Sunday, March 30 – Chords for Callum – Doors: 12:00 PM, Show: 1:00PM
A group of local and national musicians will join forces in song as they raise money for a cause very dear to their hearts. Jon Stickley’s 4-year old son Callum was diagnosed with STXBP1 shortly before his second birthday — a rare developmental and neurological disorder affecting movement, coordination and communication and causes epilepsy and developmental delay.
The live show, the first at The Grey Eagle’s new Hatch Amphitheater at 45 S. French Broad Ave., will include performances from:
The concert will be held in conjunction with an online silent auction that will open at noon on Sunday, March 30 running through 11:45 p.m. on Tuesday, April 1.
The silent auction will feature impressive items contributed by many of Callum’s friends, including Billy Strings, Steep Canyon Rangers, Greensky Bluegrass, the Infamous Stringdusters, Larry Keel, Beast Coast Anglers, Hulaween, Winter Wondergrass, Rooster Walk, The Orange Peel, Wicked Weed and many more. Auction items will be announced closer to the concert date.
“We knew we had a solid foundation of love and support, but the generosity our musical and non-musical friends have shown through Callum’s silent auction has been overwhelming,” said Jon, and his wife Julianne Stickley. “Everyone’s kindness and willingness to give means the world to our family. Every donation, every bid and every shared moment of support brings us closer to making a real difference in Callum’s life, and what he can learn to do.”
Callum began physical, occupational and speech therapy at 11-months old, and has since continued weekly therapy in addition to multi-week intensive therapy sessions, a highly focused, short term program where a child receives multiple hours of therapy each day, typically over the course of a few weeks. He currently receives around nine hours of therapy a week in both private, and school, settings. But the intensives, which the Stickleys like to say are intense for the whole family, are where they have seen the most growth — as well as the most intense results.
Recently, Callum completed a three-week, world renowned intensive therapy program called NAPA (Neurological and Physical Abilitation)
Center in Denver, Co. It was there, at the end of week two, that Callum took his first independent steps ever.
“We knew NAPA was the best, and we knew Callum would thrive with getting that much therapy every day, but we were scared to hope for too much,” said the Stickleys. “We had only recently started to believe that Callum would actually walk, and even then, the path felt uncertain. But by the time we left NAPA, that uncertainty had been replaced with the strongest hope we’ve ever had.
“Watching him push through every challenge, surrounded by therapists who believed in him as much as we do, we left there more confident than ever that he will get there,” they said.
NAPA’s mission is to be a global leader in pediatric neurorehabilitation, and with nine abilitation clinics all over the world, they offer customized, innovative therapy for children with neurological and developmental disabilities. Callum received a total of four hours of physical, occupational and speech therapy per day for the three-week session in January. These therapies were combined in innovative ways that left Callum, and his parents, exhausted yet excited at the end of each day.
“We had never seen him work so hard — and that’s saying a lot, because he’s been working hard to do typical things since he was born,” said the Stickleys. “But it’s not just that he was working so hard, it’s that it was working!”
Callum made huge strides in using his AAC (augmented and alternative communication device), also called his “talker,” to communicate; took around 50 independent steps; and most importantly, started to really believe he could do these things.
“We watched a switch flip in him, we literally watched it all click,” said the Stickleys. “It’s like we saw his brain go ‘Oh, this!? I can totally do this!’”
Callum was accepted to NAPA Denver in January 2025, and NAPA Charlotte in October 2025, so the Stickleys are looking forward to watching him do it all again — thankfully this time, a little closer to home.
