Former CEO credits playing the banjo with saving his life
Keith Alessi will never forget being a boy and discovering the instrument that would eventually save his life.
“I saw The Beverly Hillbillies,” Keith smiles at the memory of hearing the TV sitcom’s banjo-played theme song for the first time. “There was a bright percussive sound that cut through the clutter that just grabbed me.”
Although it inspired Keith to start building a world-class collection of 52 banjos, he didn’t learn to play even one of them.
“Life got in the way,” Keith smiles.
The executive was working his way to the very top of the corporate ladder at multiple major companies on both sides of the border. Keith promised to make time for the banjo when he retired, which he finally did at 61.
“I resigned my job on a Monday morning,” Keith says. “And 13 days later I was told I had a 50 per cent chance of living a year.”
The cancer diagnosis seemed like a death sentence. After a lifetime of being in control, Keith felt like he had none at all.
“It totally came out of left field,” Keith recalls. “I was literally crying on a city corner.”
The former CEO responded by delegating his health care to the doctors, and chose to focus his energy on pursuing his passion for the banjo.
“It kept my mind off the things I didn’t want to think about,” Keith says he joined old-time music jams and connected with a community of fellow banjo players. “It gave me a positive thing to focus on.”
After being told he had an 85 per cent chance of dying within five years of being diagnosed, Keith’s cancer is now in remission after making music for the past eight years.
“My doctors say keep doing what you’re doing,” Keith says. “And now the banjo’s become instrumental in my healing.”
After friends suggested he share his experience to inspire others, Keith teamed up with theatre professional Erika Conway to help stage his story.
“I wasn’t thinking it would ever go anywhere that it had,” Erika says.
Although Keith had no prior acting experience, he’s spent the past few years performing his one-person show, ‘Tomatoes Tried to Kill Me But Banjos Saved My Life’ around the world, from North America to Australia.
The production has earned multiple international awards from the UK to off-Broadway.
Keith concludes each performance with a talk-back session to connect with audience members facing similar challenges.
“He doesn’t have to be going out there and doing this,” Erika says. “The fact that he’s using his time to be so much a part of the community and give back is inspiring.”
And instead of moving to Beverly Hills like the hillbillies in the show that first inspired him, Keith is donating all the money he’s earned from the play to local theatres and cancer charities — almost $1 million and counting.
“It’s fantastic,” Keith says. “I’d rather pay it forward while I can see the impact I’m having.”
And he hopes all of us will be inspired to stop waiting for the end of our career and start living our life to the fullest now.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Woman with liver failure rejected for a transplant after medical review highlights alcohol use
For nearly three months, Amanda Huska has been in an Ontario hospital, part of it on life support, because of severe liver failure. Her history of alcohol use is getting in the way of her only potential treatment: a liver transplant.
B.C. man 'attacked suddenly' by adult grizzly near Alberta boundary: RCMP
A B.C. man is recovering from multiple injuries after he was "attacked suddenly" by an adult grizzly bear near Elkford Thursday afternoon.
Box tree moths have infested Ontario and experts say more are coming. Here's what to do to protect your garden
An invasive moth species is on the rise in Canada and, if you've planted a certain shrub, it could stand to ruin your garden.
His SUV was stolen on Montreal's South Shore. Then he got a $156 parking ticket
A couple is frustrated after their SUV was stolen from Montreal's South Shore in March and they received a parking ticket for the same vehicle last week.
To plant or not to plant? Gardening tips for May long weekend
May long weekend is finally here, and with the extra time off you may be getting the itch to head out to your garden and plant. However, the old debate whether you should plant now, or wait, is still ever-present.
Impaired driver sentenced to 7 years after double-fatal Cambridge crash
A man who killed two people in a drunk driving crash was sentenced Friday to seven years behind bars.
Banking mogul suing government after intelligence leaks leave him shut out of Canadian economy
Chinese Canadian banking mogul Shenglin Xian has launched a $300 million lawsuit against the federal government. It’s a means to find the source of intelligence leaks which Xian says has cost him his livelihood.
Backlash over NFL player Harrison Butker's commencement speech has reached a new level
The NFL is distancing itself from controversial comments by Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker during a recent commencement address.
Serial sexual offender linked to unsolved 1970s homicides of four Calgary girls, women
An investigation into unsolved historical homicides from the 1970s has linked the deaths of two girls and two young women in and around Calgary to a now-deceased serial offender.