Steve Price
Steve Price is a singer, songwriter and registered nurse. This is his musical experiment where he hopes to expose and maybe change our attitudes about end of life. Steve Price has been a registered nurse for 25 years. He now works on a palliative medicine consult team. His experiences have inspired him to write his first CD “Awake”.
Prior to this project Steve had never written a song and didn't consider himself a real musician, let alone comfortable on stage. Recently, the DOOR of INSPIRATION opened and in quick succession he had 12 songs about the inherent and imposed dilemmas of aging, illness and dying.
This CD is Bold, Compassionate, Daring, Timely, Taboo, Unsettling, Real, Fun, Frightening, Honest and broadcast quality. High-end backup talent by Mary McCaslin, Jim Lewin, Richard Bryant, Charlie Wallace, John Weed and Bill Sullivan ices this cake.
The music is timely and will surely stimulate discussion since health care is once again on the political agenda. The baby boomers are at the health care doorstep and we are feeling the financial strain on our fragile system. There are problems with the many uninsured, shameful condition of nursing homes and the profiteering at the expense of our old and infirmed citizens.
So many experiences unfold in hospitals; love, compassion, sadness, frustration, hopelessness and resolve are a few. These ballads try to capture some of the sweetness and the sadness. Steve has observed how the collective cultural fear about end of life has influenced medical practice and questions some of our health care priorities. He witnesses the manifestation of our death defying society in the heroic lengths we expect, request and sometimes demand of our doctors; asking them to stand in deaths way. In these songs he calls into question the wisdom of our choices. In our denial we often see an expensive, cruel drama unfold for so many at the end of life causing much suffering.
The songs in this project strike deep at the heart of the issues of every day health care in America. It is time to take a good look at our system and welcome the aging process into our culture. There are limits to medical intervention. Some balance must be reached between appropriate and inappropriate medical intervention. Years from now, Steve predicts, people will look back and wonder; “what were they thinking?”
Accepting that "it is our nature to grow old, get ill and die" is a place to start. Then, perhaps we will be able to realize the preciousness of each day, live well and love fully. When end of life does come perhaps we will accept our time with grace and dignity.
Steve’s thoughts come from the patients that have touched his life over many years in the business.
With that he gives you these songs. Thank you for listening and considering the concerns of a career nurse.
Live well today!
Steve