Cape doctor goes on call for matchbox twenty show

If not for his teenage children, Dr. Walter A. Schroeder Jr. wouldn't know who matchbox twenty is. But if lead singer Rob Thomas should develop a case of laryngitis before tonight's concert at the Show Me Center, Schroeder will come to the rescue.

Matchbox twenty has arranged for the Cape Girardeau otolaryngologist to be on call for tonight's concert with opening act Fountains of Wayne. In the season of flu and sore throats, the rock 'n' roll show still must go on.

Schroeder often treats local singers, coaches, cheerleaders and even fans who have abused their voices. For all, he prescribes resting the vocal cords, but sometimes singers still have to perform.

"Occasionally we have to sprinkle epinephrine on their vocal cords to reduce the swelling so they can go through their song set," he said.

The medicine works, at least temporarily. Schroeder said singers and others whose vocal cords are swollen really need to refrain from using them after they've finished singing or cheering or yelling. Usually the problem resolves itself in a day or two.

But touring rock 'n' roll bands often don't get a day to rest. "People who are hoarse and need to perform almost always need to have some intervention," Schroeder said.

This is the first time he has been asked to be on call for a performing group. For many years, Dr. Paul Spence was on call for performers at the Show Me Center. Sometimes they visited his office, other times he came in before the concert to give someone something for a cold or strep throat or the flu, Show Me Center manager David Ross said.

No show in the history of the venue has ever been canceled due to illness, he said. That doesn't mean some performers haven't wished they could not go on. "Vince Gill was sicker than a dog, but he played through it," Ross said of the singer's appearance in 1999 during Homecoming Weekend.

He recalls Randy Travis going on despite a sore throat and went backstage to congratulate Pam Tillis on her concert only to find her so ill she was huddled in a corner.

Professional singers usually are easier for a throat doctor to work with, Schroeder said. "Most know how to use a microphone, and most can control their environment so there's no smoking.

"Amateurs may tend to work in a smoke-filled room with a poor amplification system," he said.

But even professional singers and speakers sometimes need help. When Bill Clinton was first running for president he routinely abused his voice and had to be treated by doctors, Schroeder said.

Anyone speaking or singing to a crowd over a prolonged time "starts paying the price," he said.

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, ext. 182