Flood damage and Nashville musicians

Randy Mason · Post by **Randy Mason** » 7 May 2010 10:23 pm

Hi Pete, I was there today with Brent and most of his stuff is ruined. A few might be salvaged. I believe that the insurance, was whatever you had on your own. Not insured by Soundcheck. Although there may be a relief fund for the losses. The place and guitars smelled of sewage and river. It was a tough thing to see river water pouring out of Brent's guitars.

Franklin · Post by **Franklin** » 7 May 2010 11:20 pm

Thanks for all the phone calls........Although I was with the soundcheck cartage company for years, Michael Rhodes and I moved our gear over to Drum Paradise a year ago........They are high and dry.

Pete,

Not sure about their insurance...............Paul

Paul E. Brennan · Post by **Paul E. Brennan** » 8 May 2010 1:51 am

Randy, please tell me Brent's famous "silver" Telecaster is safe.

Franklin · Post by **Franklin** » 8 May 2010 3:02 am

Paul,

Brent's tele is safe along with several of his other guitars.......They were at his home......He takes the tele home with him.........Paul

Pete Finney · Post by **Pete Finney** » 8 May 2010 3:14 am

Wow Randy, that's horrible about Brent's stuff. Paul I'm glad things are good for you and Michael.

I ran into a neighbor who plays with Lynryd Skynard, not only is all their touring gear at Soundcheck (sad but not surprising) but they also had a large locker full of instruments, artifacts and memorabilia saved from the original incarnation of the band that's presumably mostly ruined.

I don't guess there's anyway to know, but I have to think that an awful lot of small independent and home studios are probably ruined; a lot of them are in basements. That's where a lot of the work is these days for a lot of us so that's gonna hurt...

Any word on damage to any of the bigger studios; Music Row, Berry Hill, etc.?

The offers for help here in this thread from folks out of town have been great; I assume anyone that wants to take y'all up on it can contact you directly. I personally am fine, had some damage and lost some stuff but have everything I need; I'm one of the lucky ones. I just wanted to have a thread where we could maybe collect information on the whole situation with musicians here as it came in...

Pete Finney · Post by **Pete Finney** » 8 May 2010 7:34 am

For any Nashville folks that want to help there's a volunteer instrument cleanup going on today (Saturday) at a temporary Soundcheck space in East Nashville, from 10 until dark.

3520 Ambrose Lane (just off of Ellington Parkway at Trinity Lane, by the Clair Brothers warehouse)

37207

Travis Toy · Post by **Travis Toy** » 8 May 2010 7:51 am

Hey Pete! Unfortunately, I lost a bunch of stuff over there. There is in fact NO insurance through Sound Check. I had a bunch of stuff in the Flatts locker over there. Really nice D-10 Mullen, Nashville 1000, Pac-A-Seat, Hilton pedal, pedal board, 2 banjos, an acoustic guitar, etc. The list goes on and on. All completely ruined.

Bruce Bouton · Post by **Bruce Bouton** » 8 May 2010 8:52 am

I had my stuff at Soundcheck. Fortunately my guitars were at home but racks, speakers , amps, ha all destroyed. My losses were nothing compared to many of my friends that had gear there. It was truly heartbreaking. Millions of dollars of irreplaceble instruments lost.

Kevin Hatton · Post by **Kevin Hatton** » 8 May 2010 9:53 am

John, that picture really puts things into perspective. Looks like a hospital ward for guitars.

Pete Finney · Post by **Pete Finney** » 8 May 2010 10:01 am

Hey Travis and Bruce, that's horrible, and I hate to hear that confirmed about insurance... Any chance Reba or "the Flatts" would have insurance that might cover any of your stuff.? And does anyone know if the individual instrument insurance they sell through the union covers flooding or water damage? I had that for years but let it lapse so I don't have a policy to look at.

Just got back from a few hours of helping where they're loading stuff out of Soundcheck into one of the temporary spaces a few miles away that they're using to unpack and sort and clean. As Randy said the stench in the old buildings is horrendous from the river water: a mixture of sewage, mildew and who knows what chemicals in that water; Soundcheck is downstream from several big industrial areas. I couldn't stay inside for more than a little bit at a time.

