Last spring, I was lucky enough to get the chance to ride around in a van for a week with a bunch of smelly boys. Wait. That doesn’t sound good. Um… Last spring, I got the chance to go on tour with a band called Rogue Wave for a week. (For those of you unfamiliar, we’ll describe them as ”better than the Shins,” and tell you that their music has been on The O.C., and, as all of you know, that makes it awesome.) My trip was for a story that never managed to appear here in EW, and so I feel like I owe them one — and there couldn’t be a better time than now for me to try and make amends.
Pat Spurgeon, Rogue Wave’s drummer and the owner of one of the best hairdos you’ll ever see, needs a kidney. He was only born with one, and the replacement he got when he was a teenager has since conked out. He needs a new one, but before that can happen, he needs to be able to pay for the surgery. Here’s where you come in.
On Sept. 30, Rogue Wave is having a benefit concertfor Pat in San Francisco, featuring Ben Gibbard, Nada Surf, and JohnVanderslice, and MC’ed by Daniel Handler, a.k.a. Lemony Snicket. If you’rein the Bay Area, you should try to go. If you’re not in the Bay Areaand you still want to help, you can go to their website and make adonation. (Also, this is the time when I remind everyone about theimportance of signing up to be an organ donor.)
I know what you’re saying: But they’re a famous rock band! Why dothey need our help? We work at the 7-Eleven, while surely they arerolling in dough! Well, sadly, that’s not how it works. This entiresituation brings up an issue that doesn’t get enough attention:that of record labels not providing health insurance for their bands.Whether it’s getting injured in a tour van accident or just coming upagainst a hardcore health problem, any band or musician that dwellsbelow superstar level can get stuck in a really crappy financial placeif they’re faced with a medical disaster. (Alt-country singer AlejandroEscovedo’s near-death from hepatitis C and ensuing struggle to pay hisbills springs to mind, as does Victoria Williams’ fight against MS andthe Sweet Relief charity it inspired.)
This is a real problem, and I’m not sure what the solution is… butif you can toss Pat 20 bucks or go to the show and let him demonstratehis talent and huge heart in person, I strongly encourage you to do so.As a reward, here are a couple mp3s. In the meantime, consider mysoapbox retired.
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It’s appalling how musicians get little to no help on insurance. It isn’t a new issue to me since I remember Victoria Williams’ Sweet Relief album, in fact the cd is sitting next to me right now. I’ll see what I can do to help out Rogue Wave’s Pat. By the way, you left out an “e” in the headline for your article.
Preaching to the chorus. A few years back ago, Madison Wisconsin Legend and James Brown Band drummer Clyde Stubblefield had serious health problems and had to get his treatment funded by the fans.
That is so not cool when a brilliant mind’s body is made to suffer. In Europe, they subsidize artists and muscisians. While I am not sure the same idea would work here, our government COULD offer to allow musicsians to buy into discounted health plans.
neds?
Headline fixed. Thanks, sharp-eyed PopWatchers!
Thanks for publicizing the importance of organ donation, as well as the plight of musicians and lots of other people with no health insurance. I just made a donation to Pat’s fund (very easy to do with PayPal). Just a tip for others wanting to make a donation: use the “benefit concert” link above – it’s much more direct than the band’s website link. Good luck, Pat – hope they find a kidney for you soon!
Rogue Wave are amazing, and Pat’s drumming (and hair) are top notch. I’d be glad to help. Nice work with this piece here, this issue needs attention.
seriously? Articles like this are the reason why people should pay $200 a month for health insurance. If you never get sick, it seems like a waste, but when you do get sick, it saves you a bundle.
And sure, it’s hard to get insurance when you have a health problem, but that’s why you get insurance before the problems come up.
For those who say someone should “just pay 200 bucks a month for health insurance,” you’ve certainly never had a pre-existing condition. I have one, and Pat has one (and has for many many years) If you, say, have only one kidney, and that kidney conked out when you were 17, there’s not an insurance company on earth that will cover you. Your only option is to work at a job that has a group plan. These jobs are hard to find, and make it impossible to be a musician. So, yeah, Pat could’ve given up being an awesome musician and worked at Walmart and been miserable, and even then not had very good coverage, but it’s not as easy as you think. As someone who had cancer at a very young age, I can tell you– you can’t get health insurance unless you’re healthy. I would LOVE to be able to get insurance for 200 bucks a month. But for me, that’s impossible. Don’t blame Pat for not having insurance.
Done.
I had one of mine “yanked” when I was 10. Tube to the bladder was pinched at birth, took a while for the diagnosis ‘cuz it was before any of our modern imageging techniques existed. (I’m an old dude)
Anyway, I have insurance through my company…working for the man instead of working for the muse…so I am a fortunate son, to say the least.
Good luck and many good thoughts and a few bucks being sent from this frustrated artist type, grateful for the regular income and bennies, but pining for a canvas now and again.
Rogue Wave Drummer Fundraiser
I saw Rogue Wave last year at the Fillmore, and loved their sound. It was at a Nada Surf show. Anyways, their drummer, Pat Sturgion is in a bit of a pickle: needs a new kidney, his old one…
Flor-Essence
There is a intresting post on “Rock hipster needs your help | Popwatch | Blog: Entertainment Weekly” which I found relevent to improving your health with flor-essence herbal detox and I recommend that e…
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Thanks everyone for taking the time to respond to this article. It is too bad that this country is so hung up on the good old $. Just like oil, medicine =BIG$$$$.
See you all soon, and healthy.
Love,
Pat
I’m not sure if anyone’s still looking at these postings, but I wanted to let you know (especially you, Whitney) that Pat Spurgeon got a new kidney on Jan. 13, 2007 and seems to be doing well. Hopefully he has raised the funds to help pay for the surgery.
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