Boulder musicians band together to help community after flooding

Benefit concerts in the double digits and rising

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RAHASYA will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday.

Say what you will about Americans, but when faced with a tangible, non-partisan threat, we band together, set aside our differences and support each other. When facing Mother Nature, we have each other’s backs.

If there’s one silver lining to the seemingly never-ending series of fires and floods to hit Boulder (and the rest of the state), it’s that we’ve gotten to watch our neighbors and fellow residents come together to help out those in need. As the evacuations started, shelters and charities quickly filled to the seams with donations; organizations formed within days to help coordinate volunteer efforts. Now, two weeks after floodwaters raged through the streets of Boulder County, the music community is pitching in too, to the tune of at least 11 fundraising events happening in the coming weeks.

Josh Elioseff of The Zimmermans has put together a nonprofit called Wake of the Flood (after the 1975 Grateful Dead album of the same name) with fellow musicians Ted Tilton (Deadphish Orchestra) and Julie Gussaroff to help fund flood relief efforts. Together with Hot Soup guitarist and vocalist Matt Flaherty, the musicians are hosting a benefit concert on Saturday, Sept. 28 at the Fox Theatre, featuring members from Deadphish Orchestra, Hot Soup, Mountain Standard Time, The Zimmermans, Jet Edison, Technicolor Tone Factory, Grant Farm, Bonnie Sims, Danny Shafer and more — all in all, Flaherty says, about 40 musicians coming and going. All performers will be donating their time, including those who themselves lost things in the flood. As Flaherty says, “We all need help. … Sometimes you get it, and sometimes you give it.”

For this weekend’s show, Flaherty’s goal is simply to get to capacity at the Fox — to bring out as many people as possible and give them a good time. Wake of the Flood is in the process of arranging shows for the future, with a date in October at the Oriental Theater, and looking towards Fort Collins and Longmont in the future. All funds raised over the course of the organization’s efforts will be distributed as widely as possible and wherever there is need, Elioseff says, noting that Wake of the Flood has not yet decided which funds will receive the money from the shows. Wake of the Flood has assembled a board of nine volunteers representing different affected areas who will vote on where and to whom aid is distributed.

Ken Kadonaga, head of Boulderbased Adventure Records, had planned the Sept. 27 release party for Cuvée 8, a compilation featuring the music of 17 local bands, in the early summer months, but after the flooding, he says the decision to turn the event into a fundraiser was easy.

“The flood was pretty bad, so I felt like that would be a good helpful thing for the community,” Kadonaga says. “Since we had that event planned anyway, we figured we might as well take advantage of the event for the flood relief.”

The show, happening at the Lazy Dog (1346 Pearl St., Boulder) at 8 p.m., will feature Colorado bands Monocle Stache, …And The Black Feathers, Hellburner Cult and Ryan Dart & Grandpa’s Gun. Attend and make a donation to Living GREEN Network and donateboulder.org to get a free copy of Cuvée 8.

The Mudslingers and donateboulder.org are the organizational structure created for a group of local volunteers who wanted to help out after the flood, says Matthew Wilburn King, chairman and president of Living GREEN Network, which provided organizational and legal guidance for the two organizations.

“Donateboulder.org and The Mudslingers is really a name that just arose as the result of hundreds of people coming together,” King says. “We created a donor-advised fund for all the kids and 20- and 30-somethings that really got organized. We provided the structure for them to do it legally and responsibly.”

Doing so involved funding a donor-guided fund of $25,000, a goal King says has already been reached. He says he will continue to raise money for the organizations through a pair of fundraising concerts on Friday, Sept. 27, the Adventure Records show and a show at Stoney’s Bar & Grill in Denver.

Denver creatives are pitching in for flood relief too. On Friday, Sept. 27, Mollie O’Brien and Rich Moore, Harry Tuft and others will play Swallow Hill’s Daniels Hall (71 E. Yale Ave., Denver) at 8 p.m. Sam Tallent, Jordan Dall of Fine Gentleman’s Club, Esme Patterson, Wheelchair Sports Camp and Ken Arkind will play the hi-dive (7 S. Broadway, Denver) at 8 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 29.

