From Gary Sinise
February 2024: In Memoriam Of My Son
On February 27, 2017, our son Mac joined the team at Gary Sinise Foundation as our Assistant Manager of Education & Outreach. I was thrilled and excited to have him come on board to help me with the mission. His job duties included handling and digitizing our Gary Sinise Foundation archive and managing our Education & Outreach Center, which included hosting events, giving tours, stewarding donors, and outreach with the military service members, veterans, first responders and families who were recipients of our support. With his engaging and upbeat personality, he inspired folks through our Gary Sinise: A Call-to-Action exhibit in the Education & Outreach Center, and he assisted in everyday activities, and local and national events also. As a father, having him as part of the Foundation was a gift. He was a great representative who cared about the mission and those we serve, and I was eager to watch him grow with the organization.
I was always happy to have him join me on the road, and I could see how much joy and pride he shared in our mission. Especially when he could be hands-on with those we serve, like at our Soaring Valor events honoring our nation's WWII heroes, and our Invincible Spirit Festivals, where we bring the Lt. Dan Band to uplift our wounded at military hospitals across the country.
Mac had been playing drums since he was nine years old and was an exceptional drummer. He would substitute for my drummer, Danny Gottlieb, when Danny was unavailable to play our Lt. Dan Band shows. Those were some great times, father and son rockin' out together for the troops.
The summer of 2018 was a particularly challenging time for our family. In June of that year, my wife Moira was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer, and after surgery to remove lymph nodes, she began chemotherapy and radiation. Then, on August 8th, we found out that Mac was diagnosed with a very rare cancer called Chordoma. What was happening? What is Chordoma? I had never heard of this. And two cancer patients, mother and son, within two months of each other? A real punch in the gut. I went online to see what I could find. Chordoma is a one in a million cancer. Originating in the spine, Chordoma affects, on average, only 300 people in the U.S. per year. In 70% of the cases the initial tumor can be removed, and it is cured. But in 30% of the cases, perhaps about 90 people per year, the cancer returns.
Thankfully, after months of treatment, Moira went into remission and has been cancer-free ever since. With Mac, after surgery to remove the initial tumor in September of 2018, and another spine procedure in February 2019 to clear what looked like an infection, unfortunately a follow up scan in May of 2019 would show that his Chordoma had come back and was spreading. This began a long battle that disabled him more and more as time went on. The cancer fight was getting harder, but throughout most of 2019 he was still able to come to the GSF office, until a third spine surgery in November of that year.
While in recovery at home, he was still eager to contribute to the Foundation and he was excited to launch our Gary Sinise Foundation podcast. He was just getting started, completing two interviews, the first with our Gary Sinise Foundation video producer Kip Perry, and the second with yours truly. In January of 2020, the day before he went in for his 4th spine surgery, Mac and I sat down together for his GSF podcast interview with me. This would finish his work with Gary Sinise Foundation. That year, he knew he had to step away to fight his battle. He would have to focus full-time on recovery and rehab, as there would be a fifth spine surgery in June, along with radiation and continuing chemotherapy.
With Chordoma being such a rare form of cancer, there are very few medical centers doing research. During our long and challenging fight, we were blessed to have the support of the Chordoma Foundation. They are the only organization whose sole mission, 24/7, is to find a cure for this rare orphan cancer and beat Chordoma. In 2021, we created this “Team Mac” page so that friends and family asking how they could help support Mac could do so through encouraging messages, and by helping to raise funds for much-needed research to find treatments for Chordoma.
