Page 57 - ION Indie Magazine MarchApril 2019

I suggested Austin, Texas during the largest independent music festival in the world; South
by Southwest. It was centrally located for people around the country and we could all meet
there and possibly put on our own event. They agreed. Plus, we all decided to find a cause
that we could rally behind and develop a tour to Austin. California had also opened my eyes
to a dark underworld that existed in our country that nobody was talking about: human
trafficking. Hence, The Abolitionist Tour 2011 was born.

The label was sending their artists to SXSW and I found some from my show that wanted to
go to Austin. We booked a series of shows on the road to Austin, all the while trying to bring
awareness to the cause of human trafficking. People paid little attention, yet we continued on.
In Austin, we had a series of showcase events planned featuring the artists from the tour. The
first such event was held at The Red Shed Tavern. It was a success and a lot of fun, as we
were all together sharing similar hopes and dreams of “making it” in music. It was an incredible
experience yet was about to take an unexpected terrible and tragic turn for my family.

During the early planning stages of The Abolitionist Tour, our youngest had gotten pregnant.
As it turned out, she was due around the time I was scheduled to be in Texas. My son had
come along with me on this journey. The night after the Red Shed event, we went to see The
Strokes. Afterward, we were going to meet up with the rest of our group on Sixth Street to
watch our friends perform. All this time, we knew we could get a call telling me I was a
Grandpa. The call came as The Strokes finished. My son fielded the call and was having
trouble hearing due to the noise. He told me it was Jen. I was elated. We were going to really
celebrate that night. Life had taken a great turn for us.