NOVEMBER IS Movember, the month focused on men’s health, and raising awareness of and funds to combat male cancers, and a new song by Galway singer-songwriter Jenni Flaherty will help do just that.
Jenni’s song ‘Last Breath’ is available to buy from iTunes, CD Baby, and Amazon, with all proceeds going to the Irish Cancer Society, particularly to its Men’s Cancer Awareness strand.
Jenni never intended to release the song. It was originally written as a tribute to her uncle Peter Flaherty, who died from cancer, aged only 49.
“He was a huge, huge, influence on my life and told me to never just settle for anything,” Jenni tells me. “If you want something it’s never going to be given to you, you have to work for it. This is advice I live to every day and I thank him for that.”
Jenni describes the song as “an exact experience of what my family went through”, during her uncle’s illness. “The whirlwind of his deterioration happened in such a short time,” she says. “I found it difficult to register everything that happened. It wasn’t until I put my thoughts and words on paper did I realise how real it was.”
Jenni uploaded the song to her Soundcloud account and was soon “flooded with e-mails” from listeners keen to buy it.
“So many people have emailed me saying they were in absolute tears listening to it,” she says. “I suppose it’s because so many have been affected by cancer that they relate to it. But the song does end on a positive. They are always there and watching over us, forever guiding us.”
The reaction to ‘Last Breath’ persuaded Jenni to release the song. “I felt I needed to give back to Peter and his memory and support the Irish Cancer Society,” she says.
Jenni has recorded with Alabama 3, performed in front of a full house in the Brixton Jamm (where Adele got her start ), and formed Galway cover band SUPR-SPLIT. See www.facebook.com/pages/Jennifer-Flaherty-Music
