https://www.facebook.com/events/354768994563023/
Slabtown loves all of the members of the NEEDFUL LONGINGS (They were on the bill of our second show since reopening.), and hope this is a successful event for both Sean and the Jeremy Wilson Foundation.
From their press release:
Friday April 6th, Portland, Or - The Jeremy Wilson Foundation (JWF) proudly presents a night of high energy rock’n’roll featuring a cast of Portland native sons including Dharma Bums, The Needful Longings, Ugly Flowers and DJ HWY 7. The concert’s proceeds will help relieve longtime Portland musician Sean Croghan (Crackerbash, Jr. High, The Needful Longings) of expensive medical bills he accumulated from an emergency hospital stay late last year, and The JWF Musician’s Healthcare Fund, which assists musicians in times of medical crisis.
It promises to be a special night of music uniting old (and new) friends together, not only for a worthy cause, but also as a true testament of what the spirit of the Portland music and arts culture is all about. The relationship that has manifested over the years between the collective members of Dharma Bums and The Needful Longings can easily be described as a close-knit “family.”
Inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame last November, the members of Dharma Bums grew up together in the Willamette Valley playing in bands since their very early teens. They found regional fame around the valley, partially because they could play hundreds of songs at concert level from such young ages. In 1986, when the Dharma Bums moved to Portland from the Silverton area, they played many of their earliest Portland gigs with Sean Croghan’s first band Crackerbash. It was during this exciting time that both bands honed their sonic crafts and garnered stellar reputations as ferocious live and touring acts. For several years together, before most of the members were even of legal age, the Bums and Crackerbash played area clubs such as The Pine Street Theater, The Long Goodbye, Blue Gallery, and the legendary Satyricon. Croghan and Dharma Bums bassist, Jim Talstra, originally conceived of a Wipers Tribute “flip 45” single to be released as a dual effort between both Crackerbash and the Bums. This project quickly blossomed into a compilation vinyl 45 box set tribute to Greg Sage & The Wipers, including tracks from Poison Idea, Hole, and Nirvana. The release of this box set and the expanded CD that followed helped put then powerhouse indie Portland label T/K Records on the map; a label that launched the biggest Portland acts of the 90s.
In all aspects of life, these guys have been brothers for one another onstage and off as they came of age. From helping each other move apartments to painting and creating art on front porches to playing on each other’s records over the years, these guys became lifelong buddies and collaborators. Heck, Sean Croghan even appeared as “The Face”, on the front cover of the Dharma Bums third album, Welcome, back in 1993. Twenty years later the members of these bands still play with the same vitality and emotion that sparked their mutual admiration back in the day. From the 2010 triumphant reunion shows of the Dharma Bums’ foursome to Sean’s latest and greatest group, The Needful Longings, these dedicated musicians are making the best music of their careers as they continue to collaborate on each other’s projects and adventures. For instance, Dharma Bums’ bassist Jim Talstra plays for The Needful Longings, whose guitar player, Chris Slusarenko, also plays in Boston Spaceships with Bum’s drummer, John Moen (now in the grammy nominated Decemberists) and singer Robert Pollard (Guided by Voices). Guitarist, Eric Lovre of the Bums produced records for both John Moen as well as Talstra’s bands, Perhapst and Minus 5. Lovre, Moen, and Talstra all appear on Dharma Bum’s frontman, Jeremy Wilson’s upcoming solo album, Empty Through Empty Space---and the list goes on. As this close-knit circle has done in the past, they will reunite once again to raise revenue for The Jeremy Wilson Foundation to assist their fellow musicians in times of emergency.
