Cancer survivor to begin Alaska tour in Juneau
Los Angeles singer songwriter brings hope with upbeat music
To Los Angeles singer songwriter Charlie Lustman, the call to make music about his experience of surviving cancer seemed almost ordained. Not to mention, he now sings better than ever after cancer forced him to get a new upper jaw.
"It makes sense when diagnosed with cancer and going through the entire surreal experience, I would turn around and write something about the whole thing," Lustman said. "Little did I know that it would be my life's mission."
Husband and father to three, Lustman was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer, in March 2006 after a routine dentist visit revealed an unusual lump in his upper jaw.
"As far as the cancer that I had, it was a one-in-400-million-in-America diagnosed cancer," Lustman said. "It's so rare that there's just not a lot of people to go to for this thing, but luckily one of the best specialists was in Los Angeles."
Two surgeries later, doctors had sawed off three-quarters of Lustman's upper jaw.
"Ouch, that hurt!" he said. "I couldn't really speak much anymore, and they said I may never sing again. Then they nuked me for a year with chemotherapy. But they gave me a replacement prosthetic upper jaw, and now I sing better than I ever have before."
Around the one-year anniversary of his diagnosis, Lustman wrote his first song about his cancer experience, "The Call," while attending a cancer seminar in Montecito, Calif. He said it came to him after he had snuck out of his room one night to explore a monastery on the grounds.
"I walked in there at midnight, and there were candles lit all over this church," he said. "Nobody was there. It was really like someone called me to this room."
In the room was a large wood sculpture of Jesus on the cross.
"I'm not the most religious guy, but it was kind of trippy," Lustman said. "I looked up at him and I thought, 'You brought me in here to tell me something. I know that's got to be why I'm here. What is it?'"
That's when Lustman saw it. Under Jesus' feet was an object covered with a big brown cloth.
"I took the cloth off, and it was a little upright piano under his feet," Lustman said. "I play the piano! So I sat down at the piano, and I started playing the first lyrics to this collection of songs. That's how it all started."
Now, after being in what he calls "cancer college" for one year and "graduating after one year with honors," Lustman uses his upbeat music, a blend of pop, folk, blues, classical and country sounds, to bring hope to those going through life's struggles.
"My whole mission now is to make people feel better, to give a more humanistic approach to this," Lustman said. "Cancer can actually be an opportunity if you look at it that way."
In fact, one of Lustman's most important lyrics can be found at the end of his album, "Made Me Nuclear," which was released in July 2008. Called "A Simple Song," the song thanks all those who helped Lustman through his cancer experience.
"'All that we have in the end is eachother my friend,'" he quoted. "That's the most important lyric, because the album is a love story. Really, at the end of the day or the end of our life, all that really does matter is who we love. I'm hoping people really take that to heart and hold eachother tightly for the ride around the sun."
Lustman will perform at a private Holiday Party of Hope for community cancer survivors at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Silverbow, and a public performance at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 8, at the Red Dog Saloon. He also performs Dec. 9 in Petersburg and Dec. 11 in Ketchikan.
• Contact Neighbors editor Kim Andree at kim.andree@juneauempire.com.