Chords for Callum: Jon Stickley to lead powerhouse fundraising concert
Our own Jon Stickley was featured in the Smoky Mountain News for his popular fundraising concert.
His efforts were in support of his son, Callum, and they raised over $14K for STXBP1-related disorders research.
Details of the campaign and a YouTube video of Callum’s story are here.
Garrett Woodward wrote this article on Wednesday, March 25, 2026 which is also copied below.
Jon Stickley is a pillar of the Asheville and greater Western North Carolina music scenes. He’s also a nationally-renowned guitarist, one whose skillset and scope goes far beyond the ancient mountains of Southern Appalachia.
“I just love the guitar. One of my favorite things is that the guitar can kind of do it all,” Stickley said. “You can rip leads, but the guitar’s range is very close to the human voice, so there’s a vocal quality to it. I can crosspick it and sound like a banjo. I can also walk around the house singing Beatles songs to my kids, then hang it back up on the wall.”
A professional touring musician, Stickley is also a family man. Alongside his wife, Julianne, and two young children, the six-string virtuoso, Jon, like any kind and loving soul, views his household and those who inhabit it as anchor points, which is why his upcoming Asheville gig means so much.
Titled “Chords for Callum,” the second annual gathering, taking place at Highland Brewing on March 29, will serve as an awareness event and fundraiser for the STXBP1 Foundation. To note, Stickley’s five-year-old son, Callum, has STXBP1, a rare genetic condition that “causes physical and cognitive disabilities, autism and risk for seizures.”
“[The event will] raise funds for intensive therapy programs that Callum needed to thrive,” Stickley said. “Those [programs] resulted in him learning to walk last year, just after his fifth birthday, and beginning to use his AAC device to communicate intentionally.”
All proceeds from the performance and silent auction will go directly to the foundation, “which is funding critical research, advancing nearly 20 potential therapies currently in development, supporting clinical initiatives and providing resources and connection for families navigating this ultra-rare diagnosis.”
