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Chase Potter & Friends concert to benefit Free Clinic
(by Kristy Zurbrick, Madison Editor - July 24, 2012)
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 Chase Potter
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Chase Potter, a homegrown talent forging his way onto the larger music scene, will stand at the center of the 2nd annual “Chase Potter & Friends” concert to benefit the Madison County Health Partners Free Clinic. The event is set for 7 p.m. Aug. 12 at St. Patrick Church, 61 S. Union St., London.
Since graduating from West Jefferson High School in 2011, Potter completed his first year of studies at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. A highlight, he said, was playing in the string section for a concert featuring Lalah Hathaway, a Grammy-nominated rhythm and blues vocalist. He is spending this summer gigging in Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas and will soon finish an album of his own music for which he plays every instrument.
For the Free Clinic benefit concert, Potter will play violin, saxophone, guitar, mandolin, bass and drums with several of his musician friends. The selections will lean toward jazz and gospel with fiddle tunes and Texas swing thrown in for good measure.
The concert is dedicated to the memory of London’s “Music Man,” Clint Morse, who passed away in November. Morse’s son, Matt, a Nashville studio musician, arranger, producer and former bass player for Ray Charles, will perform.
Other performers include one of Potter’s mentors, saxophonist and college music professor Jay Miglia. Local musicians include Londonites Joe Blaho on bass, Ernie Sparks on drums, Harold McNeal on vocals, Clayton Burke on vocals and guitar, and Jordan Penix on vocals. Penix, a 2012 London High School graduate, was the first recipient of the Clint Morse Memorial Award. She will major in vocal performance at Capital University starting this fall. Potter’s parents, Mark and Tracy, also are slated to perform as is drummer Chris Bechtol, all of West Jefferson. Potter’s friend, Dan Hitchcock, a saxophone, guitar and piano player, hails from Worthington.
Admission to the concert is free. A freewill offering will benefit the Free Clinic. Refreshments will be served after the concert.
In 2011, the Free Clinic provided 1,091 doctor’s visits and 1,343 medications to uninsured Madison County residents.
To provide this service, the clinic relies heavily on volunteers and grants. Grant funding, which comprises 73 percent of the clinic’s budget, has decreased in recent years which makes donations important. Last year, local contributions amounted to almost $20,000. The benefit concert raised nearly $4,000.
“Something like this helps to fill in the gaps,” said Melissa Canney, executive director. “Plus, it’s unrestricted, so we can use it wherever the need is.”
The clinic’s services are available to uninsured Madison County residents who live at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. For a family of four, that amounts to a gross income of $3,800 per month. For an individual, it is $1,800 per month or a pay rate of about $11.25 per hour.
For more information about the clinic, call (740) 845-7286.
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