Mac was a graduate of the USC Thorton School of Music. While in school, he continued his drumming and studied songwriting and composition. Now, due to his disability, as he could no longer play drums or piano, he had assumed that music was a thing of the past. But in early 2023, he started thinking about working on a piece of music called “Arctic Circles” that he had written in college but never finished. He asked me if I thought our pal Dan Myers, violinist and singer for my Lt. Dan Band, would help him work on it. I suggested he contact Dan. He did, and they started texting ideas back and forth, Mac working on the piece from his hospital bed at home or in his wheelchair. The cancer had paralyzed him from the chest down, but he still had limited use of his right arm, and fingers on his left hand. Being right-handed, he would strap a stylus to his right hand, and he could punch letters and notes into his phone or iPad. He also had a small keyboard he laid on his hospital bed table that he used to work on his music. In April of 2023, Dan recommended reaching out to our longtime friend and fellow bandmate, pianist Ben Lewis. Mac sent a chart of “Arctic Circles” to Ben, and they went back and forth shaping Mac's vision for the piece, with Ben recording piano versions of the composition and sending them to Mac for notes. Mac's name for “Arctic Circles” was inspired by the wintery nature shows he loved watching while lying in his hospital bed.
He had recently reconnected with an old friend from college, composer and arranger Oliver Schnee.
In June, Mac sent Oliver a scratch piano track of “Arctic Circles” that Ben had recorded. Oliver loved it. Mac asked if he would help him finish it and they went to work. With notes going back and forth and a lot of fine tuning, Oliver finished a stunningly beautiful arrangement.
Mac picked a date to record when he knew his sister Sophie was going to be in town. The session was scheduled for July 17, 2023, at the very famous Sunset Sound in Los Angeles. He financed the session with his own money, and Oliver and his father, legendary recording engineer and producer Bill Schnee, hired the contractor who pulled together some of the top studio musicians in Los Angeles. Bill lent his services on the mixing board. (Thank you, Bill).
With music so deep in his heart, unable to play drums now, Mac's mother Moira suggested he get a harmonica, which he did, and he started teaching himself how to play. I have a dear friend, Medal of Honor recipient Sammy L. Davis, who plays harmonica and tells a story of learning to play “Shenandoah” while in the jungles of Vietnam. I gave Mac a video of Sammy playing it, suggesting that Mac learn it. He did, and it was beautiful. Listening to him playing it, I suggested that he ask Oliver to do a string arrangement to back him up. As long as they would have the strings at the session for “Arctic Circles,” why not do “Shenandoah” also?
Both these pieces of music began a collaboration that expanded to a vision Mac had of doing an entire album of music entitled Resurrection & Revival, with a theme of bringing something that was old or unfinished back to life. Mac had three more originals and with more notes going back and forth between Oliver and Mac as they crafted the arrangements, they were now ready to go back into the studio. Two more sessions were scheduled for November 5th and 10th of 2023, this time in Nashville, to record the original pieces that Mac had written, and a group of songs that were special to him, featuring him on harmonica with members of the Lt. Dan Band. During our November 10th session at the legendary Blackbird Studio, Mac celebrated his 33rd birthday. He especially wanted to share it with my band. It was a very special day for him, and he asked me to play bass on one of the tunes, a cover of the old American folk song “Red River Valley,” with him playing harmonica. It is a song his mother used to sing to him and his sisters when they were little. That day was indeed a special day for the two of us.
The week the album went to press, Mac lost his battle with cancer. He died on January 5, 2024 at 3:25pm, and was laid to rest on January 23rd.
Like any family experiencing such a loss, we are heartbroken and have been managing as best we can. As parents, it is so difficult losing a child. My heart goes out to all who have suffered a similar loss, and to anyone who has lost a loved one. We've all experienced it in some way. Over the years I have met so many families of our fallen heroes. It's heartbreaking, and it's just damn hard. Our family's cancer fight lasted for 5 ½ years, and it became more and more challenging as time went on. While our hearts ache at missing him, we are comforted in knowing that Mac is no longer struggling, and inspired and moved by how he managed it. He fought an uphill battle against a cancer that has no cure, but he never quit trying. Mac loved movies, and we always told him he reminded us of the soldier at the end of the extraordinary film 1917, running through the battlefield, bombs going off all around him, knocking him down one after the other, yet he keeps getting back up, refusing to quit and keeps running forward.
