Dr.  Thom  McGorey  uses  a  stethoscope  and  a  guitar    

By  Jenny  Stepanski  Family  &  Friends  staff Once a month, Watertown physician, Dr. Thom McGorey, sets aside his medical expertise to impact the local community in a much different way. Donning his guitar, a smile and carting a load of sound equipment, McGorey heads to Rock River Pizza every fourth Sunday to hold a benefit concert for area charities.

The idea to hold benefit concerts began after McGorey's 50th birthday party. "For my birthday, my wife hired Don Harrison's Band to play. But the condition was I had to play with the band," McGorey said. He enjoyed playing with the band so much that a few weeks later when the nurse's association asked if he would like to perform at a banquet, he jumped at the chance. "They called on a Monday and I said, 'Yeah, I guess I could do it.' The banquet was Thursday. So I went right to the White House of Music to buy a sound system and prepare," said McGorey. Then after that first show, he was at Rock River Pizza talking with owner Randy Trella and brainstorming about how he could use his musical talent to impact the community in a fun way. That's when they came up with the idea to hold monthly benefit concerts at the pizza place. Trella offered to allow McGorey to play his guitar on the terrace when the weather was nice and inside during cooler months. Trella also offered to give a percentage of sales during those nights to the causes McGorey selects. "I thought, if I did this as a fundraiser and they enjoy it, fine. If not, at least it raised money. If we don't charge them for the concert they can't ask for their money back. If they hear it and want to take their donation back out of the jar, oh well. But they don't do that," McGorey said. The first concert they did raised money for the Watertown Cares Clinic and Tour Da Goose. "We usually try to come up with a theme either relevant to the organization or to the season," McGorey said. He did a concert in January for the Watertown Senior and Community Center with an Elvis theme. That was to mark what would have been Elvis' 80th birthday. Then he did a concert in February to celebrate the anniversary of the Beatles. He has also done a series celebrating rock 'n' roll during summer 2014. The series included a concert for each, the 1950s, '60s, '70s and '80s. A concert for Rainbow Hospice had songs with a color theme. Although each concert has a different theme, he recycles music when he can, such as if there are songs he has done before that fit with the show's theme. Otherwise McGorey said picking new themes and learning the songs to go with them is how he keeps his shows fresh. With an air of nostalgia, he has chosen only to include classic rock in his concerts, which revisits his youth and brings back happy memories. "I don't know any music that comes after 1990, I don't think," he quipped. The concerts are advertised through social media, online and by handing out or hanging up fliers. When the show is held in coordination with an event, McGorey also tries to get fliers to the event volunteers and participants. "When I have had more lead time (to advertise the show) I get out fliers to churches and organizations around town. One of the stipulations I have for a charity when I agree to raise money is that they help market the concert. I could do a better job marketing the event. I'm not a marketer," McGorey explained. Approximately 40-50 people come out for each concert, raising a total of between $250-$800, including a contribution by Rock River Pizza, of a percentage of sales from the night. Since the concerts are held while people are eating dinner, many of the concertgoers come for just a portion of the show. McGorey said many of the people who come are friends and co-workers from the hospital, as well as a handful of neighbors and community members who are familiar with either the concerts or the charity of the week. Often people will show up for dinner on a fourth Sunday not knowing about the concert and will comment on what a nice treat it was to hear a show. Trella promotes the concert during the week by talking to those who come to his restaurant. "You never

