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A little help from their friends Music community rallies around Marin musicians injured in car crash by G r e g Cahill
T
he evening began with a bang—and drunken driver suddenly came into view over ended with a crash. the crest of the hill. Riding high on their recent win at “The gig had gone really well. We stayed a the Haight Street Fair Battle of the Bands, little while to watch the other band because the Marin-based rock they’re friends of band Elephant Listenours. So we were ing Project—a local caravanning back to supergroup composed Marin. All of a sudof members of Monden there were lights trose, Chrome Johnon the freeway and, son, the Mo’fessionals, wham-o, boom!” Hangman’s Daughter Smyth says of the and Wall Street, among crash. “Then it’s all other acts—had kind blurry from opened on the night of there.” Saturday, Aug.18, for It’s estimated that the hard-rockin’ Shotboth vehicles were gun Harlot’s debut to a Marin music fans can give a hand—a fundraising one— traveling at 65 mph packed house at Span- to Uzi and Smyth this weekend in Fairfax. when the 1995 Nissan cky’s Bar in Cotati. Pathfinder driven by Driving back to Marin shortly after Smyth collided head-on with a 2002 Mazda midnight, southbound on Highway 101, ELP Protege driven by Dustin Troy Loff, 33, of vocalist and guitarist Erik Smyth, 42, and Santa Rosa, on the Cotati Grade north of guitarist Danny Uzi (aka Danny Uzilevsky), Petaluma. 43, both of San Anselmo, were basking in the Paramedics raced the two musicians to glow of that night’s successful show when Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. The seriously the headlights of a wrong-way, suspected injured Uzilevsky, who had been trapped
in the vehicle, sustained a punctured lung, broken leg and lacerations, among other injuries. He was recovering from surgery and still on a ventilator in the intensive care unit a week after the accident (he was expected to be released from ICU earlier this week, but was likely to have a second surgery). Smyth suffered head lacerations, broken ribs and cracked vertebrae. He was released from the hospital after three days. “I’m definitely out of commission for a while, as far as work and playing music goes,” says Smyth, who works as a carpenter laying hardwood floors. “The doctors say it will be four to six weeks before I can work.” Like so many professional freelance musicians, neither Uzilevsky nor Smyth has health insurance. Their medical and living expenses during their recovery are expected to top $100,000, according to a website set up to raise funds for the medical costs. At press time, the online crowd-sourcing fund set on gofundme.com had raised more than $17,600, much of it from appreciative fans rallying around the musicians. On Saturday, friends, fans and colleagues will gather at Peri’s Bar in Fairfax for a benefit
Show your support A multi-band benefit for injured guitarists Danny Uzilevsky and Erik Smyth will be held at Peri’s Bar in Fairfax Saturday, Sept. 1, from 3pm to 2am. Bands slated to perform are Sage, Beso Negro, AC/DShe, Sabbath Lives, Kelly Peterson, The KortUzday Band, Darren Nelson (Honeydust), The Treblemakers, Bonnie Hayes, Vinyl and members of Monophonics and the Mo’fessionals. A minimum $20 donation will be requested. In addition, proceeds from bands performing that night at Fairfax’s 19 Broadway Nightclub and The Sleeping Lady will also be donated to the recovery fund of both men. An online donation fund has been set up at www. gofundme.com/12fg80.
concert to help defray the costs the two musicians incurred after the accident. “The community here is just incredible,” says Smyth, who moved to Marin seven years ago. “I feel so lucky to have the support of friends and fans—it’s very touching. I feel blessed to be where I’m living and to be around the people I’m surrounded with.” Uzilevsky and Smyth are among thousands of musicians nationwide caught in a bind each year when unexpected medical costs occur. Nationally, such organizations as the Grammy-backed MusiCares and Sweet Relief offer assistance to musicians facing problems due to health or aging. Lester Chambers of the 1960s hit group the Chambers Brothers received help from Sweet Relief for substance abuse and homelessness. He now resides in Petaluma and frequently performs on Marin stages. The Folk Alliance International and the National Association for the Self Employed offer low-cost coverage to musicians who work as contractors. But often it comes down to family and friends. The family of Marin musician Jon Fromer gathered in May at Dominican University’s Angelico Hall in San Rafael to raise funds to offset costs associated with treatment of his stomach cancer. Musicians Helping Musicians, started two decades ago by former Zone Music store owner Frank Hayhurst, has hosted benefit concerts for local musicians in need. This past spring, the organization held a benefit concert for North Bay singer and songwriter Allyson Paige, who had been diagnosed with cancer last fall. The marathon event drew Tom Johnston of the Doobie Brothers and 24 other acts. These types of benefits underscore the lack of health coverage for rank-and-file musicians, who are paid little (if at all) and yet contribute so much to the cultural fabric of the community. Hayhurst says that these benefit concerts have an unintended consequence of bonding the far-flung music community. “[At the Rally for Ally] people who knew each other only by reputation finally met in person, and sharing a common cause, they also began sharing friendship, contacts, war stories and music.” ✹ Contact Greg at gcahill51@gmail.com.
30 PACIFIC SUN AUGUST 31 - SEPTEMBER 6, 2012