If you were to ask Jeff Millar-Sax, what makes him the happiest, he would tell you, “Helping others and making music.” Through the creation of his album Giving Shelter and a fundraiser, sharing the same name, Jeff plans to do both.
In a conversation with MMR, Jeff discusses: some of the trials he and his beloved wife, Janine, endured in her battle with cancer; the talented musicians featured on the album; his struggle to get the funds into the hands of those who need it most; and his plans for the future of Giving Shelter, his fundraiser that finances housing for cancer patients and their families.
Jeff Millar-Sax is a Hartt School of Music graduate who has worked as a touring and recording musician. He is also the founder of IMS Technologies, a company that sells products through music industry retailers and donates a significant portion of the proceeds to the cause.
First of all, I listened to your album Giving Shelter this morning. I was very impressed with the quality of musicianship and the heartfelt sincerity of the music. Could you tell me about the original impetus for the creation of the songs?
In 2011, after a one-year battle with lung cancer, my wife closed her eyes for the final time. In the later months of the fight, as she began to realize that she was probably not going to get better, Janine started to talk about what she’d like for my future.
Two of the things she “ordered” me to do were; “get back into music because it is my oxygen,” and “to do things that make me happy, as life is too short to do otherwise.”
One of the primary things that makes me happiest is helping others.
During Janine’s battle we spent over six months living in hotels near the hospital because our home was 100 miles away in Southern California traffic. Even with the discounted rate the hotel provided to patients of that particular hospital, it became expensive. I also had to hire in-home care to help me in her final 10 days at home and for a few days in the hotel so that I would be able to take care of Janine and attend to our dogs, as well as continue working at my job.
When I made inquiries to some major charities about help with these costs, I was rather shocked when told they had nothing to offer. Although our health insurance said they would pay for the in-home help, they did not. So I had another large out of pocket expense.
An idea surfaced to make this recording a meaningful tribute to Janine and to raise money to help others in our situation. Sadly, cancer touches just about everyone – a family member, friend, co-worker, or themselves. Therefore, everyone can relate to what I’m trying to accomplish from his or her own particular perspective and journey.
With Giving Shelter, I’m able to take what I love to do and put it to good use: record an album and sell it to raise money for housing, in-home care and other critical needs that cancer patients and their families encounter.
My initial goal
was to do a trilogy of albums: Giving Shelter being the first, Help at Home being the second (to help raise money, focus, and the awareness about in-home care that insurance doesn’t cover), and then the last one, Giving Hope (for help with prescription expenses and/or alternative care.)
Giving Shelter has a simple charter: People need to put their energy into healing, not into worrying about the expenses incurred because of cancer. I want to help.
Who were the musicians that stepped up to aid in completing this meaningful project?
The musicians involved are: myself, my amazing producer/drummer/friend Joshua Eagan, singers Bernard Fowler, Bobby Kimball, Michelle Wolf, Bob Reynolds and Nate Tao. Guitarists Michael Landau, John Jorgenson, James Zota Baker, Alan Friedman and Jeff Richman. Bassists Neil Stubenhaus, Jimmy Haslip and Alfonso Johnson. Percussionist Walfredo Reyes Jr. Keyboardists Jeff Babko & Deron Johnson. Horns were arranged and performed by Doug Webb and Lee Thornburg. De Autry Jones played accordion. It was mixed by Lee Bench, and engineered by Ken Eisennagel, John Cranfield, & Michael McDonald, and mastered by Sam Madill. All of these pros were truly wonderful in their support of the project.
What has been the response to Giving Shelter? How does a family receive help?
At this point, my primary goals are to raise awareness, to continue selling CDs and the other products IMS Technologies brings to market in order to grow the fund, and most importantly to develop a relationship with an already established charity that will distribute the funds I raise. It’s not practical to form my own 501C3 nonprofit organization, because I do not have the wherewithal to do everything involved on my own.
The immediate need for this venture to succeed is to secure a relationship where I become a fundraiser/donor to an established charity or foundation that will manage and distribute all this money that I am raising. I need the help of a nonprofit that has an infrastructure already established to put the money into the hands of those who desperately need help. Ironically, from my experience so far, it’s easier to get a record deal than it is to form a relationship with a cancer charity that will give some of their attention to Giving Shelter’s objectives.
This summer (NAMM) show will mark the start of our third year in existence. I’m extremely blessed and proud of the fact that I have not taken a penny earned from tuner or album sales so far, not even to recoup my recording costs or startup expenses for the company. I’ve essentially spent everything I had in savings and virtually everything I earn from other sources on planting the seeds for Giving Shelter to succeed.
I financed the record myself on my own label, my own publishing. The CDs are sold only at gigs, on the givingshelter.net website, or in discounted bundles to music products retailers. I’m doing this in a very unconventional way – not going through traditional recorded music retail/e-tail outlets or working with an established record label. The money I’m raising goes right into a dedicated account. Between the tuners and the album, over $8,000 is just sitting in the bank right now, wanting to grow and be put to work helping people.
Ultimately, the goal is to give money directly to those who need it, not to support a big infrastructure.
There is the Ronald McDonald House for families with children who have cancer, but we don’t have anything on a similar national scale to help adult cancer patients. As someone who has both survived cancer and been a full-time caregiver to a cancer patient, I know firsthand how devastating cancer is physically, emotionally and financially.
What is the next step for Giving Shelter?
I’ve got six new songs written (two that were left-over from the first recording sessions), three more partially written, and my goal is to have ten for the next album. Once a relationship with an existing organization is established, I plan to aggressively tour and showcase the music in order to generate more awareness, sales and action for the fund.
I also have IMS technologies. We sell the tuners through music products retailers (but I would welcome OEM opportunities with instrument companies as well), we also sell our American-made Christopher Referencing Speakers, and we are now helping to distribute BLOWiT® stage fans, in addition to Giving Shelter. More products are in development.
Musicians are some of the most charitable people on the planet. Farm Aid, Live Aid, The Concert for Bangladesh, and more. Music is often a huge part of fundraising and building awareness for an important cause. Music products retailers are also an important, active and charitable part of their community, and as a result see firsthand how music really does help.
There is even a philanthropy award given out at the Top 100 Dealers event every year at the NAMM Show. That’s why I chose to work with the music products community for this cause. I know that our constituency “gets it” and understands both what a struggle it is to start up a venture and the joy of helping others.
For more information or to contact Jeff Millar-Sax, visit www.givingshelter.net.