It is no question that the “family” would come together now when Sean Croghan needs some assistance. A stint in the emergency room last September was no small setback for the hard working Sean when he passed a kidney stone and found himself uninsured due to a recent job change. But Croghan’s situation is, unfortunately, not unique. Like millions of people throughout the United States, even some of the biggest names in music are hit hard by medical emergency, which can quickly turn into financial disaster. Jeremy Wilson’s struggle from his own stressful medical condition prompted him to form The JWF Musician’s Healthcare Fund to benefit the well-being of the entire Northwest music community. The Jeremy Wilson Foundation is a 501(c)3 Nonprofit that recognizes that many musicians do not have individual access to healthcare and functions as a resource center whose revenue funds musicians like Sean Croghan in their time of medical crisis. Those who wish to contribute to JWF Musician’s Healthcare Fund and support the well-being of area musicians are encouraged to donate online at www.thejwf.org. Donors can also contribute directly to Sean Croghan’s Relief Fund at http://thejwf.org/donateDonations are 100% tax deductible.
The Jeremy Wilson Foundation Presents – Friday April 6th 2012 - Dharma Bums, The Needful Longings, Ugly Flowers, DJ HWY7 @ Dantes - 350 West Burnside St. Portland, OR 97209 (503) 226-6630 $10.00 in advance http://
MORE ABOUT THE JEREMY WILSON FOUNDATION
There is an absence of relief organizations which assist uninsured and under-insured musicians who, as members of the creative class, are at high risk of serious financial harm in times of medical crisis.
The mission of The Jeremy Wilson Foundation (JWF) is to support uninsured and underinsured musicians and their families in times of medical crisis. Sixteen months since its inception, The JWF has generated $52.000.00, and granted $20,000 in assistance in 2011 alone. The JWF has started JWF Studio and Learning Center’s program, Blue Room Music Lessons, which provides secure jobs for music educators while granting access to affordable, discounted or free music lessons to children of low-income families. In its ninth month of operation, Blue Room’s educators have taught over 90 students. The JWF’s November 2011 fundraising concert, The Next Waltz, rallied over 60 area musicians and 20 volunteers for a sold out recreation of The Band’s The Last Waltz, held at the Alberta Rose Theater in Portland, Oregon. The JWF’s survey results have provided valuable insight for the Local 99 Musician's Union, the Health Association of Austin Musicians (HAMM), and at hearings regarding the cost of insurance for small business owners in the Oregon State Senate.
Musicians are twice as likely as the general public to be uninsured. They are considered self-employed and do not receive employee benefits from the record companies they serve. The artists individually absorb 100% of the costs (from paying the doorman to releasing the album), while the record companies receive up to 90% of revenues. Although demand for music is increasing, the advent of the 360° record deal has drastically decreased the artist’s profits through the label’s appropriation of each and every revenue stream. Due to a lack of fundamental financial security, stability, and business structure, many artists simply cannot afford basic health insurance.
The JWF, in its second year, is trying to build and expand its non-profit 501 (c)3 organization dedicated to assisting uninsured and under-insured musicians and their families. It is developing multiple streams of revenue to subsidize a musician’s medical crisis fund. JWF is developing programs to provide incentives and financial fitness education specific to this unique industry to help individuals proactively establish and maintain adequate health care coverage. By developing and implementing a new music licensing model the JWF empowers the artist’s own enterprise and contributes to the well-being of other musicians. They are trying to provide an essential safety-net and proactive training to vital members of the creative economy, and by doing so hope to enrich and sustain our community’s cultural identity.
The Foundation’s namesake, musician Jeremy Wilson (The Dharma Bums, Pilot) formed the foundation because of his personal experiences since being diagnosed with a serious congenital heart condition called Wolf-Parkinson-White. He has learned, by what Wilson calls “his education by fire,” all about the need for adequate health care for our community of musicians. And because of the great outpouring of goodwill he experienced from those that have helped him through his own trial these last many years, he wants to pay forward the same goodwill to others.
With the help of an incredible cast of friends, well-wishers, music fans, industry professionals and others, Wilson has formed this Foundation. Let’s raise the quality of life for all by helping those that make the sound tracks of our lives be healthy and happy.
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