Sept. 08--To many listeners, the gloomy words and wistful overtones of the blues don't symbolize hope.
Mike Berichon argues the opposite.
"It's such an emotional and expressive and passionate type of music," said the 55-year-old guitarist, who is president and CEO of Mediu, a Worthington telecommunications consulting company.
"I've been accused of being a passionate guy."
On Sunday, his artistic zeal will take center stage during the first Project Blues, a daylong concert and fundraiser to benefit the Columbus Cancer Clinic. The nonprofit facility provides free and low-cost screenings, a food pantry, home-care options and aid for patients coping with the financial fallout of the disease.
The effort is personal for Berichon: In 2005, his sister, Shelly Berichon Rannigan died of breast cancer at age 49, three months after her disease was diagnosed.
Although she worked three jobs, she lacked the income and the insurance needed to cover routine mammograms -- exams that might have caught her cancer at an earlier stage.
"She was a force of nature," said Berichon, who remains troubled by the obstacles that hindered his sibling. "God, I wish she had a shot."
His loss has inspired him to help others who face similar hurdles.
Berichon had aligned with other causes -- including Blues for a Cure, an effort spearheaded by local guitar virtuoso Sean Carney to raise money for cancer research. Yet he wanted to aid needy local families already affected by cancer -- those fighting to pay bills and put food on the table.
In an indirect way, Project Blues is "sort of finding her (Shelly) out there," Berichon said, " and getting her diagnosed and treated."
He hopes to raise enough to fund 250 mammograms, which cost $85 apiece at the clinic.
"The need in the past few years has gone up tremendously," said Chuck Gehring, CEO of LifeCare Alliance, which in 2005 merged with the Columbus Cancer Clinic. "If a spouse or a child gets cancer, you can go from middle class to the food pantry."
The clinic, which served about 5,000 clients last year, doesn't turn anyone away. With increased traffic (the number of mammograms performed through August eclipses the 2010 total), Gehring worries that demand might one day outstrip the resources.
In addition to the serious mission of Project Blues, the event will offer plenty of music -- joyous selections at that, said Berichon, who said he had little trouble attracting enough talent to cover seven-plus hours.
Out-of-town musicians will include harmonica player James Cotton, gospel-influenced vocalist Diunna Greenleaf and singer-guitarist Johnnie Bassett.
Many of the performers, who will offer a private show Monday for clinic patients, have connections to cancer.
"The only reason I'm involved is because it affects me personally," said Houston-based guitar player Jonn Richardson, whose father died two decades ago of lymphoma. The patriarch's late-stage illness crippled the family financially, leading his wife and son to abandon their home and careers to provide care.
Jonn dropped out of college to work and abandoned music for a while.
Despite dark times, the blues ultimately offered salvation. Richardson, now 42, won first place in the prestigious International Blues Challenge in 2005 as a member of Greenleaf's band.
He wants to pass on that strength.
"It's a music that gives you hope, makes you smile," he said. "In the big scheme of it all, every one of us is here to help each other."
The nonprofit status of Project Blues is pending. But Berichon intends to host quarterly concerts bolstered by area talent -- possibly at central-city churches where congregations might be in greatest need of screenings and financial aid.
His first concert, meanwhile, will end with a collective jam.
It might also feature Roses and Thorns, an original song still being polished by Berichon.
Written in memory of Shelly, much of the work is complete, including a verse that sums up both siblings' past and the importance of the mission at present:
Runnin' down the road at 90-plus / Blues a blarin' and comforting us / I am me, and she is she / He says that's how it has to be / I'll never forget that ride.
kjoy@dispatch.com
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