know what will trip someone (to come or donate). Whether it's cancer or hospice or what have you. People have things they have been impacted by and you don't know what that will be," Trella said. He believes it is important to talk to people about each concert because "that person just might have a special place in their heart or a way that cause has impacted them and will want to give back because of it." One of the most successful concerts was a Halloween concert in 2013. "I was going to just do a thank-you concert without raising money, but then we had the idea to do a food drive for the food pantry," McGorey explained. The food drive was held in October because that is when the pantry is gearing up for the donations they need to get through the holidays. As a result of the concert, six large boxes of food were collected and donated. "We had food all lined up the front of the restaurant," Trella said. "That was one of the most successful drives." Each concert requires approximately 20 hours of preparation — from selecting the theme to searching for songs and then learning to play them. Once McGorey assembles a list of songs he wants, he looks up the music and learns to play the songs from YouTube. "It's great with the Internet. I just type in 'songs about walking' or whatever the theme is and then it comes up with lists people have already made. Then I can go through and be like 'this one — this one — this one' and I'm done. Someone else did a lot of the work for me," McGorey said. Although the Internet has made many things easier for McGorey, even that does not come without its challenges. "Probably the hardest thing is going through the music or listening to YouTube and deciding if the song is right or what I can change to make it sound better. And quite often the clip won't be complete, so I have to come up with the intros and song ending on my own," he explained. Most of the songs McGorey selects are easy for him to learn because they are familiar tunes. However, occasionally he chooses a song that is not already in his access memory and those take him some time to learn. McGorey loves doing the concerts, not just because he gets to have a unique impact on the community while enjoying playing, but also because they are helping him to become a better musician. His goal is to become so familiar with a repertoire of songs that he no longer needs to bring his sheet music up with him. He said there are some songs even now that he would be able to play from memory, but his worst fear is that his mind would go blank when he got up to play. The largest undertaking McGorey has done by way of benefit concerts was a 25-day Christmas tour beginning December 2013 and carrying over into January 2014. He was compelled to hold an extended tour after hearing about an earthquake that impacted Washington, Ill., in November 2013. "I had taught chemistry at a high school there from 1986-90. It was my first job out of school. You hear about (natural disasters) all the time but this one hit close to home. So I wanted to do something." McGorey set out to find a way to raise money for the Washington Tornado Relief Fund. "You only have a 30-day window to play Christmas music, so I came up with the idea to have a 25-day Christmas tour," he said. McGorey explained tour preparation was a huge undertaking. Besides rearranging his work schedule, he had to cold call towns in which he was interested in holding a concert to find restaurants or bars willing to provide the venue. He would select places in southern Wisconsin or northern Illinois where he knew someone or had a connection and explain what he was doing. Logging over 2,000 miles on his car, McGorey was able to hold 25 different concerts and raise over $10,000. He said it was "just amazing how everything came together" with finding venues and being able to arrange his work schedule. "I would work short shifts and then head out to shows at night. Everything else has been pretty tame in comparison. I felt like a rock star," he said. McGorey is a hospitalist and the director of hospital medicine at UW Health Partners Watertown Regional Medical Center. McGorey explained, "All primary care physicians in the area work as either out of an office or as a hospitalist at the medical center." Hospitalists oversee patients during their stay, helping them transition in and out of the hospital. They also update patient history records and keep the patient's primary care physician up-to-date. McGorey has worked at the medical center in Watertown since 2009 and has been the director of hospital medicine for the past two years. He also is a medical director for Rainbow Hospice and opened the UW Health Partners Johnson Creek Clinic in 1998. McGorey and his wife, Janice, have been Watertown residents since 1998. They have three children, Kelly, 26, who lives in Madison; Meghan will start her junior year at St. Norbert College in fall; and John, a 2015 graduate of Watertown High School, will begin his first year at St. Norbert in fall.

McGorey isn't the only one in his family with musical talent. Janice plays the flute. Kelly played saxophone until high school and then concentrated on singing in choir. Meghan plays clarinet and sings in choir, and John plays trumpet and sings in choir. McGorey's concerts have not only been met with great support from the community, but also from his family. He said his wife is a tremendous help to him by putting his music in order and organized into binders for each show. His son also helps out by going as his "roadie," lugging equipment back and forth and setting up and tearing down the gear. Since the concerts began, they have been able to raise funds for Watertown Area Cares Clinic, Tomorrow's Hope. Rainbow Hospice, Weekend Food To Go and Grow, Watertown Food Pantry, Jefferson County Christmas Neighbors; Washington, Ill., Tornado Relief Fund; Watertown Humane Society, Educational Foundation of Watertown, Watertown Family Center, Wisconsin Honor Flight, Chamberland Renovation Project, Bread and Roses, Watertown Senior and Community Center, the Volunteers of Watertown Regional Medical Center and Watertown Share the Road. With no prior musical background, McGorey began playing guitar while he was a student at Illinois State University. He began attending the John Paul II Catholic Newman Center and joined its contemporary choir. From there his interest in music sparked and he asked his sister about borrowing a guitar she had purchased for her husband but wasn't being used. McGorey said when he first received the guitar he knew two chords. "If I knew a chord (during a choir song) I would play it, if not, I would sit out until I did," he said. As McGorey became more involved in choir, he picked up new chords from those around him and eventually taught himself to play. He used his musical ability to play for church and at family functions, occasionally playing for a women's luncheon or similar functions. Prior to starting the benefit concerts he never played for a large audience or at something where the concert was the main event. McGorey likes to keep an upbeat and positive attitude toward playing, even when faced with challenges. He said one time he attempted a rendition of "Jailhouse Rock" that was in a completely wrong key, which he didn't realize until he was halfway through. "I kept going though," he said, "Maybe I should have stopped. It was a total train wreck -- the key was too high, the chords were awkward -- but I chugged through. I don't have a lot of time to practice so if it doesn't go well, oh well. It's still for a good cause." His motto for preparation is "Heard it once, learned it once, played it once." He said, "Those who are familiar with the songs could probably tell which ones I really know and which ones I am performing for the first time. But it's not my profession — not even something I pursued as a job — I'm decent enough to not drive people away, but I don't know I would sell out an auditorium."

  At right, Dr. Thom McGorey is shown singing during a benefit concert on Sunday, April 26 at Rock River Pizza. The concert raised funds for Share the Road, which aims to bring awareness to the importance of sharing roads with those who are walking, running, biking and driving. McGorey holds benefit concerts on the fourth Sunday of the month, each with a different charity.

At left, Dr. Thom McGorey, right, is shown talking to a colleague during a benefit concert for Share the Road on April 26 at Rock River Pizza. JENNY STEPANSKI/Family & Friends