Patterson, a Boulder native whose mom had to dig a trench around her South Boulder home to fend off floodwaters, says her band, Paper Bird, was driving through Wyoming when the flood hit, closing I-25. The band had to travel 400 miles out of the way in order to make it back to Denver to play a Red Rocks gig.

“I just said yes to every flood relief benefit,” Patterson says.

Danny Shafer, who is playing a few flood benefits himself, was a Lyons resident pre-flood. Now, he and his fiancée and her two children have relocated to Longmont.

“Colorado bands step up when the going gets tough, more than any place I’ve ever seen,” Shafer says. “It’s a tight-knit community; everybody knows somebody or has been affected by it. Everyone comes together when things get tough here.”

He says he hopes one day to move back into Lyons, but he’s not sure. He lived in the River Bend Mobile Home Park, near Planet Bluegrass, and he says he hopes the park will continue to exist when the town re-opens.

“We loved it down there,” Shafer says. “[It was] down by the river. The school was two blocks away. A town like Lyons being able to retain its economic diversity is really important for the town’s culture.

“I’m doing OK. I could live in a freakin’ doghouse if I had to. But I’ve got to look after my family, too.”

Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com

SCHEDULE

Thursday, September 26

Jayme Stone & the Other Side of Air: Flood Relief. 7 p.m. eTown Hall, 1535 Spruce St., Boulder, 303-443-8696.

Friday, September 27

2013 Flood Relief Concert — With
Mollie O’Brien and Rich Moore, Harry Tuft, & others. 8 p.m. Swallow
Hill Daniels Hall, 71 E. Yale Avenue, Denver, 303-777-1003.

Concert to Benefit Flood Victims with Dev Suroop Kaur. 7:30 p.m. The Adi Shakti Sanctuary, 6717 Valmont Road, Boulder, 720-252-3962.

Concert to Benefit the Living GREEN Foundation. 7 p.m. Stoney’s Bar & Grill, 1111 Lincoln St., Denver, 303-830-6839.

Adventure Records Cuvée Release Party — A
night of local music featuring Monocle Stache, …And The Black
Feathers, Ryan Dart, Hellburner Cult and Grandpa’s Gun. Proceeds go to
The Mudslingers and donateboulder.org. 10 p.m. The Lazy Dog Sports Bar
& Grill, 1346 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-440-3355.

Flood Relief Benefit — Featuring Blue Mountain Jam and Gipsy Moon. 8:30 p.m. Gold Hill Inn, 401 Main St., Gold Hill, 303-443-6461.

Saturday, September 28

Boulder “Wake of the Flood” Benefit Concert — With
members of Deadphish Orchestra, Hot Soup, Mountain Standard Time, The
Zimmermans, Jet Edison & more. 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St.,
Boulder, 303-443-3399.

Mantra Beat Kirtan/Dance to Benefit Flood Victims — With RAHASYA. 8 p.m. The Adi Shakti Sanctuary, 6717 Valmont Road, Boulder, 720-252-3962.

Oktoberfest Bavarian Celebration — Portions
of proceeds will go to Humane Society of Boulder Valley to help
animals affected by flooding. 12 p.m. Guercio Ballfield, Nederland,
www.nederlandoktoberfest.com.

Sunday, September 29

Blame it on the Rain Flood Relief Benefit — With
Sam Tallent, Jordan Dall of the Fine Gentleman’s Club, Esme Patterson,
Wheelchair Sports Camp & Ken Arkind. 8 p.m. the hi-dive, 7 S.
Broadway, Denver, 303- 733-0230

Sunday, October 6

Bridges Over Boulder County Flood Relief Benefit — With
Chris Daniels & the Kings, The Hazel Miller Band, Wendy Woo,
Something Underground, Jeff Brinkman, Delta Sonics, Desciples, Girls On
Top and The Prairie Scholars. Proceeds will benefit Longmont Community
Fund. 12 p.m. Dickens Opera House, 300 Main St., Longmont,
720-297-6397.