By any tradition, Christmas is a season of giving. It is a time when charities seek to raise funds to help those in need, especially during a colder time of the year when many are without a warm meal and place to sleep for the night.

A group of bluegrass musicians in Nashville, spearheaded by Eddie and Martha Adcock, are putting pick to string in an effort to help. The Adcocks have assembled an impressive line up of Nashville based musicians who will gather for a performance at the Station Inn on December 14 to raise money for a Nashville area, faith based charity that provides food and shelter to homeless persons during the coldest part of the year.

Musicians slated to perform include:

Ned Luberecki
Larry Stevenson
Roland White Band
Tim Graves & Cherokee
Dale & Don Wayne Reno
Jimmy Bowen & Santa Fe
Gene Johnson of Diamond Rio
Jack Hicks & Summertown Road
Sam Jackson & the Jackson Gang
Dr. Terry Comer & the Best In Town
Alan Sibley & the Magnolia Ramblers
Randy Waller of the Country Gentlemen
and…
Eddie & Martha Adcock

Suggested donation at the door is $15. Larger amounts will be gratefully accepted. Attendees are encouraged to bring items that individuals and families can use, such as: soap, shampoo, toothbrushes and paste, deodorant, razors, shave cream, combs, personal-size tissues, new socks & underwear, washcloths, sewing kits, pens, pencils and small notebooks.

All proceeds and gifts will be distributed through Room In The Inn.

Anyone who wishes to contribute can make a check out to Room In The Inn and send it to:

Eddie & Martha Adcock
P.O. Box 219
Lebanon TN 37088

The story of banjo man Eddie Adcock’s groundbreaking brain surgery, which we first reported here a month ago, is spilling out into the national and international media.

The procedure involved embedding electrical leads in his brain, connected to a pulse generator implanted in his chest, with wires running between them under his skin. Know as Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), Eddie underwent the three-stage surgery at Vanderbilt Medical Center in August in an attempt to defeat tremors in his right hand.

After a piece on Good Morning America which aired just after IBMA, the story of Eddie’s successful surgery has been carried in dozens of papers and television news programs all over the world. The irresistible hook to many of these stories has been the fact that Eddie not only had to be conscious during the procedure, but since it was designed to repair the tremor for the sake of his playing, he actually picked the banjo on the operating table during the surgery!

Here is the story that ran on GMA, which includes video shot by the staff at Vanderbilt during the procedure, and some stunning with and without footage shot a few weeks ago.

Hats off to Eddie, not only for his willingness to try something as drastic as this to recover his playing skill, but for the notoriety that has come his way as a result.

A crew from ABC’s Good Morning America was at IBMA this week to talk to Eddie Adcock about his recent deep brain surgery at Vanderbilt here in Nashville.

The segment is scheduled to run on Friday morning (10/3) during the show’s 7:00-9:00 a.m. broadcast. Eddie suggested it was set to run at or near 8:30.

The crew filmed discussions with Eddie and his physician, plus Janet Deering, Eddie Stubbs, Jens Kruger and Terry Baucom about Eddie and his music.

Eddie’s surgery was a very new procedure where electrical stimulation is sent directly to the brain, a procedure he underwent to help defeat tremors in his right hand.

For a musician, there aren’t many things more fearsome than developing a tremor in your picking hand. Eddie Adcock decided not to sit idly by and live with a diminished skill level due to such a complication. During the month of August, he underwent a three stage surgical procedure at Nashville’s Vanderbilt Medical Center, intended to reverse the problem with his right hand.

Adcock celebrated his 70th birthday in June of this year. After years of playing in smoke filled venues, he suffers from emphysema and doctors say it’s possible that the medications he has taken for that have been a contributing factor in the development of his right hand tremor. After trying, unsuccessfully, to control the shaking via a dozen different medications over a period of several years, Adcock has now become the first non-Parkinsons musician to undergo the three stage procedure known as Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) at Vanderbilt Medical Center.

The procedure is so new that the Neurosurgery department at Vanderbilt videotaped the surgeries for their own instructional use, and possible PBS broadcast at some point in the future.

The three surgeries include the implantation of a pulse generator (IPG) inside the chest wall, an extension wire from the IPG to the head, and an electrical lead placed in the brain to stimulate brain activity with the electrical pulses.

During the brain implantation surgery, the patient is kept conscious so they may assist the doctors in properly placing the leads. They do this by experiencing its immediate effects on their fine motor skills. In Eddie’s case, this would be his right hand picking the banjo. Eddie took a Deering GoodTime banjo into surgery with him (see the picture at top). I’m sure that was first!

Eddie has related that this was not an easy process to experience.

I came up in music the hard way and learned to be a trouper fast.  Some of those early days were pretty rough, and I’ve been stomped, cut and kicked; but I never went through hell like this — it was the most painful thing I’ve ever endured.  And it was risky.  But I did it for a reason:  I’m looking forward to being able to play music the way I did years ago prior to getting this tremor.  It means that much to me.  I’m far from being done!

He has also expressed appreciation to his neurologists and neurosurgeons, along with all the staff at Vanderbilt. He also sends his thanks to those who sent cards and good wishs, and kept him in their prayers during the month of August. He’s in good spirits now as he recovers from not only the surgery, but also the pre-op hair cut he received.

I’m beginning to get used to wearing a do-rag, though.  The girls seem to like it.

The Bionic Banjo Player does ask for your continued prayer support as he is scheduled for a post-op checkup late this month, and then in early October the IPG will be turned on and the device will be programmed for strength and intensity of signal.