Brain hemorrhage led to a new direction

George Arthur of Southport had been in the restaurant industry for over 30 years when he was told on Nov. 7, 2007 that he had had a massive brain hemorrhage. After nine days in the Intensive Care Unit, Arthur was on his way home and unbeknownst to him, on his way to a new life.

“I had a brain hemorrhage which put me out for about two years,” Arthur said. “I didn’t know if I would live or die. Luckily, I came out with only a few minor setbacks and in 2010 I wrote 30 songs.”

Music has always been a large part of Arthur’s life. He played drums, guitar, keyboard and sang in multiple choirs. His wife bought him a karaoke machine during his recovery and Arthur gained confidence through it.

“I’ve always had music in my life, but it was never my profession,” Arthur said. “I started trying to sing and that’s how I recuperated. I did a lot of singing and playing instruments. Emotionally it helped. It was the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Arthur could not read music nor did he have experience writing it, but he began writing songs in February 2010.

“I had never done anything like this in my life,” Arthur said. “ I never wrote any music and I can’t read it, but I wrote 30 songs in less than a year.”

He would have a tune come to him, he would go to his music room and begin recording. Arthur had to record everything that he played immediately.

“I do have a short term memory situation. I wrote my songs in my music room, I got the tunes first and I had to record it because I was afraid I wouldn’t know how to play it again,” Arthur said. “Then the lyrics, I did the same thing. There were more than a few times I had to pull over to the side of the road to write something down.”