At the new warehouse I saw Keith Urban's and John Fogerty's stuff all out of the cases and it was heartbreaking for sure. John Hiatt's got a huge vintage collection and it seemed pretty trashed. A lot of people forget that Nashville is a center for the whole touring industry, not just country...

One bright spot: apparently what I heard last night about a lot of historical stuff from early Lynyrd Skynard being there was a little exaggerated. One of their old crew guys told me it was just a lot of gear that they'd quit using but that not that much of it was historical or particularly rare or valuable...

Jim Lindsey (Louisiana) · Post by **Jim Lindsey (Louisiana)** » 8 May 2010 10:10 am

I've been a bit out of touch with things lately as I've been without electricity for a little over two weeks due to some hardships I've been experiencing myself. So, last night when my power was restored I grabbed a cup of coffee and sat back to get into the SGF and read the various posts on the Forum and see what's been happening in the music world ... only to find my blood turning cold and chilled as I read about the heartbreaking events that have occurred in the Nashville area while I've been isolated without power.

I'm sick at heart to read about the terrible floods that have hit the Nashville area. I was so shocked to learn what's happened there and the extent of the heartache and damages the flood has caused. Lives lost, homes and businesses damaged and/or devastated by flood waters as well as the music instruments and equipment damaged or destroyed.

I've just been numb all day with heartfelt sympathy for those who've been affected by these terrible events and my most earnest and fervent prayers go out to everyone who's been touched by this.

For those who were fortunate not to lose instruments or equipment, I'm truly happy and grateful that they were able to dodge a dreadful bullet, and for those who've lost instruments and equipment, I am sincerely saddened and so sorry to hear of this sort of thing happening.

Mike Daly · Post by **Mike Daly** » 8 May 2010 12:24 pm

More damage to the list...Hank Jr. and band lost all of their touring guitars and backline gear. Luckily I had my steel at the house. Mike Daly

Pete Finney · Post by **Pete Finney** » 8 May 2010 1:33 pm

Just found out that a friend had over 50 instruments there, including many high end and rare basses and many of Jerry Reeds most well known guitars...

Skip Edwards · Post by **Skip Edwards** » 8 May 2010 1:44 pm

Man, this is just awful, and it gets worse with each post. My heart really goes out to everyone who's dealing with these losses.
It's just heartbreaking.

Pete Finney · Post by **Pete Finney** » 8 May 2010 2:03 pm

A little good news:

http://tinyurl.com/36n2dcl

FWIW the Peter Cooper who wrote this article for our daily paper IS the same guy that's recorded several great CDs as a singer/songwriter in the past few years that feature Lloyd Green getting to stretch out at his very best. Peter is by far the best thing about our local newspaper and a real supporter of all the best things in Nashville music...

John Floyd · Post by **John Floyd** » 8 May 2010 2:41 pm

The Thoughts that go through my mind right now are what about the typical Road Pickers. In the past The artists made all the money and Road pickers made scale and sometimes a little better. The big name artists sometimes paid a Salary and Benefits. My point is the Typical Touring Musician will be hit harder than anyone else. I can imagine what the scenario would have been 30 - 35 years ago with the losses of equipment that we are hearing about in this disaster. No equipment would equal no work back then. Most of us spent a good portion of what we made maintaining and upgrading our instruments and equipment just to stay employed and on the road. Playing in a Nashville based band didn't always mean you were sucessful, It meant you were surviving, sometimes , not too well. If you had a wife or Girlfriend that could work, then you were lucky.
If any relief is Provided for the loss of instruments and equipment, It should be directed at those who can least afford it. I would hope That no one loses work because his or her equipment was lost in this disaster.

The big name Instrumentalists will be taken care of by Instrument Builders and Equipment manufacturers, but what about the little guys?

Pete Finney · Post by **Pete Finney** » 8 May 2010 4:47 pm

Anybody here know anything about how studios here have done in the flooding? I do know that "Yes Master", the mastering studio here does does a huge amount of the cooler non-mainstream stuff took a big hit.

I heard Music Row was mostly okay but there's studios all over town these days...

It's reassuring to know that Tommy White is playing the Opry tonight down at the Ryman.

