Hot tickets, new shows
The day after Carol Heveron’s temporary job ended — she was filling in for a woman on maternity leave — she looked in the bathroom mirror.
“I hadn’t been feeling good for weeks, I can tell by things I was writing my journal,” she says.
“I looked in the mirror and saw my eyes were yellow. I knew something was wrong, but I was afraid to go to the doctor because of the bills.”
A couple of weeks later, Heveron did go. A tumor was blocking her bile ducts. The yellow eyes were jaundice. The diagnosis: pancreatic cancer.
“It was like someone pulled the rug out from under me,” she says.
Heveron is a familiar voice in the local music community, not only for her own bands, such as Carol Heveron & the Impalas and The Carol Heveron Band, but as kind of a go-to vocalist for many musicians in the city. “Country, rock and roll, blues people,” she says. “I’ve just played with so any people, it’s hard to count.”
As is all too often the case, the gypsy life of musicians and artists, and the unpredictability of income, means they’re frequently caught without insurance. Heveron is a double whammy there: musician and artist, specializing in collage constructions, such as decorative frames.
When the temporary 9-to-5 job ended, her insurance coverage did as well. So starting at 2 p.m. Sunday, her musician friends are putting on a benefit show at Abilene Bar & Lounge, 153 Liberty Pole Way. It’s some of the best players in town, many of whom Heveron has worked with: The Impalas, Bobby Henrie & the Goners, The Phil Marshall Band, Watkins & the Rapiers, Woody Dodge, The Mike Snow Band, The Dady Brothers, Don Christiano and Rita Coulter, The Maria Gillard Band and The Geoff Tesch Band. The donation at the door is $10, and a lot of stuff will be raffled off.
Heveron’s surgery was Sept. 18. Pancreatic cancer is a tough one to beat, but “They caught it pretty early,” she says. “That’s the biggest part of fighting this disease, that and the strength to recover from the surgery. That was a doozy.
“My surgeon told me the ‘golden period,’ so to speak, is the second month after surgery. That’s when the body says, ‘OK, let’s get back to normal now.’ So I have that kind of hope, that it’ll click in.”
Heveron hopes to be strong enough to attend Sunday’s show, and perhaps even sing.
“The bills will be paid, but it’s still not sure how,” she says. “My daughter and son, if it wasn’t for them, they’re fantastic. The first thing we did was apply for Medicaid when this illness reared its ugly head.
“I can’t tell you how humbled I am. It just brings me to my knees, the people that have reached out to me, it just slays me. I always thought I tried to be a nice person, but this takes it to another level. I’m grateful for the people in my life. The musical community is a tight one. People have got to stick together these days, because life is tough now. Go ahead and lean on someone.”
Over at Water Street Music Hall, a management upheaval has left the club, apparently temporarily, without a liquor license.
Some scheduling chaos has resulted, with shows being moved to other venues, while others remain at Water Street. The two most-recent displacements have been the 9 p.m. Saturday concert with Donna the Buffalo and The Sim Redmond Band, moved to the Main Street Armory, 900 E. Main St., and the 8 p.m. Sunday Stephen Kellogg and The Saint Johns show, shifted to The Montage Music Hall, 50 Chestnut St.
• Meanwhile, Water Street has announced an 8 p.m. Dec. 27 show in its big room with the highly danceable Brooklyn band Rubblebucket. Tickets ($15 in advance; $20 the day of the show) are available at waterstreetmusic.com and (888) 512-7460.
The Fray, Sara Bareilles and Parachute play at 7 p.m. Dec. 8 at the Main Street Armory, 900 E. Main St. Tickets ($30 in advance; $35 the day of the show) are available at (585) 232-3221, rochestermainstreetarmory.com and ticketfly.com.