On Monday, tragedy struck the local San Diego band, Through The Roots while they were on tour with The Green. The band was on their way to Wilmington, North Carolina on the I-95 South when suddenly the band pulled to the side of the road when they noticed something was not right with their tour bus.
Upon doing so, they noticed that the bus, named Bessy, was pouring out gasoline and had smoke coming out of the engine compartment. Shortly thereafter, the gasoline burst into flames, and the band members yelled at the remaining individuals inside the bus to get out. Two people can be seen scrambling out of the bus in the video below.
The group was able to salvage most of their equipment, but in the fire, they ended up losing 4 laptops, 3 go-pros, iPhone 6, 4 wallets, a lot of clothes, a bunch of the groups CDs & merchandise, external hard-drives, software, two guitars and a laundry list of other misc items. The attached trailer was damaged, but salvageable, with lots of smoke damage inside the trailer. As far as clothes are concerned, Peter Grimm Hats replaced all of the hats the band lost in the fire, just yesterday. The band will stay positive and continue on with the tour despite no longer having a bus.
The band, not wanting to disappoint fans, immediately got to work on trying to find a way to continue the tour. Luckily, a local reggae-rock band from North Carolina, Signal Fire, caught wind of the situation and decided to give Through The Roots a hand by picking them up and taking them to their show. A close friend of the band, Ben Artiano, then set up a Go Fund Me account to raise funds for the band. In just three days, the band has collected almost half of what the goal was. The band is shooting to collect $30,000 dollars, and so far, they have collected about $13,000 dollars from 224 people (as of this writing.)
NBC San Diego was the first news outlet to report on this incident, and every news organization that has reported on this tragedy has included the link to their Go Fund Me page. You can find the link to support the band in this difficult time HERE!
According to the bands manager, none of the equipment was insured, which further puts the spotlight on whether or not artists should insure their instruments, especially those that go on national tours being exposed to the unpredictable circumstances of the road. This poses the question of what options musicians have towards insuring their equipment and how many of the regularly touring artists do insure their equipment in case of instances such as this. The one insurance they do have is that of a special community willing to come together to support a mid-level group on the mend from tragedy.
Lets help Through The Roots by donating to their Go Fund Me account. If you’re uncomfortable donating money, then take a look at one of their upcoming shows, buy a ticket and purchase any of their available merchandise while at the show – that’s the best support you could provide any group! You can support TTR via their Go Fund Me account by clicking HERE!
Related Links:
Through The Roots Website
Through The Roots Facebook
Through The Roots Go Fund Me
Article By: Juan Barragan
Watch: Through The Roots’ Bus Catch On Fire