I am so blessed, fortunate, and proud to be his dad.
I had not spoken publicly about Mac's challenging fight until this recent interview with Raymond Arroyo, done live on December 29, 2023. But in the interview, while I mention his health challenges, leaving out the details, you will see the focus is on Mac and his inspirational music, all put together during those final months of his life, as he was always focusing on what he could do, and never on what he couldn't. Mac was living out a dream, bringing it to reality with his collaborating partner, Oliver. It was incredibly motivating and therapeutic for him, and he was so excited to see it all come together. I did this interview live in a satellite truck they had sent to the house. While I was sitting in the truck doing the interview in the driveway, Mac and Moira were inside the house watching. When I was finished, I walked into the house and Mac was just beaming. Smiling ear to ear, so happy to see his music being featured on national television.
His music videos can be seen in their entirety on Mac Sinise YouTube. Included with the video of “Arctic Circles” is a special text message from Mac that I found on his phone after his death. He intended to post it as he was so happy to share this piece of music with you all.
The album, Mac Sinise: Resurrection and Revival, is now available. To order the album, click here.
On December 30, the day after I did the interview with Raymond, we had to take Mac to the emergency room for what would be his final trip to the hospital. He was having trouble getting his breath and after stabilizing him, he was admitted. I stayed with him as I had done many times before. During the first few days, I thought this would be another trip where we get things under control and head home. He was showing the interview to hospital staff on his phone and was so happy when they would go to his YouTube Channel to see the music videos. He was smiling and filled with joy when he would hear them sharing how moved they were by the music. But the days got tougher, and on January 5th, with the family all around him, he let go. His battle with Chordoma was over and he was at peace.
Our story is not unique. No one escapes cancer. It affects us all, as every one of us in this life knows someone, personally or otherwise, who has faced this awful disease. And that summer of 2018, being hit with two different cancers at the same time, was not easy. But over the years, through my mission to support our troops and families, I have met the most extraordinary people who have persevered and overcome the most difficult heartbreaking circumstances, and I have learned from them and been inspired by them. Knowing them gave me strength. Perhaps it was God's way of preparing me to meet our own difficult fight, having met and watched so many courageous families confronting what life had thrown at them.
In sharing our story, we hope to shine a little bit of light on what has been a difficult time for us as Mac was truly a light for all of us. An incredible inspiration to those who knew and loved him, he faced his battle with grace, courage, and love. Even with one setback after another, he never stopped living and learning, creating, and giving, and loving. He loved all our family. His wonderful sisters, Sophie and Ella and their children, and while I worked hard to manage the day-to-day medical care, his beautiful mother Moira was his constant companion. He loved her so. His grandmother, his aunts and uncles, his cousins, his brothers in law, his caregivers Lulu and Mimi. There are so many friends he loved and who loved him.
And Mac loved working at the Foundation, and he loved and appreciated his colleagues there, as they have continued the mission each day, helping to carry the load so I could focus on these family challenges.
Our family is grateful for all those who have helped us, loved us, and supported us in this fight.
Mac was a man who loved his Catholic faith, and there is no doubt that his strong faith sustained him through the awful 5 ½ year battle with this crippling Chordoma cancer.
Mac's favorite quote from St. Augustine.
He gave his family and friends so much during his 33 years, and he accomplished great things in those final months. With a glorious teaming of two old pals from college, his vision for this beautiful music was realized.
Mac's inspiring parting gift to us.
Thank you, Mac. You did it. Resurrection & Revival will live on. And so will you. In our hearts forever.
We were blessed to have you in our lives as son, brother, and friend...and we will miss you and love you for eternity.
-Gary Sinise
Proud father of Mac Sinise
From Gary Sinise
December 2024: Upexpected Gifts From Mac
First, let me say thank you to all of you who have sent kind and supportive messages to our family, and to so many of you who have supported Gary Sinise Foundation with the purchase of the vinyl recording of Mac Sinise Resurrection & Revival. It was Mac’s wish that, with any sales of his album, all proceeds from the vinyl would go to the Foundation to help support the mission he loved so much. The album continues to sell, and the digital release is doing well also.
