Recent Grammy award winner and Hendersonville resident, Jason Crabb, and his younger brother, Adam, joined forces with various other musicians to raise $10,000 for Gallatin resident Julie Cline this past Monday at Station Camp High School.

Cline, a former hairdresser from Hendersonville, was recently struck with Encephalitis, an irritation and swelling of the brain, most often due to infection.

 “When we heard what had happened to Julie, we knew we had to do something because she’s always been so caring and giving towards other people,” said Jason Crabb, an award winning gospel talent. “This family needed help and we were fortunate enough to be able to pull this together, but it was the people that filled that gym at Station Camp that really are the heroes here because they are the ones that gave tonight to help us raise $10,000 for the Cline family.”

Encephalitis is a rare condition that normally strikes the very young or the elderly with severe cases, but rare cases have been reported in people that don’t fit into either of those categories.

Encephalitis is most often caused by a viral infection that can stem from several different viruses, but can also be caused by contaminated food or drinks, mosquitoes, ticks, or other insect bites, or skin contact with an infect area.

As the couple was lying in bed recently, Julie’s husband Chris was awakened when Julie started having a seizure. He struggled to subdue his wife and, while doing so, discovered she was also burning up with fever. He immediately rushed her to the hospital where she was diagnosed with the disease, and it was also the start of hospital bills that mounted quickly.

“From what Julie and her husband have told us, this is a very rare disease,” said Crabb. “She’s a fighter, and is already on the road to recovery, but there are a lot of bills that have to be taken care of, and that’s why we were here.”

“One of the greatest things about our community is that we all bind together when something like this happens to one of our own, and again tonight the community came out and showed they were here for Julie tonight,” Crabb added.  “We’re hoping her story gets out there and more people can help her because I know people around here are giving and come to their neighbors aid when a disaster like this strikes, so that’s what we’re still trying to do.”

Crabb pulled the all-star cast together in a moments notice, calling Greg Baker, Trace Atkins’ band leader and he got the entire band, minus their drummer who had a previous obligation. The musicians boarded a plane in North Dakota and arrived in Nashville at 3 p.m. on Monday and went straight to Station Camp.

“I recently recorded a live show with Bill Gaither at the Loveless Café and a bunch of the guys from the Trace Atkins band was there in the audience,” said Crabb. “Greg came up and talked to me after the show and told us that they often listen to some of our CDs on the road and we just developed a friendship from there. He told me that night that if I ever needed anything to just call.”

“I made that call, and true to his word, he said he would be here and when he told me he was bringing everyone else it was a real surprise because I just asked him to come with an acoustic guitar,” Crabb said. “Then we got the drummer from Randy Travis’ band (Herb Shucher) and it was just unbelievable. We had never played together before, but you couldn’t tell. I think everyone had a great time and got to listen to some great music by some very talented musicians.”

Adam Crabb also got in on the action and played Amazing Grace on the harp Monday night.

“Adam on the harp doing Amazing Grace was just incredible,” said Crabb. “I know I’m a little biased, but he really brought down the house with that version he played, and I think it was a privilege for us all to do this show to help Julie and her family out. We also need to thank Station Camp for letting us use their gym and to get everything ready for us. There were a lot of moving parts that all got pulled together at a moments notice, but I think it was definitely worth it.”

Donations for Julie Cline can be made at any Fifth Third Bank in the name of Julie Cline.

By Chris Lynn

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