Concert at 1867 Sanctuary set to benefit rare condition

Greg McGarvey & Friends perform at 8 p.m. June 7, in a concert to raise funds for a rare condition that took the life of McGarvey’s girlfriend.

The concert will take place at Ewing’s 1867 Sanctuary, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, N.J., as McGarvey prepares to release his first album, a collection of songs written about his late girlfriend, Marcella, a lifelong resident of Churchville throughout her 28 years.

Funds raised will benefit the Fanconi Anemia Research Fund. Marcella’s 2014 death was caused by this rare blood disease which, in turn, caused her to succumb to Small Cell Neuroendocrine Carcinoma.

Despite the tragedy of her passage, the music McGarvey’s written celebrates her positive, feisty, fighting spirit. It also celebrates the love she had for McGarvey and the many people to whom she was close throughout her brief but impactful life.

To help him present the music, McGarvey – a veteran of multiple rock & roll bands and folk groups – assembled a seven-piece band that includes: on violin, Frank Burk (Philadelphia folk community); on grand piano, Jenny Cat (Jenny & The Felines); on pedal steel guitar, Doylestown’s Dave Van Allen; on second guitar, Newtown’s Nick Crocker (Bears Choice); and on drums and bass respectively, Nick D’Amore and Lysa Opfer (New York City indie rock scene).

Additionally, the Newtown-based actor/singer/host Righteous Jolly will join McGarvey for a three-song set.

The music will be split between McGarvey’s own compositions and familiar songs by The Beatles, R.E.M., Fleet Foxes, Neil Young, Led Zeppelin, and Big Star.

Marcella’s health journey is chronicled on a Crowdrise fundraising page which has yielded $46,000 thus far:

crowdrise.com/chellieschallenge/fundraiser/cristinadisandro.

McGarvey and the other performers have agreed to donate their share of the profits to Fanconi Anemia Research Fund (fanconi.org) via Chellie’s Challenge, the aforementioned Crowdrise page.