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Britt Harper Uzzell lives in the shadow of Pilot Mountain, and lately he has begun hiking to the top several times a week.

The veteran Triad guitarist, singer and songwriter also lives in the shadow of a debilitating type of lymphoma, and he's trying to keep his body as healthy as possible for the difficult, uncertain trail ahead.

"The median rate of survival post-diagnosis is five years, so that's a pretty sobering statistic," said Uzzell, 45, sitting down for an interview in the home he shares with his wife, Nicole, in rural Stokes County, a rental house that doubles as a recording studio.

The sleepy-eyed rocker universally known as Snüzz (pronounced "snooze") is a veteran of such beloved Piedmont bands as Bus Stop and International Orange, and he has toured the world playing guitar for Ben Folds.

Now he has Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia. It's an extremely rare disease that typically doesn't affect people until they're in their mid-60s or older. It's treatable, but there is no cure.

Since he received his diagnosis a year and a half ago, the disease has dramatically shortened Uzzell's life expectancy and caused severe joint pain that has intermittently robbed him of his ability to do what he has loved to do since he was a teenager in Fayetteville: play guitar and perform in rock bands with his friends.

The disease sometimes makes it impossible for him to play a guitar, much less do acrobatics on stage.

"It was in my shoulders, it was in my hands. That's when it killed me," he says. "My shoulder could feel broken, and I could be in huge pain, and I could still stand on stage and muster a smile and still use my fingers and play impressive things and make the people feel good, like they got their money's worth or whatever.

"But when my fingers are stiff, no can do, the party's over. That's when it was really like, 'I gotta seek help.'"

Balancing out the bad news has been an outpouring of love from Uzzell's friends and fans. A benefit concert called Snüzz-Fest took place in Chapel Hill on Labor Day and raised about $7,000 to help Snüzz, who doesn't have medical insurance, pay for his medical bills. A follow-up concert in Greensboro is planned Sunday at The Blind Tiger near his alma mater, UNCG.

Catie Braly, 30, a former Greensboro resident who now works in medical research at UNC-Chapel Hill, has been the prime mover behind both Snüzz-Fest concerts. Braly met Snüzz only a year ago, but she holds him in high regard.

"It's very rare in your life that you meet somebody who is that full of love and support and generosity and kindness and compassion and has such a good heart," she said. "He does so much for so many other people all the time, and so when people found out he was sick ---- we weren't necessarily doing benefit shows just to benefit them. We were doing them because we were watching our friends dissolve like tissue paper in water, and we felt helpless, like there's nothing we could do."

The first Snüzz-Fest almost didn't happen. Uzzell felt undeserving.

"It made me feel a little creepy, actually," he said.

An e-mail from Tom Maxwell, best known as the singer and writer of hit songs for the Squirrel Nut Zippers, changed that.

In 2008, Uzzell performed at a benefit show to raise money for Maxwell's son, Esten, who has leukemia.

"It's much bigger and deeper than people wanting to put money in your pocket, although that ain't a bad thing," Maxwell wrote to Uzzell. "It's a convergence of good energy that shouldn't be allowed to dissipate; a collective push to honor you ---- not for your vulnerability in illness, but for a lifetime of beautiful music and generosity of spirit. For my own part, I couldn't wait to butcher one of your songs, if only to internalize a little bit more of you."

Snüzz-Fest West will repeat the format of the first concert, with a steady stream of singers taking the stage to cover Uzzell's wry, quirky pop-rock songs. The first concert raised money directly for Uzzell, but Snüzz-Fest West will raise money for a nonprofit organization, the Cancer Special Needs Fund administered by the Spartanburg (S.C.) Regional Healthcare System Foundation. Having the money from the second Snüzz-Fest go to the foundation was Uzzell's idea.

The executive director of the foundation, Sheila Breitweiser, is the mother of Uzzell's friend and fellow musician Robbie Breitweiser.

"We've done things like pay for baby sitters for moms who have cancer," Sheila Breitweiser said of the organization. "We help pay utility bills. We help patients who aren't covered by insurance. Whatever the needs are beyond the medical system."

Uzzell plans to perform Sunday with the Big Kids, Bus Stop and his latest band, the Numbers. His doctors wanted him to start chemotherapy treatments the week before Snüzz-Fest West but gave him permission to begin them after the benefit so he would be able to play.

In the meantime, he will continue to take comfort from the support he has gotten so far.

"It almost leaves me speechless," Uzzell said. "It really inspires me to want to do the same for other people. Giving love is amazingly contagious. It really makes you want to pass it on."

He's determined not to let the disease redefine him.

"I'm not depressed or despondent or overly reflective about it at all," Uzzell said. "I'm really not. I don't let it consume my thought process.

"I've done research on what I've got. I've seen the dismal statistics. I know how serious what I have is. That's enough for me.

"As long as I feel good as I do today, I'm gonna try my best to forget about it and enjoy each moment. I've always been that way. I've always been appreciative, and I've always felt really blessed, and I've always felt like I had a really rich life."

 

Contact Eddie Huffman at ehuffman@triad.rr.com

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