Nat Myers needs all the help he can get from the music community right now.
The country and blues musician from Kentucky posted on Instagram on Valentine’s Day that he wouldn’t be able to make a show supporting blues band GA-20 due to an extended hospital stay, but didn’t seem to have too many details to offer in regards to his situation.
Now, Myers has returned to social media to break the news to his friends, fans, and community that he has received a rare cancer diagnosis, and though the outlook he has been given is grim, he is going to do everything he can to fight it.
Go ahead and read Myers’ update here:
“As many of you all know I have been laid low by a rare cancer called a sarcoma. What I thought was a prolonged lung infection turned out to be much more sinister, with growth around my heart and pulmonary artery. On February 9th I entered the ER & have been in the hospital ever since. Doctors of varying humanity have given me days, or weeks to live, but I live by my odds and not theirs. I am currently looking for the next opportunities to overcome this cool deck of cards I’ve been dealt. I’ve been taken off most my IV’s, and gotten off a lot of the drugs they had me on. I’m feeling better than I have since I entered this facility, and am hoping to continue my next step into my recovery and my future as a survivor. I am taking things day by day and conserving and building the energy I need to overcome this affliction. I refuse to speak from the past past tense, because there is beauty and life in the struggle I am currently fighting, and I will overcome this. My next quest is to access/gain contact with as many cancer facilities to access more proper care for what I need to succeed over this cancer. I do not know how long this fight will take, but I know so long as my heart beats I will overcome this.
I hate to ask anything from anybody, but with needing to cancel all my shows this year, I know I will need help from the community that I love and that loves me in return. If you have something to spare, please consider donating to the gofundme in my bio. The money will go to the unforeseen medical expenses that will accrue for the fight. This is my only gofundme, & any else does not have my permission & should be reported.
And if you know anyone who has some sort of expertise in sarcoma oncology that could be sympathetic and grant me the grace of their expertise, my appreciation would be boundless.
Lastly I want to forward all the love I have received since this affliction has taken up my time.”
Though Myers is clearly embarking on this fight with as good an attitude as anyone could have, he seriously needs all the prayers he can get. And if you’re in a position to do so, donating to the GoFundMe or purchasing merch off of his website will help provide Myers with the financial backing necessary to fight the good fight in lieu of income from touring.
Many of Myers’ contemporaries within the music industry, like Drayton Farley, Vincent Neil Emerson, and Noeline Hofmann, to name a few, have commented their support on his Instagram page and shared Myers’ story and GoFundMe to help get the word out. And while he can still use all the help people are willing to give, the immediate response to the news has been incredible, with $73,530 donated to the cause as of Wednesday morning.
It’s a tragic situation no matter how you look at it, but hopefully with the support of the music community behind him, Myers can defy the odds and fend off this cancer.
In case you’re not familiar, Myers is a country and blues musician of Korean-American ascent who hails from Northern Kentucky. Enrolled in the school band by his parents at a young age, Myers dreaded playing music throughout most of his adolescence, but became enthralled by the classic poetry he was reading in his English classes, and soon realized that blues music was the perfect avenue to share his own poetry and stories.
Now 33 years old, it wasn’t until 2021 that Myers began releasing his own music, and in 2023 he released his debut record Yellow Peril. Produced by the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, who has also produced records for the likes of Marcus King, Hank Williams Jr., and Nikki Lane, among others, Yellow Peril is a spectacular introduction to Myers’ artistry.
Check out a few songs off the record here:
“Duck N’ Dodge”
“Yellow Peril”
“Pray For Rain”
