Musicians invited to add voices to project
Bernie Dalton was an avid Santa Cruz surfer and aspiring songwriter when he lost his ability to sing and was diagnosed with bulbar-onset ALS, an aggressive disease that affects swallowing, speech and respiration. But he found someone to bring his music to life in his vocal instructor, Essence Goldman.
Since The Chronicle wrote about their story in May, Dalton’s condition has deteriorated. Having developed trouble digesting food and breathing, the 49-year-old was moved from his care facility in Cupertino to Stanford University Medical Center, where last week he received a tracheostomy and new feeding tube.
“He is still being strong, but I see a different look in his eyes now,” Goldman, a San Francisco singer-songwriter, said. “He’s living for his music to reach people. And, of course, for Nicole.”
Nicole is Dalton’s teenage daughter and muse.
When he received his terminal prognosis, Dalton’s biggest wish was to leave a set of songs for her and her future children — the grandchildren he would most likely not live long enough to meet.
“Simon’s Hero” was the first song that Dalton asked Goldman to sing on his behalf. Her version can be heard on the album “Connection,” which she recorded with the band Bernie and the Believers.
The makeshift group will take Dalton’s music on the road this summer, performing two local dates at the Reel Fish Shop and Grill in Sonoma on
June 15 and Harmonia in Sausalito on June 23.
With permission granted to use Dalton’s original lyrics for this crowdsourced project, The Chronicle asks readers to set these words to their own music and send us a link of the recordings and videos for their versions of “Simon’s Hero” for potential use on our site.
Email entries to: avaziri@sfchronicle.com