Greg Harry

Location: Atlanta, GA

Challenge: Quadraplegic

Website: cdbaby.com/Artist/GregHarry

Greg Harry played guitar professionally for 15 years before suffering a fall in 1991 and becoming paralyzed below the shoulders. He didn't play music for five years after having his accident, until he began to realize that computers and music technology might actually help him make music again.

Greg adds "As you can imagine, it took some adjusting but in November 1996, I wrote the first lyrics since the accident and started singing at a monthly jam session at Shepherd Spinal Center in Atlanta.".

Producer and friend Chris Blackwell helped set up a studio in which Greg could control everything with a simple wooden mouth stick. He credits a grant from Georgia's Brain and Spinal Injury Trust Fund, a program funded by DUI fines, for making the studio setup possible.

Greg says "Two years later I got my first recording software and started learning composing on the computer". Greg was involved in a compilation project in 2000 that involved 9 people and 7 in wheelchairs so we called it "Rock-N-Chair".

Greg explains that using the stick is easier than talking to the computer using voice-recognition software. He adds "It doesn't conflict with any other software".

With the help of Microsoft Windows' Accessibility and Sticky Keys functions, he uses the numeric keypad (with the number 5 key for Enter) to move the mouse cursor anywhere on the screen. He can also modify cursor speed and acceleration for different tasks.

Greg finished his first solo cd in September, 2001 called "The Web" and his second cd in December, 2003 called "Troubled Times, Troubled Soul".

Since then, Greg has had a technical set back and several health setbacks but he is working on a way overdue cd finished soon.