VALDOSTA — For nearly 30 years, Mad Jim Hall has entertained audiences through his guitar playing, singing, leading sing-alongs and karaoke. Now, he is battling for his life, but he plans to beat his cancer, through prayer, love, medication, and a little help from his friends.

On Sunday, these friends will present a benefit concert for Hall. “This One’s For You: A Tribute to Mad Jim Hall” is scheduled to feature nearly 20 South Georgia bands throughout Sunday afternoon and evening at Charley O’Corley’s.

Valdosta musician Tim Teasley had the idea for the concert. He and fellow Skannyardle member Kim Johnson set the ball in motion. With help from Tamela Myers, Johnson handled the lion’s share of the work on the concert, finding a venue, scheduling bands, creating and distributing flyers, non-stop e-mails and calls.

Yet, she says the concert has been as simple as saying Mad Jim Hall needs help.



Monday afternoon: A couple hours earlier, Jim Hall has finished the first of 10 scheduled radiation treatments. Sitting in his home office, he isn’t certain how he will react to the radiation. Unexpectedly, he becomes warm, nauseous, cool, warm again, ill, flashes of heat and chill.

“Didn’t expect that,” Hall says. “Something new.”

His attitude is positive. He continues with the interview. He pulls on the top hat he’s regularly worn as part of his act for more than a decade. He strums “City of New Orleans” on his guitar. On a lazy, blue, cool, August afternoon, he poses for photos on his porch.

He’s Mad Jim Hall, a bit subdued, a little more hushed than he might be on stage, but positive he’ll survive. He’s remained positive since the diagnosis. As one friend noted, after visiting with Hall, Jim made him feel better.

“Oh, I plan to beat this thing, brother,” Hall says. “I’ve got a lot more living to do. I have a lot of reasons to keep living.”



He noticed blood in his urine. He thought maybe he had kidney stones.

He felt aches and pains. At 51, he thought these signs of age.

As a self-employed musician, he has no medical insurance, no regular physician, no regular check-ups or annual physicals. Still, the conditions persisted earlier this year. Several weeks ago, they proved too much. He sought medical treatment.

He received grim news.

Tests found a tumor larger than his kidney. He was diagnosed with Stage 4 renal cell carcinoma. In terms of cancer diagnosis, Stage 4 is the worst. A doctor looked Hall in the eye: “I’m gonna talk to you like you’re my brother,” the doctor said. “You probably won’t be here in three years.”

Another doctor warned, with no medication, Hall has six months. With medication, he might have two and a half years.

Cancer has spread in his kidneys, lymph nodes, renal glands, lungs, and into his bones.

Medication has been prescribed to reduce blood flow around the kidney to arrest the cancer’s spread, Hall says. He has seen swelling decrease and has felt better since beginning this medication. Morphine curbs the pain. Radiation is for the cancer more recently discovered in his bones.

“I hope for remission, but I’d settle for just controlling it,” Hall says. “I feel I have 10 more years in me, at least.”



Jim Hall grew up in the Washington, D.C., area. As a young man, he moved to Atlanta. Always interested in music, teaching himself guitar, tired of large cities, he considered a move to a smaller town, a town where he could find a music gig. He looked at St. Augustine, Fla. Traveling back to Atlanta with a friend, they stopped in Valdosta. One thing led to another. Jim Hall moved to Valdosta in 1981.

He played places like the Deli Bar, Hoagie’s, the Mill House, usually just him, a microphone and his guitar. In those early years, he often played for small audiences, occasionally no audience at all.

“In Valdosta, you have a lot of talented musicians,” Hall says. “For the size of this market, Valdosta is blessed with a lot of good musicians and has been for years. When I arrived, you had all of these great musicians; they had all grown up together, went to school together, played together for years. That was tough to break into.”

During the days, for several years, Hall worked in a hardware store. He worked in sheet metal and wiring. For a few years, he worked at a local television station. At nights, he played in local clubs. Several hours a day, he practiced his guitar. He learned songs. He integrated rising computer technology into his shows and to support his act; he created the pre-MySpace Mad Jim’s Place on the Internet to promote his and other local musicians’ shows.

If a person requests a song, Hall either plays it because he already knows it, plays part of it, attempts it, or promises to know it within a day or two. It is a promise he consistently keeps. He joined a few bands here and there through the years, but his act has usually returned to being himself with the audience as his band.

He admits his vocals have always been the weakest part of his performance. He encouraged audiences to sing along “to cover up my voice,” he chuckles. He carried an extra microphone so audience members could sing with him on stage. His live show was a pre-cursor to karaoke, and Hall was a natural to blend what he was already doing with karaoke.

His live music-karaoke show has been a constant in area clubs for more than a decade.

“I’ve always focused on what the audience wanted,” he says. If the audience wants to sing, let them sing. If the audience wants to hear a song, play the song. “A lot of musicians complain about requests for ‘Brown-Eyed Girl,’ but if that’s what the audience wants, you’d better give it to them.”



Mad Jim Hall traveled alone for years. He quit the day jobs many years ago, pursuing his music full time. Music was his life. No longer alone playing to larger crowds, he returned home alone night after night.

Then, at the age of 47, he met Debbie Ervin. He spoke with her and a friend during a break at The Tavern. They danced. Hall had a great time, but he didn’t think anything would come of it. A few weeks later, he ran into her again while playing Rascal’s. They danced again. They’ve been together ever since.

“She’s my soul mate,” Hall says. “I’d wait another 47 years for her.”

Jim Hall sits in his home office. He smiles despite the waves of nausea. He smiles despite the treatments ahead and the terrible toll of the prognosis. He smiles and says, “God’s been good to me. He gave me this blessing of life. He brought Debbie into my life. God’s going to see me through this. I’m going to fight this thing, brother. I’ve got too much to live for.”

There’s nothing mad about that. Nothing mad about that at all.



A Tribute to Mad Jim Hall

Several area bands will perform from 3 p.m. to midnight Sunday, Charley O’Corley’s, 1903 Baytree Place, Remerton. Admission: $5, additional donations appreciated. Proceeds go to the Mad Jim Fund, c/o First Federal Savings, P.O. Box 888, Valdosta, Ga. 31603.

THE BANDS: Two Stages

INSIDE

3-3:15 p.m.: Introductions

3:15-3:45 p.m.: Blackeyed Katy

4-4:30 p.m.: John Parris & Magnetic South

4:45-5:15 p.m.: The Georgia Allstars

5:30-6 p.m.: Mad Jim Hall

6:15-6:45 p.m.: Little Brown Peach

7-7:30 p.m.: TannersLane

7:45-8:15 p.m.: Digit 60

8:30-9 p.m.: Skannyardle

9:15-9:45: Del Sol

10-10:30 p.m.: Woodard Johnson

10:45-11:15 p.m.: Drive-In

11:15 p.m.-midnight: JAM

OUTSIDE

4:30-5 p.m.: Joe Smothers

5:15-5:45 p.m.: Kid Dynamite

6-6:30 p.m.: Amy & Barry

6:45-7:15 p.m.: Swift & Evans

7:30-8:15 p.m.: Patrick & Justin

8:30-9:15 p.m.: Shaun Hopper

NOTE: Schedules are subject to change.