"Bridging the Gulf"

Musicians come together for a lot of things. They joined together when Katrina destroyed the Gulf states, and when an earthquake brought already-struggling Haiti to ruin. Now, they've joined together to help rehabilitate the environment following the damaging oil spill in the Gulf. This past Saturday, area musicians banded together to raise money in a benefit called "Bridging the Gulf," from which all proceeds went to the National Audubon Society.

Organizer and performer Brian Lewis says he knew right away that he wanted to help, and there was a personal note involved, as well.

"I grew up on the East coast of Florida," stated Lewis, "the Cocoa Beach area. The beach is sacred to me. My Mom grew up on the gulf coast of Mississippi. I spent all my summers there when I was a kid. I've swum in Gulf waters. Seeing what happened after the oil spill tore me up. I knew I had to do something." And he certainly did. Lewis called up Steve's Bar and Grille in Fort Mill, SC, to set up a meeting about what he had planned. When it came to calling on the bands, he relied on local talent, coming up with a lineup of nine bands from the general area, including his own band, 8th Street Stereo. Other acts were Under Attack, Zach Fowler, the Rockaholics, the Square Roots, Ziggy Van Zant, Tattermask, Beyond the Fade, and Drop D. The lineup, attendees could see, was incredibly diverse - which was the intention. The more diversity, the more people were likely to show up.


My musical top three? The last three acts of the night: Tattermask, Beyond the Fade, and Drop D. Yes, I'm a little biased - this is my genre - but going off of energy, they're definitely up there. Presence-wise, Johnny Rochester (bassist of Beyond the Fade and Drop D) and DZL (guitarist and vocalist of Drop D, as well as DJ for 106.5 the END), seemed more comfortable on the stage than anyone I saw earlier in the day. I look forward to hearing more from all three of these acts. Others thoughts from throughout the day? Acoustic soloist Zach Fowler, and 8th Street Stereo. Coordinator and drummer Brian Lewis informed me early in the day that, due to their bassist being called to work, 8th Street Stereo was going to have to alter their set, turning it into an unexpected acoustic set. Well, hearing things acoustic makes me want to hear how it would sound, and I have a lot of respect for the band for pulling everything together so smoothly at the change.


But, as I was reminded throughout the day, this event was not about the music; it was about raising money for the cause. So, in addition the the music, a raffle was suggested by DZL as a way to earn more for the cause. Prizes included Heart tickets, a setlist and poster autographed by the Metallica and Alice in Chains, respectively, and - what many considered the top prize - a BP replica bass boat. Why a BP replica in a raffle to raise money to fix what BP has brought about? Well, the winner got to smash the boat with a hammer. (See the video here.)


By the end of the night, $2900 was raised to go to the National Audubon Society. This money will go toward restoring the wetlands, cleaning and relocating the birds, etc. As Brian Lewis reminded me, "The cleanup from this is going to take a long time. The Exxon Valdez spill was 21 years ago, and they're still having problems in Alaska because of it.  This isn't going away anytime soon." That being said, every little bit helps. If you were unable to attend, but you would like to help with the Gulf restoration efforts, please go to http://www.audubon.org/ and click "Donate to Gulf Oil Spill Recovery."