Phil Leadbetter making left turns

We’ve written a good bit about award-winning resonator guitarist Phil Leadbetter this past two years, from the time he was diagnosed with a pernicious cancer in April of 2011, through to his recent announcement that he had likely been cured following a stem cell treatment this September.

Like most folks who win their battle with cancer, Phil is now a strong advocate for medical research, and has participated in a number of fundraisers to that effect.

Last month he assembled a team for a cancer walk in Knoxville called Light The Night, made up of family and friends, including Phil’s good buddy, the actor David Keith, who is a big bluegrass fan. During the walk, Phil also caught up with the University of Tennessee’s men’s basketball coach, Cuonzo Martin, who is a survivor of the same kind of cancer as Phil’s.

Leadbetter’s team completed their stroll, and collected from their supporters, raising much-needed cash for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Tennessee.

The following weekend, the team was commemorated during the Legends Nationals race at The Atlanta Motor Speedway.

“An old school buddy of mine’s son is a racecar driver. His name is Reid Wilson, and he has been winning like crazy. He is shooting to be a driver in NASCAR. They put a commemorative decal of me on the race car when they ran at Atlanta. Really pretty cool I think!

The decal says ‘Team Philibuster Light The Night Lymphoma/Leukemia Walk’ and has the date of the walk October 25th.”

Pretty cool, indeed.

Share this:

About the Author

John Lawless

John had served as primary author and editor for The Bluegrass Blog from its launch in 2006 until being folded into Bluegrass Today in September of 2011. He continues in that capacity here, managing a strong team of columnists and correspondents.