A promising Texas singer, lucky to be still alive and sing the blues

A few years ago, Charley Crockett, Texas singer of country blues, wrote "How Long Will I Last" about an uncertain love story. He hardly knew that the title of the song would also apply to his fight against heart disease.

"The cardiologist determined that I was in a year to suffer from heart failure," said the 34-year-old musician. "It was really, really lucky that I discovered what was wrong with me."

Crockett, a descendant of folk hero Davy Crockett, was born with a heart rhythm disorder called Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, or WPW. He spent a month in the hospital as a newborn, but spent most of his life without major complications.

But as his career took off, his health problems too. He felt fatigue, shortness of breath and dizziness to the point of darkening sometimes.

At first, he spent years of stress as a traveling musician. After growing up in a mobile home park in South Texas, he spent twenty years on rails, sleeping in parks and replacements in New York City subway cars. In 2016, when Rolling stone He nicknamed one of the "10 artists to know", and his work and travel schedule has shifted to the next level.

"I was living really hard," he said. "I was getting short of breath and it scared me, but I did not want to talk about it, I'm a pretty stubborn guy, and I did not want it to be a problem."

It's become a problem, but only by chance. Last year, when Crockett sought advice from a doctor for the repair of a hernia, he listed WPW in his medical history, which prompted the doctor to send him to a cardiologist by precautionary measure for surgery. Only then did Crockett learn that he was also suffering from bicuspid stenosis of the aortic valve. Instead of having three flaps that allow the blood to flow, two are fused together.

It is estimated that 1.4% of the population was born with a bicuspid aortic valve stenosis, but Crockett's condition had progressed to a dangerous point. His valves flowed from the blood, necessitating surgery to replace the valve.

After studying the problem and consulting his cardiothoracic surgeon Austin, Dr. Faraz Kerendi, Crockett opted for an open heart surgery to replace his defective valve with a bioprosthetic valve created from cow tissue.

While mechanical valves tend to last longer, Crockett chose the cowhide valve for professional reasons: he would not have to take blood thinning medication for the rest of his life, which could a brake on his frenetic style.

"I play 90 minutes in a row every night, I dance on stage and you can not be so active with blood thinning drugs, it was huge for me," said Crockett, whose latest album, "Lonesome As A Shadow", has been acclaimed nationally, including by a story Display panel that compared her song "Did not Gotta Worry Child" to the music of soul legend, Curtis Mayfield. "I really had to do my research and quarterback all … I realized that patient awareness is everything."

Crockett has been resting at his home in Austin since his January 22 operation. For a musician who likes to move, recovery has been difficult, said Lyza Renee, his girlfriend.

"Quite naturally, Charley has all this energy, so it was a challenge for him to learn how to slow down," she said. "The doctor told him that he was operating at 65% (before the operation) .I thought to myself:" Oh, my God! What is it? " is going to be after? "

Crockett agreed to rest until April, when he will travel to California to play the Stagecoach Festival, Coachella's sister country-focused event. In July, he will perform at the prestigious Newport Folk Festival.

From here on, he will be ready to sing songs from a new album that he recorded just before his operation.

"I was really worried about the outcome of the surgery and all that heavy emotion really transferred to a tape," he said.

The new songs include the autobiographical tale, "The Valley", with the lyrics: "Now you know my story / I bet you have one too / Let the curse become a blessing / There's nothing there Other than you can do. "

"That's how I see this operation, as a huge blessing, it's like:" You have a cow valve in your heart! You have to take care of that, & # 39; & # 39; he said with a laugh, "It took something like that to make me understand that I have to put my health and well-being first."

The American Heart Association News covers the health of the heart and brain. All opinions expressed in this story do not reflect the official position of the American Heart Association. Copyright is the property of the American Heart Association, Inc., and all rights are reserved. If you have any questions or comments about this story, please email [email protected].