By Amanda Estes 

Staff Writer

If you count lyrics penned when she was 10 years old, Patty Morris’ first CD, Dukkha’s Nemesis, is the result of a 40-year musical journey, marked with some waiting, some planning and just plain luck, she says.

The energetic Cape Elizabeth resident has performed with several local blues groups and has squeezed her singing and song writing into the rare spare time afforded a pharmaceutical sales representative, lawyer and mother.

Morris says she never imagined her three children would one day sing with her on an album and that they would “actually think it’s OK to do a song with their mom when I’m in my 40s.” But all three of her children lent their talents to Dukkha’s Nemesis, as well as several Cape Elizabeth High School graduates who have gone on to have their own musical careers. 

For Morris, Dukkha’s Nemesis’ music has soul in more ways than one. The word Dukkha comes from Buddhism and means suffering or more aptly translated, it means impermanence, Morris says.

Morris’ songs touch on the very real struggles individuals face everyday, such as homelessness and illness, as well as the people who are using their time on Earth to make a positive difference in other people’s lives. 

The song “Sister Got a Bad Habit,” was inspired by Mother Teresa, but is a tribute to the unsung heroes and “people who – just because they want to – produce positive energy in the world,” she says.

Morris and her family have had their own set of struggles, but they have learned you can look upstream or downstream and still be in the same spot. Morris says they have learned to “cruise and float downstream” rather than dwell on their struggles. 

Morris’ daughter, Ali Donahue – currently a sophomore at Boston University – has cystic fibrosis (CF), although you would never know it unless she told you, her mother says. 

Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disorder that can cause “severe quality of life issues, lung dysfunction and frequent hospitalizations,” Morris says. The median survival age for a person with CF is 37, she says.

“You would meet [Donahue] and think she’s a typical, beautiful, talented sophomore in college,” Morris says. “Someone like Ali has a great prognosis. She’s actually had very few hospitalizations.” 

On the other hand, there are children with CF, who are hospitalized several times a year or are on feeding tubes, Morris says. There is still a lot of work to be done, but “there’s a very real possibility the research will someday produce a cure,” she says.  

Morris hopes to aid that search for a cure with a multi-band CD release party March 21 at The Big Easy, located at 55 Market Street in Portland. Doors open at 5 p.m. for an all ages show featuring performances by Highway Jackson, Faster! Faster! and The Heartbreaker Vibe. An ages 21-plus show, featuring performances by Sly Chi and the Sally Davis Trio, will follow. Proceeds from both shows, as well as raffles from PCA Great Performances and the Portland Sea Dogs, will benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. 

Morris says “craziness rules this all-out, multi-band, cross-generational night” and if that wasn’t enough, Morris will also be celebrating her 50th birthday and Donahue’s 20^th birthday.

“At any point there’s that lurking question of what’s going to happen next,” Morris says of her daughter’s CF. “If she got a really bad lung infection, her prognosis could change.”

But Morris says they don’t focus on the what ifs.

“You could get up and walk out the door and get hit by a bus,” she says. “There’s risk in life.”

Morris says Donahue inspired the song, “65 Roses,” which is what some children with CF call their disease because those words are easier to pronounce. 

In the 1960s, a young boy with CF referred to his condition in that way and the term is still used in some of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundations’ campaigns, Morris says.

The song is written from both a child and a mother’s perspective, Morris says. Children can face struggles, but come away with a positive outlook and “wind up having this great, full wonderful life because they’re looking for an opportunity to do things that serve their interests and the world well,” she says. 

Morris says collaborating with her three children, Ali, 15-year-old Gabrielle and 22-year-old James Donahue – a trumpet player – for her debut album was a “euphoric” experience. She dedicated the song, “Miles (Down the Road)” to James Donahue – a tribute to him when he was graduating from high school – and the song, “Little Buddha” reflects Gabrielle Donahue’s free spirit. 

Ali and Gabrielle Donahue both sang on the song, “Blind,” about homelessness.

After performing with local groups including the Mark Miller Blues Band and Swingline – a 2001 collaboration with James Donahue and fellow musicians in the Cape Elizabeth High School jazz program – Morris brought some acapella versions of her songs to her son and his friends for them to work with. Armed with a notepad or Dictaphone, Morris tried out lyrics and melodies in her free moments. 

“That’s kind of the raw material the guys had to work with so I have to give them credit,” Morris says. 

Dukkha’s Nemesis is comprised of James Donahue, Adam Agati, Nick Falk, Chris Gagne and Chris Enright. The Berklee College of Music and Brown University grads started earning musical accolades in high school jazz festivals and since then, some of the band members have performed with Wynton Marsalis, Herbie Hancock and the Yellowjackets. 

Morris hopes the CD release party will reflect the “true joy” she felt while working with all of the people who helped make the album a reality.

“I wanted my birthday/CD release celebration to involve a lot of people and a lot of people’s talents,” Morris says. “It’s my birthday. I can do whatever I want.”

Tickets for the Dukkha’s Nemesis CD release party and CF fundraiser on March 21 at The Big Easy are $10 per show and are available at Bull Moose Music, www.brownpapertickets.com or at the door. 

To hear tracks from Dukkha’s Nemesis, visit www.dukkhasnemesis.com.