today's Toronto Sun:
http://www.torontosun.com/News/Colum...7/4241034.html
Michele Mandel
Thu, June 7, 2007
The stuff of miracles
By MICHELE MANDEL
No, darling I can't take your thirst away
But I can show you to the sea
While you're walking on your path unknown
Say, will you think of me?
NEWMARKET -- The acoustic tune was exactly what Wal-Mart wanted to run behind their radio and TV ads for this Sunday's Walk for Miracles.
They knew Wish You Well was by up-and-coming singer/songwriter Justin Hines, a 25-year-old from Newmarket who had recently landed a record deal with the Orange Record Label.
What they didn't know was what a tremendous fit the singer and the event would be.
Because Hines is a miracle himself.
Hines, you see, was a long-time patient at the Hospital for Sick Children and credits them with saving his life. The talented singer has Larsen's Syndrome, an exceedingly rare disease that results in a dislocation of your joints and severe scoliosis that has left him unable to walk.
"Eventually all the joints fuse and lock in place," he explains so non-chalantly from his wheelchair. "As of 1996, there were only 1,000 cases in the world so yeah, it's pretty rare."
His early years are a blur of his devoted mother sitting by his hospital bedside as he was in and out of Sick Kids for numerous operations, including a key surgery at the age of one which fused his neck.
"That probably kept me alive," he says. "Sick Kids contributed to my being here so I have a huge soft spot for them." And so it is especially appropriate that his song is being used to help promote Wal-Mart's national fundraising walk, which in Toronto will start at Coronation Park and benefit the Hospital for Sick Children.
He's also been asked to perform before the expected 4,000 runners and walkers take to the Martin Goodman Trail. As he sings cuts from his new CD, Sides, slated for an August release, he knows there will be those who will be focused on his wheelchair. Whenever he performs a gig, there is always that initial intake of breath when the audience first sees him.
But he's used to that -- barriers may continue to slowly crumble, but disabled performers are still a rare sight. He's just determined to make it work for him.
"I've always believed that being so-called physically disadvantaged can be a tremendous tool to inspire people. I look at it as an advantage rather than as a disadvantage," he says.
"It gives me an instant identity, but then again, I don't want to be known as the musician in a wheelchair."
All the audience has to do is listen to his soulful, '70s style and his physical limitations quickly disappear. "I'd like to think that after a song or two, they adjust and it's not so scary anymore. By the end, they're really into it."
From the time he was five, Hines has been singing and preparing for a musical career. With his room filled with a giant collection of 45s, there was never any doubt that this would be his future, even when some people in the industry were less than supportive. How would he tour? How would he perform?
But every roadblock thrown his way, Hines just whittled away with his quiet, steadfast determination to pursue what he knew he would be.
He's been on tour in the United Kingdom and Dubai, and performed with his hero Gordon Lightfoot at the Family Farm Tribute in Toronto. Even more incredible, he's been signed by a label.
"I know it sounds like a cliche, but it's a dream come true," Hines says. "Now that it's unfolding, I feel ridiculously grateful because such a small percentage of artists get this push."
He began his musical career as a teenager performing for children on YTV and the Treehouse channel. They were the best initial audience, he says, because they never seemed to see his wheelchair or care that he wasn't standing as he sang. To this day, he still gets e-mails about the old Tomato Hat music video he did almost 10 years ago.
Now, he also gets e-mails from people who see his budding musical career as an inspiration. "People tell me their stories. I probably represent something very unique. There are not a lot of (disabled) people in the industry and I provide hope for them."
But he is far more than just a poster boy for those with physical challenges.
"We all have our issues and are hurting in different ways," he says with the wisdom of a poetic lyricist. "I'd like to be a positive force for all kinds of people."
Justin's website and song samples:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm...endid=49567270
