New CD Aims to Benefit Haddon Township Teen Battling SMA

A new CD featuring the cream of rock musicians in the New Jersey club scene is the latest effort to help a Haddon Township teenager who is battling a rare disease.

Steven Potter is living with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a disease that robs the sufferer of their mobility. SMA is the leading genetic cause of infant death.

Although he gets around in a wheelchair, he has managed to become an accomplished high school athlete.

Potter is the namesake of Steven’s Walk, an annual event that for 10 years has raised funds and awareness in the fight against SMA.

Potter, an accomplished high-school athlete despite his condition, recently wrapped up his final Steven’s Walk to focus on entering college.

The CD was put together by friends of the Potter family who want to help.

“From the Heart” is a 14-song collection featuring Jersey Shore and South Jersey headliners such as Billy Hector (a guitarist in clubs since the 1970s), Matt O’Ree (named 2006’s “King of the Blues” at the B.B. King-hosted Guitarmageddon), Reggie Wu (Heaven’s Edge), Ken “Stringbean” Sorensen (the Stalkers), Georgie Rumbol (Dead End Kids), Sim Cain (the Rollins Band) and Ron Howden (Nektar). Many more artists, 20 in all, graciously contributed.

The album is historic as the first-ever gathering of these Jersey club scene stars on one project, and the $10 donation for each CD goes directly to Steven’s Walk.

The album was produced and recorded by Medford resident Brian Voger, a friend of the Potter family.Voger, who plays bass on the album, has followed these artists’ careers for decades, and traveled to their homes and studios (or sometimes hosted them at his) to record their contributions to “From the Heart.”

For more information or to order “From the Heart,” visit Vogerland.com.