My name is Brant Buckley and I am a USPTA certified Tennis Pro and a Blues musician. Nerve Damage Blues is my story about how a career-ending tennis injury changed my life.

I am grateful to be walking again and I am thankful that Blues music helped me pull through.

Though I try to make light of it, my song Nerve Damage Blues represents a period in my life when things looked bleak and hopeless. Fortunately for me, my academic background in music and the support of my family helped me find an alternate career creating Blues music and teaching music.

My love for tennis started early.

At the age of five, I started playing tennis with my dad in Costa Rica. When I moved back to the U.S. (Illinois), I really immersed myself in the game. I took lessons, made my mark in high-school tennis, and did well in local tournaments. After high school, I had to make a choice – seek a Division One Tennis playing career or follow my instinct and pursue an undergraduate degree in music: my other love.

I chose the latter.

I started playing the guitar at age thirteen and was good at it. The Berklee College of Music in Boston seemed like a perfect fit for me to earn academic credentials. In 2009, I graduated with a Bachelors of Music, majoring in Songwriting.

Post Berklee, I lived in Philadelphia, making a living playing music nightly and teaching tennis and music during the day. As you know, music can be a challenging profession, so I decided to get USPTA certified at Port Washington in Long Island, N.Y. You may remember it as the club where players like John McEnroe and Vitas Gerulaitis developed their skills.

It didn’t take me long to find a full-time position as a teaching tennis pro at the prestigious Midtown Athletic Club in Chicago.

Life seemed set.

Then, just over a year into my tennis-pro career, it all unraveled.

My right foot collapsed during a teaching session. It was unusual because I have never had a severe tennis injury before. I could barely walk and was in excruciating pain. The following year I saw between 8-10 doctors who couldn’t diagnose what was wrong with my foot.

I was living off workers comp.

Out of the blue, a hired-gun insurance man booted me from workers comp. Nothing that I or my parents said seemed to convince him that I was still completely injured.

Over the next three years, I lived through pain, muscle weakness, and dejection. I lost my job, all my money, and my car. I hit rock bottom. Finally, I found a great foot doctor who diagnosed me correctly: Neuropraxia of the calcaneus foot branch. There were some damages to other foot nerves as well. He said it was a three-year fix.

My song “Nerve Damage Blues” talks about the whole experience. My Blues were so bad that I could barely play music and didn’t want anything to do with anyone or anything.

Looking back, I feel that my career-ending tennis injury was a blessing.

It happened for a reason. From experience, I now know what Blues are all about. I am thankful that I am no longer at a dead end. My tennis story has evolved into a Blues music story. It took me four years to heal my foot and the power of Kriya Yoga meditation really healed it. I now have a new musical sound and I can play the Blues!

My new album, Times Strange, is currently available on Spotify and iTunes. Nerve Damage Blues is the catalyst for the whole album.

I hope you will give it a listen.