Shortly after Mac’s death on January 5th, 2024, I began combing through his files, his Dropbox, his iPad and iPhone. I found letters he’d written to family, thoughts he wanted to get down on paper hoping they would be discovered later. Videos he’d made and kept for us to see should anything happen. Beautiful things that he meant for us to have.
I also discovered music that he’d written and tucked away. Some of the compositions I had heard before, like the music he’d written during his time at Gary Sinise Foundation for the documentary Always Do A Little More. But then I also found additional music he’d written for the Foundation videos that was never used. Beautiful music hidden away in his files that I had not heard. There were songs he’d written and recorded in college and after college.
And then there were charts, sheet music he’d written within the past few years for tunes that were in his head but never were recorded. With some of those I even found voice memos on his phone. Mac singing into his phone the melodies that he was composing in his head while lying in his hospital bed. And more.
So, with the discovery of so much more music I had a thought. I reached out to his producing partner on Resurrection & Revival, his pal Oliver Schnee, with an idea for another “Mac Music Project.” I played a lot of the music for Oliver. He loved it and was immediately on board to work on a second album, Resurrection & Revival: Part Two.
And here we are
There is such tremendous variety in the music on this record. Mac had a love for many different genres and while he was an exceptional drummer, his time at USC’s Thornton School of Music allowed him to explore many other musical interests: Songwriting and composition, film scoring, conducting, singing and more. He was taking piano lessons and guitar lessons for his writing. There are songs on this record dating back to his college days, recordings of his originals like “Angel’s Theme” and “Vampire Attack” where his songwriting and drumming skills come into play.
In 2013, while in the Pop Music Program at USC, “Gunslingers of Zanthia” is a song he wrote with his pal Shane Fogerty, son of John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival. On this homage to the Ennio Morricone scores from the old westerns of Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone, Mac does vocals on the song, with Shane on guitar.
And another Mac vocal on this record is a cover he recorded in 2015 after college, of the old Nat King Cole classic, “Nature Boy,” written by Eden Ahbez. Mac plays all the instruments as well.
His time at USC was very special to him. He made great musician pals in those days, and along with Oliver working on this record, I invited some of those pals to come play on the final song Mac wrote called“Quasi Love.” In the spring of 2023, he came up with the melody, wrote some lyrics and a preliminary chart, and then teamed up with Dan Myers of my Lt. Dan Band to get it started. After Mac died, I discovered it in his files and asked Dan to finish it up so we could include it in this wonderful compilation of songs for Part Two. Dan did a great job.“Quasi Love” by Mac Sinise and Dan Myers was recorded at Ocean Way Studios on July 29th, 2024, surrounded by photos of Mac we’d spread throughout the studio.
He was right there with us.
I got to play bass along with his USC pals, AJ Novak, Brandon Woodward and Scott Heiner on drums and percussion, former Mac bandmates Alex Morgan and Jake Hays on guitars, his dear friend Lia Woodward lending some vocals on the chorus, and the entire Lt. Dan Band joining in for the session, all playing our hearts out for Mac. It’s a great, fun rockin’ song.
There are jazz selections on this record as well. A sweet ballad that Mac wrote on piano for a music theory class project back in 2012. Recently, a friend had found a recording of Mac playing the song on piano and it was forwarded to me. I was so grateful to receive it. Another lovely Mac melody, perfect for a jazz quartet.
I asked my piano player/music director, Ben Lewis, to do an arrangement for this and he did a beautiful job. As it was untitled, (all it said on the file was “Theory Project”), I decided to call it “Mac Theory.” And as an intro to the song, we incorporated a bit of Mac’s original piano recording from 2012.
