| By Lauren Mitchell
Choir gives Hank back his heartbeat
HANK Kerr credits the Choir of Hard Knocks for saving his life.
The former Bendigo resident was living on the streets of St Kilda, a drug-addicted alcoholic, when he went along to his first choir practice almost two years ago.
It seems a lifetime away for this spirited man.
“Singing with the choir is better than any drug or alcohol, it’s a natural high,” Hank said.
For Hank, tonight’s free concert in Bendigo will certainly be one to remember.
It will be the first time Hank’s family has seen him sing and will hopefully provide some closure to the grief he has lived with since his parents passed away.
“It will be the first time I’ve been back to Bendigo in two years. I haven’t been back since Mum’s funeral,” he said.
“Mum played a big, important role in my life, steering me in the right direction. Everything I do in life is a success because of her, especially the choir.”
Forty-year-old Hank moved to Bendigo with his family in 1980, attending high school and working here until leaving in 1991.
He was one of the founding members of the Choir of Hard Knocks, which has been made famous thanks to an ABC series that followed its formation.
However, it took some serious soul searching and a lot of hard work for Hank to stick with it.
The choir was formed to give Melbourne’s homeless, substance addicted and disadvantaged people a voice, and as with many others, Hank joined during a dark period in his life.
His best mate Allan has been asked to come along and bought Hank with him.
“I was living in St Kilda and still dealing with my Mum’s passing,” Hank said.
“It was a grieving process I was going through as 12 months before that my Dad had also died.
“I went downhill after that and became an alcoholic and in the end started using drugs.
“I was homeless and I was going downhill.
“Allan asked me to give it a go as well, and from the first day I liked it, so I’ve been there since day one.
“I managed to pick myself up again, I heard mum inside me telling me to pick myself up and that what I was doing was a bad thing.”
Hank said for the first six months he sang with the choir, he continued to use drugs and alcohol.
When the choir travelled to Sydney for its big break at the Opera House, Hank was caught drinking and was sent home – he never made it to the stage.
“It was a big slap in the face,” he said.
“The choir said, ‘Hank, we’d like to keep you in the choir, either do rehab or it’s goodbye’.
“I went into rehab for four and a half months.
“Currently I’ve been eight months sober and clean. It’s the longest I’ve been sober in 20 years of drinking.”
Hank said the choir has given him a purpose in life and an understanding of what his mum saw in him.
“I give thanks for the opportunities I’ve had, I never dreamed I’d be here,” he said.
“I’m more confident now, I can speak to people, my self esteem has shot through the roof and it’s amazing.”
As an Aboriginal man, Hank has now reconnected with his spirit and believes he can be an example for others.
“The Aboriginal people I knew, they’re seeing me. I don’t visit them in the street any more but I’m giving them some hope. If I can do it, they can do it,” he said.
“There’s so many good things I want to do. I want to educate young indigenous kids and educate people that it can be done - to give away drugs and alcohol.
“And I want to get back into my painting.”
Hank designed a Choir of Hard Knocks T-shirt, of which 100,000 were produced, and has since been asked to design the choir’s next CD cover.
But for now it’s all about the singing.
There will no doubt be a crowd in Rosalind Park tonight gather to hear the choir life their voices, and among that crowd will be Hank’s family.
“I know mum will be there in spirit,” he said.
“It’s mum’s birthday the next day, on the 5th.
“I’ll be staying over the weekend to visit her grave and probably sing her a song.”
The choir is singing in Bendigo to launch RecLink; an organisation that creates social and recreational activities for disadvantaged people, of which the choir is a project of.
The launch begins at 5pm.
|
