Mike Purvis to be remembered at tribute concert

Laura Young
ECB Publishing, Inc.

Family, friends, fellow musicians and veterinary clients remember Mike Purvis (1954-2021) as one of the most kind, talented, and generous people they've ever known.
When Purvis became seriously ill last year, he told his oldest brother Wendell, “When this is all over with, just get everybody together and have a jam session. Don't let the music die.”
The middle brother, Frank, recalls, “We didn't know how we were going to accomplish this. Then Southern Music Rising (SMR) and the Monticello Opera House(MOH) jumped in and gave us a platform.”
That platform is a free tribute concert presented by The Purvis Family, SMR and MOH on Saturday, April 23, from 2 to 4 p.m. The doors will open at MOH at 1 p.m., and seating is available on a first come, first served basis. Musicians who wish to participate can call Wendell at (850) 591-1394.
Mike was born in Madison County and spent his early years living on a farm between Cherry Lake and Pinetta. His family lived in Tallahassee through his high school years, and after college he set up a veterinary practice at the Animal Medical Clinic in Monticello. He was a beloved vet in Jefferson County for 28 years and eventually became a professor with FAMU's Veterinary Technology program.
Through it all, there was music.
In a radio interview with John Noland (WZRE in Perry) several years ago, Mike told about singing being the main social activity in his household as far back as he can remember. “We had no T.V,” Mike recalled, “and boredom was actually a big motivator. We had neighbors who played music. My mother is a wonderful cook, and it was nothing for her to cook for 20 people every night of the week, including the weekend.”
In the evenings, they would sit on the porch of the farmhouse and listen to people playing music. Then there was church. Mike liked to joke that his family's church was full of people with a bad “drug” problem. “We were drug to church three times a week, once on Wednesday and twice on Sunday,” he said in the radio interview. “We grew up singing harmonies in church.”
Even in car rides back and forth to church, the three brothers were coached by their mother in singing harmonies. Frank remembers that even after the family had moved to Tallahassee, they still drove more than an hour to Madison County to attend their church. “To keep us from fighting in the long, hot ride to church,” says Frank, “Momma would have us singing. We learned to sing all the parts. She would have us swap parts, and it was training our ears to listen.” Musician friends today comment about Mike's incredible talent to play music by ear, to hear any bit of a song and be able to join in with the guitar and smoothly harmonizing vocals.
In addition to learning guitar, Mike trained to be a drummer. He and Frank were in the Leon High School Marching Band, where Frank played trumpet and baritone and Mike was the drum section leader. When the brothers started their own band, Mike was on the drums, and they all sang in harmony. Wendell remembers that even driving to and from different gigs, they would be singing the whole time. Their band, Encore, played backup for Margo Anderson's Patsy Cline Tributes and Grammy-award winning musician Charlie McCoy whenever he came to town. They developed their own Willie Nelson Tributes, performed in God’s Country Live concerts, and were in demand for private parties, special occasions and fundraisers across Jefferson, Madison and Taylor counties and into south Georgia.
“Every gig we did was always an adventure,” says Wendell. “We never knew what we were going to sing. He (Mike) would just take off and we'd follow him. It taught us a lot about music. It comes from within. If you have to look at a chart or a page, it is not the same.”
More than 20 times they performed at the Sopchoppy Opry to benefit the Wakulla County Schools. Mike even teamed up 15 times with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Olen Butler to raise funds with Dr. Wesley Scoles for A Doctor’s Heart charity. Butler notes that the concert honoring the memory of Mike falls on the day that William Shakespeare's birthday is celebrated around the world, April 23.
“I think it's quite appropriate that Mike's tribute is on William Shakespeare's birthday,” says Butler, “because in my eyes he is every bit the equal of William Nelson (that is, Willie), who was the Shakespeare of country western music.”
While Mike was developing his veterinary practice, he became involved with the music program at First United Methodist Church in Monticello. He assisted Music Director Becky Stoutamire with the 8:30 a.m. worship service for 15 years.
“He was always at church on Sunday morning,” Stoutamire recalls, “even if he had played a gig on Saturday night. I can count on one hand the times he would miss. The congregation loved it. He just flowed with the music. He was so giving. I would like to honor him and what he gave us. He was dear to this town, a special friend to our family and the church family.”
Rev. John Hicks, who was pastor at the church during that time, remembers how the Purvis brothers would come to perform at a summer camp he offered for mentally challenged adults.
“Mike would give the campers percussion pieces and have them play along with them. He was so enthusiastic in the way he interacted with the campers. He was so special.”
For the past three years of his life, Mike played guitar with the Hot Rod Chevys, a five-piece band that brings rock and country classics to the Seineyard Seafood Restaurant in Crawfordville. He was playing there the last night before he went to the hospital, recalls Ray Wiley, who will be playing with the band at the tribute concert. Wiley knew Mike for 35 years, both as a musician and a vet.
Rick Ott, another longtime friend of Mike's, met him when they were kids in school and often were seated alphabetically – the “O” next to the “P” – near each other. He played music informally with the Purvis brothers and also had Mike as his vet.
“It was really hard when he got sick,” says Ott. “It was very fast and caught everyone off guard. He was a super good friend, a kind man. He had certain values and he lived by them.”
Veterinarian Matt Davis worked with Mike for 10 years at the Animal Medical Clinic in Monticello.
“He hired me as an associate and was my boss and then my business partner,” says Davis. “He was my mentor. He knew how to show sincerity and take time with everybody. He was a very genuine person, a brilliant surgeon with a brilliant scientific mind. I miss him every day.”
Mike clearly inspired those around him no matter whether they knew him from the neighborhood, school, church, the music scene or the vet's office. Words that he spoke in that radio interview may still inspire today.
“The inspiration I have is this: No matter what you do, give it your all,” he said. “Invest your heart into what you want to accomplish. You just never know where your life is going to take you.”