I had found a chart for another song Mac wrote last spring, a big band swing tune he calls “Sweep Sweepin’.” I asked Ben to do an arrangement for this one also. Even as he struggled with cancer in his final year, Mac was always creating. “Sweep Sweepin’” and “Quasi Love” were written last year while in his wheelchair or lying in his hospital bed. And as an extra treat, both these tunes begin with the voice memo recordings of Mac singing the melodies into his iPhone as he was creating the songs.
Mac loved movies, and back in 2017 I asked him to compose some music for the documentary film Always Do A Little More that my Foundation video team was making.
He wrote and recorded all the music himself on his various programs, and when I played Mac’s original recordings for Oliver, he flipped.
I asked him to go to work transposing and expanding this music as he’d done with Mac on the first record for “Arctic Circles” and some of the other compositions. We tied it all together in a suite, the “Always Do A Little More: Suite.”
“The Veterans” is also a composition Mac wrote for the film. We decided to let it stand on its own, with some beautiful new writing and arranging from Oliver.
I also found a chart Mac had written for a song he simply titled, “Piano Tune #1.” A lovely piece with a note he’d written at the top of the chart that read: A La Heaven Can Wait. As said, Mac loved movie music, and he was a fan of the Dave Grusin score to the Warren Beatty film Heaven Can Wait. After I found the chart, I asked Ben Lewis to play it for me. Beautiful. Oliver did the arrangement following Mac’s notes and Ben is featured on piano.
“Tree Frog” is a cool composition Mac wrote for the Foundation in 2017 with all his various computer programs, creating all the sounds. Again, I had never heard this one either. Oliver added some nice touches and it’s a very cool little tune. I guess Mac may have been watching a nature show with tree frogs hopping around when he came up with it.
And as he did on Part One, once again, Mac plays harmonica.
This time on a beautiful, sweet version of the old western classic “Home on the Range.” Oliver had recorded him playing it in 2023 sitting on our back porch, but it didn’t make it onto the first album. They created a nice arrangement, and it is included in Part Two, featuring our pals Dan Myers and Levi Britton of Stolen Silver.
And also included on the record is another Stolen Silver arrangement of Mac’s 2012 song called “Eyes of Marigold.” The ballad version is on Part One, and we have their up-tempo version on Part Two.
One of Mac’s college compositions is the hauntingly beautiful, “Waltz for Addicts.” The music video for this piece has been featured at Mac Sinise YouTube for some time, with Mac conducting the ensemble. This was such an important piece for Mac, inspiring his friend Lia Woodward to write a script for the animated film Luna and Lars, also at Mac Sinise YouTube. Take a look at these and other videos here:
Also in college, Mac had a wonderful collaboration with the great female vocalist/songwriter Lou Roy. They were good pals and after graduation they recorded two songs that are on this album. The first, Mac’s “Just for Now,” with Mac writing the lyrics and creating all the music and Lou contributing her amazing vocals. The second, a bluesy rock tune they wrote together with Mac producing called "Sweet Savior.”I asked Oliver to lend a hand with his arranging skills on both, so we added a few elements to each while maintaining Mac’s original recordings. Two really great songs. And Lou also sings on “Waltz for Addicts.”
Mac left us these beautiful musical treasures and discovering this music motivated me to bring it all to life. I suppose working on his music has kept me busy and feeling close to him. Like he’s right here encouraging us.
This project has certainly helped me to manage the pain. A blessing for sure.
I know in my heart that Mac is happy to share it with all of you. We began shipping after our official launch on November 10, Mac’s 34th birthday. And once again, just as Mac wanted with his first album, all proceeds from sales of the vinyl for Resurrection & Revival: Part Two will go to the Gary Sinise Foundation to support our mission.
This double vinyl album includes 17 original compositions and 2 covers. 19 total tracks. Mac left us these beautiful musical treasures and discovering this music motivated me to bring them to life. I hope you will enjoy this music like we do.
Thank you, Mac, for your heart, your love for all your family and friends, and for creating this beautiful music that we will treasure always.
We miss you so.
- Gary Sinise
Proud Father of Mac Sinise
