SAYING GOODBYE TO JACK SHARRY

June 5, 1929-July 1, 2002
By Mary Sharry
Loving wife
We do not let go of the person, but only the body, and so it is with our farewell to Jack Sharry. What remains is a presence within each of us who felt loved by him and love for him, and who shared in the joys of being together. We were charmed by his playing – his mandolin and his fiddle.

The sway of his music, the pleasure of food, the warmth of laughter – all of these elements were part of our varied associations with Jack. From time to time we may feel a tug at our heartstrings, and know that his joy in living continues through us.
(A celebration of Jack’s life will be held in Empire at Johnson Park – or in case of rain at the Empire Township Hall – on Sunday, July 28, at 2 p.m.)
This article about the late Jack Sharry and the Cabin Fever band, written by Norm Wheeler, ran in the Sun on June 29, 2000. Here’s an excerpt:
The chord progression falls ominously as the bass, mandolin, guitar, and banjo warn of danger. But the players are smirking. Three kids watch and wait in front of the band as one of them blows bubbles. Suddenly, five grizzled performers and the kids start high-stepping in place like a football squad running a drill through old tires. “He’s creepy crawly creepy crawly creepcreep crawlycrawly creepcreep crawly crawly…….” It’s just another Friday night on the deck at Boone Dock’s, and the local legendary Cabin Fever Band is teaching the kids how to avoid “Boris, the Spider.” The question is, are the hairy legs of the imaginary spider scarier than the band’s?
There is an overwhelming sense of fun that infects everyone present as Cabin Fever moves into “Whiskey Before Breakfast.” Comprised of Jim Curtis on bass and vocals, Tom Keen on guitar and vocals, Jack Sharry on mandolin and fiddle, Tom Fordyce on vocals and harp, and Paul Kirchner on banjo (this night Mark McManus is filling in for Paul), the Cabin Fever Band plays what Keen calls “optimistic music”, an eclectic mix of country swing, bluegrass, rock & roll, pop, and maritime folk. It’s the perfect mix for the crowd of locals and tourists who gather to watch the light fade on a balmy June evening. The band has evolved its repertoire and its precision over the last 15 years, and their menu of tunes is as varied and interesting as the characters who play it.
Smokin’ Jack Sharry, fiddle and mandolin, moved to Empire in 1990 after a 30-year career at GM. Jack was an accomplished high school musician, playing trumpet and euphonium in the band and violin in the orchestra. He played in the Marine Corps band before he was sent to Korea where he received two purple hearts. Then, amazingly, Jack played almost no music for the 30 years of his GM career. “My kids never heard me play much,” Jack admits, “they didn’t really think of me as a musician. I was just the guy bringin’ home the bacon.” But music was always a big part of Jack’s soul. His father played guitar and entertained, and that love re-hatched when Jack retired and moved here. Jack recalls, “I heard the two Toms and Billy Judd playing at the Village Inn in Empire in ‘88 or ‘89, introduced myself, and we’ve been making music ever since.” Jack also played in the pit band for the musical “Big River” at Glen Lake High School a couple of years ago, and his playing is always crisp, precise, and exacting. Jack’s mandolin is pointed and punctuating on a Jimmy Buffet Caribbean calypso tune, for example, while his fiddle on the swing tune “A Long Way From St. Louie” is chuckling, commenting on the action, sort of snickering from the doorway before the expert fall and a sweet closure. He captures the lively mood of the dance hall or the brokenhearted syrup of love with equal aplomb. Jack can go from mountain front porch blue grass foot-stompin’ knee-slappin’ licks to French cafe tunes that are as sweet as a grandma’s kiss. Jack Sharry is a local virtuoso and the musical conscience of the Cabin Fever Band.
Now the four-year-old boy who was blowing bubbles and is wearing a t-shirt with a picture of his dog on the front gives Tom Fordyce a crayon drawing he just made during “Sittin’ on top of the world.” Talkative and ebullient, Tom Fordyce works the crowd, passing out more bubbles and taking requests. This set spins through songs by Michael Martin Murphy (“Geronimo’s Cadillac”), The Grateful Dead, John Prine. Then they shift into a poignant Civil War tune, “Soldiers Joy,” and romp through a round of polkas, including the politically correct “She’s Too Smart For Me.” Duke Ellington’s “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” eases the crowd back down as the pink and orange sky colors up with the sunset. The Cabin Fever Band’s versatility and artistry are astonishing and polished from years of playing together and entertaining just this kind of local crowd. It’s too easy for those of us who have been listening to these guys play over the years to take their excellence for granted, and that’s a mistake. They rock into their own choreographed version of “Great Balls of Fire,” grin through “I’m My Own Grandpa,” and then swing on Bill Monroe’s fiddle tune “Uncle Penn,” (“You can hear it talk, you can hear it sing!”). Bringing it back home to the Great Lakes, they finish with Bill Staines’ “Loggin’ Song”: “Way, hey, another brand new day — on the wild and windy shores of Supeer-I-Aaye!”
The tip jar is full on a good night. They may look like a pack of grizzled old field hands (on this night they sport four beards and a broom mustache), but the girls sure love ‘em.. Every Friday night the Cabin Fever Band creates a scene filled with youthful energy and earthy exuberance that delights this crowd of deck diners and hand clappers at Boone Dock’s. They are available for private parties, weddings, bar mitzvahs. Just call Tom Fordyce, or his brother Tom Keen. They’re in the phone book, just local guys with day jobs who happen to be extremely gifted musicians and who put on a great show consistently right here in our town. Make sure to check ‘em out this summer, and throw a few bills in the tip jar! Let’s celebrate our musicians!!