Brad was an immensely talented musician who touched many lives in his brief time. Most recently he was known for his work with Duluth bands Equal Xchange and High Volt Rustler, both of whom recently released cd's featuring Brad's work posthumously.
In the wake of Brad's death, his family and friends have banded together to create the Friends of Brad Memorial Foundation. Our initial, proposed projects are to work with local musicians to create a free after-school music program for middle and high school students on the the Iron Range (modeled after the Music Resource Center in Charlottesville, VA, and the Mark Sandman Music Project in Somerville, MA), to establish a visiting artist program to enrich the student experience at St. Cloud State University (where Brad studied), and to create a fellowship for young professional musicians residing in the Duluth/Iron Range area.
Our hope is to make this benefit concert an annual event. So far we've got a number of local and regional bands slated to perform, including Arcwelder, a band that we have begged out of retirement for the gig. In high school, a bunch of us used to drive 3 1/2 hours (each way) to go see them play at First Avenue in Minneapolis. Troy and Brad had a band that covered their songs too. Needless to say, we are all honored and thrilled that they are going to participate!
This is a truly ambitious undertaking and it's been challenging to organize something of this scale from afar, but it feels good to know that we can hopefully make a difference for some young musicians in Brad's name. It's not going to be easy, but we are attempting to channel his tremendous, positive spirit and unbridled enthusiasm for this effort.
2 comments:
That's awesome, you guys.
Thanks Shana. We are really excited about it!
Post a Comment