Video Testimonials here (click).

(All quotes reproduced with permission of those quoted)
TESTIMONIALS
Video     Songlists     Soundclips     Press     Testimonials     Resumé     Photo Gallery     References     Variety Acts     Additonal Services    Contact

"She makes us all laugh and sing and happy, and that is important," says 90-year-old resident Reidon Young;
M
arin IndependentJournal, Feb. 2007

"She never talks down to you. She is genuine and it comes through," says 84-year-old Doris Freidman.
"
She does not go down Memory Lane and make you feel sad. She sings it uplifting and it makes me feel damn good."
Marin Independent Journal, Feb. 2007

"She got me interested in playing the doumbek and in the last six months since then I have gone doumbek crazy,"
says 89-year-old resident Stan Winston who performed alongside Perrin at DrakeTerrace Feb. 2007, playing the tambourine and doumbek drum.

"I decided I can't check out now because the drum is my future. She is a real person and treats us as real people."

"I
was having a bad day. I was down in the dumps and you really perked me up. Your music was truly enjoyable!"
Mercedes Bianco, Resident of Smith Ranch Care Center, San Rafael, CA.Spring 2003

 

"You're the best entertainer we've ever had!" Laura White, Rhoda Goldman Plaza, San Francisco, CA; Summer 2004

"You're better than any medicine! I worked in hospitals for over thirty years,and I should know!" Lillian Kutner,
Resident at Rhoda Goldman Plaza, San Francisco, Spring 2004

You got what it takes, kid! You're a true professional and you really know what we need!" Minnie Odelson,
Drake Terrace Retirement Complex, San Rafael, CA July 2004

"You know exactly what we need." Betty Lerner, Rhoda Goldman Plaza 2005

"
You have something for everybody!" Rose 'Ricky' Josephs, Rhoda Goldman Plaza 2006

"You made me feel so alive. I felt like I'd been asleep and now I'm awake. Your music made me feel wonderful."
Sophia Colton, Resident at Smith Ranch Care Center April 2003

A poem from a Senior Fan; Oct , 2000

"We love to hear you singing
the songs of yesteryear
your playing is great
on birthday nights it's a date
the love songs touch our heart
it's so sad when we must part
We're not lonesome at night
because your songs are so bright
fingers tapping, hands clapping
as we keep time with the beat
your singing is sheer delight
you belt out songs with such might
"ain't gonna rain no more, no more"
Joy's in our lives--our spirits soar!!"

Rosemary Brady, Resident of West End Residence;West End Ave and 85th St., NYC; Oct.4, 2001

Chasing Away the Nursing Home Blues... One Chord at a Time
By Connie Hirschmuggl

Hmmmmm. Can you hum a few bars of "hip fracture, heart disease, kidney failure, stroke, lung disease, cancer, my heart is broke.....the nursing home blues?" Old age with its illness and injuries costs countless millions of dollars each day for doctors, nurses, medicine, and equipment. Yet, for pennies in comparison, one woman with her guitar and a song...reaches deep inside individuals in hospitals and nursing homes and pulls out a bit of joy, visiting their bedsides and singing their blues away one chord at a time. She's known as the Strolling Minstrel and patients ask for her by name....'Joy'. One man at Novato Hospital was dying...end stage heart and lung failure. A widower for over 16 years, his quality of life had declined to a low ebb. He said he didn't know if he was more sick or tired, or tired of being sick. Joy sat by his bed searching his memories and playing songs that took him back to times when he was younger. He smiled and his finger and toes began to tap. She played request after request and a glow came through his eyes. That day was one of his last, but she chased his blues away one chord at a time. Thank you, Joy Perrin. That was my Dad.

Feb. 2004: Footnote to Marin Independent Journal; My name is Connie Hirschmugl. You recently printed the obituary of my dad, Robert Keefer. During one of his last hospital stays, he enjoyed a visit from Joy Perrin, who stayed at his side for about an hour, singing and playing the guitar. I have observed, first-hand, the amazing regenerative results. I feel this is a human interest story the public would enjoy. Please consider printing it.

Joy with Author Rosemary Brady
All images and applicable 
content © Joy Perrin 2008.
All Rights Reserved.
Reidun Young, Drake Terrace resident