Hurricane Ike 5 Bay Area Musicians 0
(Scores by Ike represent total losses) 
 
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to today's broadcast. We are in the top of the second inning and your home team, the Galveston Bay Musicians Artists, have been shut out so far. While the pitcher is warming up let's re-cap the first inning. Basically, no matter what our starting pitcher brought, whether it was a slider from Slide Effect or a curve ball by reliever Bodacious Tata’s the visiting team Hurricane Ike was shattering the bats ( venues with blown off roofs, guitars, pianos, drums destroyed, etc.) and knocking it all over the playing field (Galveston, San Leon, Bacliff, Kemah, Houston, etc.). If it were not for some blue star play by the defense (evacuations, boarded up windows, etc.) the home team would be getting killed. We've had some injuries: Rex Bell (Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe) was hit by a season ending pitch and was left stranded on first (Reports say he will be back and we wish him the best), and of course, the career ending blow to the old timer and future hall of famer Balinese.
 
Inning two started out with triple from Brittney Wilson-Sullivan on the Channel 11 Debra Duncan show but left stranded when power hitters Channel 13 and News 2 Houston failed to lay down a sacrifice. It's going to take a bit of coaching here to survive this but it can be done. The way I see it is our pitchers (musicians artists spreading the word) need to throw strikes. Defense has already cleaned it up for the most part and we'll need the hitters (music community, venues, media, and fans) to band together to overcome Ike.
 
And now it's the third inning.....
 
All, I hope this analogy does not offend anyone. We need to come together and help our fellow musicians artists that have suffered losses due to Hurricane Ike. Our once vibrant music scene has been devastated. The following is the injury report that I have so far:

      Rex Bell from the Old Quarter lost everything.

      The Balinese and the 18th Street Pier are gone.

      Pat and Holly Beadles from Slide Effect suffered severe damage and equipment loss to their home in San Leon.

      Sandbar is shut down for 8 months.

      Taildraggers’ Troy Long lost his amplifier and had significant damage to his home...

      San Leon Beach Pub is shut down for several months.

      Joey Cone from Fuzz Box Junkies lost his clothing and a drum kit.

      Chris Elliot of the Bodacious TaTa's home is unlivable.

      Abel and DeAnn Salazar lost their home and severe damage to their grand piano.

      Andy Upchurch of Andy and the Dreamsicles lost two keyboards.

      T-Bone Toms, Monkey Bar, Palapas, Gingers, Green Parrot and the Amadeus Lounge will be delayed in re-opening.

      And there are many more.

What do we need to do? We need to raise funds to help get these people their equipment replaced so that they can continue to perform.
 
How do we do that? We will ask the communities, the fans, and the media to support an event or several events that raise the funds. We will form a Pitch Team to ask for equipment donations. We will create an awareness of our situation.
 
What can I do for the immediate? Share this message with everyone you know and email me with information about musicians artists that suffered losses due to Hurricane Ike.
 
What else can I do? Email me with what you are willing to do to help this cause. We need sales people, graphic artists, web site designer(s), people with marketing skills for press releases, people who have contacts with the media; people have contacts with the local city councils, etc. 
 
Who will coordinate all this? Jay Trevino and I are working with a venue to start hosting a mixer/networking event. At this event we will present our ideas ie a fundraiser(s) and hopefully start organizing them. Bill Perkins is contacting the Mayor's offices of the local municipalities to find out if they are planning any Ike related events, Jay Trevino and Rick Valente are contacting out door venues for the event and assisting with the formation of Bay Area Musicians Artists. Dave Raub and Alexis Thomas are assisting with development and marketing. Andy Eng is assisting with the development and Scene Magazine’s John and Betsey Ennis have weighed in and are willing to help. We’ll ask Barry Radcliffe to assist in legal matters. Christi from “theCrisis”, Brandi, Steve Revak, and Bobby Emerson will be assisting us as well. Toree Montgomery made sure that we got mentioned on The Great Day Houston Show with Debra Duncan, making sure the word was out thru Britney Wilson-Sullivan’s interview, as well as contacting the media via emails daily.
 
All, I am very proud to be associated with the Bay Area Musicians Artists. When Cindy Peterson needed assistance paying her cancer related medical bills the musicians artists came together for her. When Charlie Greenway's (God Bless) family needed assistance with his funeral we were there. When Mark Fenton needed help paying his medical bills we were there. The list goes on and on. We are a passionate, giving group of musicians artists and will continue on helping all those in need. And now, our fellow musicians artists are in need and it's our turn at the plate. Let's knock one out of the park!

Lynn Raggio