at the nature center Wednesday night.