January 20, 2012 - Christine Baze "The Yellow Umbrella"
Mel talks to musician Christine Baze an 11 year cervical cancer survivor. She talks about the difference in preventions between when she was diagnosed and now, and why she founded her non profit The Yellow Umbrella.
Heartbreakingly honest and completely exposed, Christine Baze has continued to evolve as a woman, as a musician, and as a survivor.
The course of Bazes musical career has been anything but a traditional path. Born in rural upstate New York, Baze started playing classical piano at the age of 4, and continued for the next 17 years. The sounds and influences during this time ranged from
Rachmaninoff to show tunes to Carol King. Always pulled in by emotion, Baze would spend hours in her room singing to herself and feeling the power of musical expression.
After years of college and two degrees (Baze has a BA in psychology and a MS in marriage and family therapy), she dropped out of her PhD program and decided she needed to find her own voice, and her own music. She first began collaborating with Boston singer songwriter John Powers in a duo called Goose, and then eventually started writing her own material. Playing in coffee shops and bars throughout the northeast, Baze developed her sound and style, finding strength in her live performances and ability to truly connect with people. The material was introspective and thoughtful.
And then, in 2000, everything changed when Baze, then 31, was diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer. The music stopped, and Baze fought for her life. Surgeries, radiation, and chemotherapy became her world. After treatment, she was depleted and incomplete, questioning everything about her life and what the future could hold. Baze took these questions, her experience, and her love of music and decided to do something that would make a difference. She created a non-profit organization and called it PopSmear.org (now theYellowUmbrella.org ) to raise awareness about preventing cervical cancer, and started The Yellow Umbrella Tour as a way to get the message out to women everywhere, through the thing she loved the most - music. Baze brings the music and the message not only into clubs but into classrooms and community settings, always hoping to empower, educate, inspire, connect and make a difference.
About Mel Majoros:
Mel Majoros, currently in remission, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007. On a lucky break after her cancer surgery she was offered a job as a producer on a local talk sports show in Michigan where she advocates about cancer and other health related topics. During that time she started blogging and her blog www.Thecancerwarrior.blogspot.com has been named one of the top ten breast cancer blogs by blogs.com. She brings a unique perspective to being a survivor, always keeping a positive attitude and an athletes mentality for dealing with cancer and survivorship. Prior to working in radio Mel was a 10 year veteran of the television industry working on such shows as Walker, Texas Ranger and Crossing Jordan.
