In 2019 Mark Evason, from Kings Clipstone near Mansfield, formed a six-piece band known as The Jenny Perry Project, in the wake of the shock he felt surrounding his wife’s unexpected death. To date, the band has raised over £5,000 for the UK Sepsis Trust; touring the UK as well as recording and releasing an album in tribute to his late wife, Jenny.
Mark told us: “Me and Jenny lived together for 33 years and we had two children along the way. She was a very fit and healthy lady who used to go the gym regularly and watch what she ate. In early December 2018, it all started with a water infection she was dealing with. She started shivering so I took her to A&E and she was discharged a matter of hours later.
I was concerned when I noticed she had black splodges appearing on her body and she started struggling to breath. She stopped breathing before the ambulance even got there and she died in my arms.
It was a huge shock to everyone who knew her. Sepsis kills 1,000 people every week in the UK and it can be anything that brings it on, from a cut finger to something more serious.
My wife was sleeping soundly and if I checked her earlier for symptoms, she could have been treated. It’s hard because a lot of people don’t know what to look for”.
Talking about his inspiration behind the formation of the band, Mark said: “Jenny loved music, especially rock, and we went to numerous gigs together of the years. When we moved in together we found we had duplicates within our vinyl collections. Our mutual love of music was a great thing we shared throughout our time together.
A few weeks after Jenny’s funeral, I picked up a guitar Jenny bought me and came up with a song. Inspired, I contacted a couple of guys I had played music with in the early 80’s, and we started writing and rehearsing original material for a charity CD.
The idea behind ‘The Jenny Perry Project’ is to pay a huge tribute to a remarkable lady who was taken way before she should have been. We also want to raise awareness of the symptoms of sepsis and to raise money for the UK Sepsis Trust so that they can continue their great work.
The album is a mixture of original material covering most genres, and is a journey through Jenny’s life. As well as the album, (which some local East Midlands bands donated tracks to show their support too), we have organised charity gigs in loving memory of Jenny. The album has sold more than we could have imagined, and HMV in Mansfield will be selling the album very soon!”.
To purchase your album, hear about performances and learn more about the project, please visit and follow The Jenny Project Facebook page here.