Billy Knowles · Post by **Billy Knowles** » 8 May 2010 8:20 pm

Did the clubs on Broadway get flooded?

Franklin · Post by **Franklin** » 9 May 2010 1:41 am

..Randle Currie also lost his electronics, some amps and a lot of rack gear......His guitars were with him....I've been recording at Blackbird all week. Each day on my way in, I drove around the row and Berry Hill wondering about the studio's........they all seem to be fine........studios like Chuck Howard's and some home studios close to the river are probably gone.......Paul

Pete Finney · Post by **Pete Finney** » 9 May 2010 3:24 am

Haven't been down to Lower Broad this week but if George Gruhn's store place didn't get hit then I would guess that the clubs are probably okay, most of them are further from the river than his place...

Thanks for the studio report, Paul... If you hear any more specifics over the next few days, good or bad, they'd be good to know...

T. C. Furlong · Post by **T. C. Furlong** » 9 May 2010 3:56 am

Just a word about insuring your gear. I am by no means an expert but I have learned about insurance for instruments and sound gear in the last month. I have been hired by a large insurance company to consult on a fire loss in Alabama. It was sound, lighting, video, and instruments - al;l smoke damage. The guy I've been working with is a very experienced insurance adjuster (he adjusted the World Trade Center loss after 9/11) I asked him about what kind of scenario players who had their gear in storage at Soundcheck (and elsewhere in Nashville) are facing. He said if they had a scheduled policy, they'd get what they lost as they had assigned values to each piece. If they had a general policy with a limit, say $50,000 and they had not provided a schedule that listed each instrument, serial number, photo and a value, they would be in a tough spot. For example, if Vince Gill had his '52 Blackguard Tele in an unscheduled general policy, the insurance adjuster would be bound by the contract to give him a typical loss for an electric guitar which would be about $150. Sad but true.

There is one other matter that we all need to keep in mind. There are responsibilities you have as an insured party in the event of a loss. You must, without the help of the insurance company, do everything in your power to mitigate the loss. For instance, if the roof blows off of your house, and you don't cover the roof as well as you reasonably can, and it rains the next day, the roof is covered but none of the damage caused by the rain would be covered. The same holds true for gear. If you don't take steps to minimize the damage, it may not be covered.

I was able to jump in and advise a friend in Nashville who had historically significant and very valuable instruments in the flood. In my research, I learned that it's best to treat these instruments like you would a piece of fine art. There are disaster restoration companies who specialize in drying the wet item in special drying chambers. My good friend and neighbor has such a company here in Chicago. They know the rate at which to dry them so that they are minimally affected. They also have a division that restores fine art and furniture. My friend told me that if it has a finish on it. It should come to the conservation center to be saved. They do amazing work.

If anyone needs help with sorting out what they will do, please contact me. I'd be glad to point you in the right direction. If you have insurance, and you have enough scheduled coverage to have your instrument saved (it's not cheap), my advice would be to get it dried correctly and perhaps restored.

TC

Pete Finney · Post by **Pete Finney** » 9 May 2010 6:27 am

Great, helpful info, T.C., thanks...

Gere Mullican · Post by **Gere Mullican** » 9 May 2010 8:23 am

Pete and any of your colleagues, I personally was not impacted by the floods, but am offering some help. I am an old retired man (78 in June) and since I am no longer picking, I have some gear that I will gladly loan to someone in need. I have a GFI Ultra SD-10 (day set-up), Nashville 112 amp, Hilton pedal, Peterson VS-II tuner, Elite seat and a bunch of strings and necessary cords. I haven't played in about 7 months so my stuff is just sitting here. If you or if you know someone who needs any of this until they can get theirs replaced, just let me know. I know this is not much, but it's the best I can do. Some folks live on a fixed income, I live on a broke income, but am more than willing to help. Thanks and good luck.

Gere Mullican

Pete Finney · Post by **Pete Finney** » 9 May 2010 9:31 am

Thanks Gere, that's a very kind offer...

Here's a good update on Soundcheck from today's paper:

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100 ... 01/5090349

Pete Finney · Post by **Pete Finney** » 10 May 2010 6:14 am

Any more reports of what gear survived and what didn't after the weekend Soundcheck cleanup?

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