RAGINPIT MAGAZINE

The sixth annual "Band Fest" is an all day affair that is free to the public. It is held at Union City at The Kennedy Community Park Amphitheater. This year’s featured 12 bands and assorted vendors offering food, art & crafts, tattoos, massages and belly dancing by Anisa. A nice touch for people who brought their kids to the show was one of those inflatable cages filled with balls for the kids to go wild in (I just wish they would make those for us bigger kids) and a balloon artist. The organizer of this event is Pete Schaaphok, the founder of Bands 4 Bands and who happens to be the bad ass drummer for a band called Mystic Rage.

I arrived in Fremont around 9 am a little tired and worked over from watching Imagika perform in SF's Cherry Bar the night before. (Our staff writer Shoshannah will report on that show to you all here in the pit soon.)

So, I, along with people from various bands and youth volunteers from the Union City parks and recreation department, were busily setting up tents for the vendors or helping out where needed. The guys from the band Color Black were in the process of setting up the back line and sound on the stage. Eric of Palmtree productions and another fellow whose name I didn't get were setting up video cameras to record the bands’ performances and two professional photographers readying their equipment.

This park is a cool site for an outdoor show. At one end of the park there is a grassy knoll, at the bottom of it is an octagon shaped concert slab about 80 feet wide with a white steel A-frame covering in the middle of it under which the stage was erected. I, being a writer for this here glorious webzine, had the honor to help out by sweeping off as much mud and duck shit from that concrete slab as I could manage. I have to say it was an interesting way to work off the fog of last night’s indulgences.

I really can't find the words to say enough about the work that Pete Schaaphok has done to support bands here in the Bay Area and elsewhere. His tireless, and at times thankless efforts to do all he can to keep the music scene alive and growing here in the Bay Area. Basically his mission with Bands 4 Bands and ours here at Raginpit are pretty much the same, which is to help bands help themselves to achieve success, gain the knowledge needed to survive in this business, and finally, but most importantly, to support each other.

I will let Pete tell you in his own words.

Pete, tell us how you got the idea to start Bands 4 Bands in the first place?

Pete: Well, I was tired of band competition and BS, I never saw my friends that were in bands, and I was tired of doing shows with bands I did not know.

Tell us what B4B is all about, what kind of helpful information does your organization provide for bands?

Pete: We mostly offer networking, but if you come to a meeting with a specific question, someone can answer it. We offer a lot of support in the scene. We work on several goals and work to attain those goals together.

Tell our readers when and where the meetings are.

Pete: Every 1st Thursday of the month in San Leandro at The Englander - 101 Parrott St. About 7:00 PM... More like 7:30 MST time (musician standard time).

I hear that you are planning to expand B4B’s out to the valley 209 area.

Pete: Yes, we will start to have two meetings a month. One in the 510 and one in the 209. Most likely in 2006, watch for it...We have bands in the organization already from the 209 - Liquid Conscience, Morbius, Differential...

The coolest part of this show for me was to see and hear a lot of the B4B member bands that I haven't yet seen perform. Tara Tinsley, Ugly Buzzard, Color Black, Hands of Time, The HepCatz, 6am, Marc Hall of Glass Tree house and Phil Johnson of Roadside Attraction.

I was really impressed on how solid the bands’ performances were and the caliber of musicianship that was on display. I can't think of any other free event around these parts that offers up so much variety of rock and or roll. The show was emceed by funny man Dave Carbon. The proceedings basically went like this, a band played then either the group of belly dancers would perform while the next band set up or an acoustic act would play.

The metal bands that played the late afternoon slot were Osiris Rising, Justus, Potential Threat, Kaos and Mystic Rage. I have written about these bands quite a bit so you can look at some of my past show reviews to see how off the fucking hook they were.

Besides being a show case for the members of Bands 4 Bands organization, it was also a chance to promote and collect money for a great cause called MusiCares®. Below is all the info you need to know about their programs and services.

Over the years, the music industry has evolved into an amazing worldwide network of individuals and multinational conglomerates grossing over $50 billion a year. Yet, disturbingly, the very people whose creativity and ingenuity fuel these massive cash machines have few places to turn too in troubled times. The tragic health and financial hardships faced by too many members of our musical family prompted the Recording Academy’s establishment of the MusiCares® Foundation in 1989.

It is the mission of MusiCares® to ensure that music people have a place to turn in times of financial, medical or personal crisis. Its primary purpose is to focus the attention and resources of the music industry on human services issues that directly impact the health and welfare of music people.

Emergency Financial Assistance

The "heart and soul" of MusiCares® is the Emergency Financial Assistance Program that provides critical funds for music people struggling with financial, medical or personal crises. This program offers financial assistance for medical expenses including doctor, dental and hospital bills, prescriptions, addiction recovery treatment, psychotherapy, treatment for HIV/AIDS, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and other critical illnesses, as well as basic living expenses such as rent and utilities.

Committed to providing prompt, confidential help to those in need, MusiCares® is staffed by full-time health and human service managers in Los Angeles, Nashville, and New York.

Each region has its own toll-free help line:

* 800.687.4227 (West Coast)
* 877.626.2748 (Central)
* 877.303.6962 (Northeast)

Addiction Recovery Programs

MusiCares® has become a leading force in the effort to identify, raise awareness of, and address the problems of addiction in our industry. In addition to the financial assistance that is available, MusiCares® also provides addiction recovery support through its Safe Harbor Room. MusiCares® established its first Safe Harbor Room backstage at the 39th Annual Grammy Awards telecast to provide a support system to artists and crew members struggling with addiction issues. Staffed by qualified chemical dependency and intervention specialists, the Safe Harbor Room offers a support network to those in recovery while they are participating in the production of televised music shows and other major music events. MusiCares® has expanded the Safe Harbor Room program to include the annual Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards, the CMA’s, South by Southwest, Bumbershoot, BET's Annual Awards Special, Academy of Country Music Awards, the Native American Music Awards, and the NAMM Convention.

MusiCares® operates an Addiction Recovery Program that recognizes those issues unique to musicians in recovery, at any stage of their career, and whether they are on tour or performing locally.

Addiction Recovery Support Groups

MusiCares® addiction support groups are provided for people in the music industry to discuss how to best cope with the issues surrounding the recovery process.

MusiCares® Connection

This recovery support network identifies music people in recovery who are willing to offer their support to others going through the recovery process. The network consists of individuals, nationwide, who will assist music people on the road by meeting them at the airport, at a venue or at their hotel, and take them to a recovery support meeting.

Personal attention and confidential care is given to anyone who contacts MusiCares®. When a call comes into MusiCares®, professionally trained staff will evaluate the situation, provide crisis intervention if needed, and offer any appropriate referrals to local and national organizations. They review the financial assistance application with the applicant and go over the approval process. Clients are notified as soon as possible what resources are available to them. Approved financial assistance grants are always paid directly to a third party or creditor.

The MusiCares® MAP Fund

MusiCares® developed the MusiCares® MAP Fund as a pool of resources set aside specifically to address addiction and recovery needs. Named for the Musicians' Assistance Program, the fund represents the joint goal of MAP and MusiCares® to provide members of the music community access to addiction recovery treatment regardless of their financial condition.

The MusiCares® MAP Fund acknowledges that a vital part of recovery consists of ongoing support and sound aftercare services. Group support is an essential component to successful recovery. Historically there have been three support groups offered at the Hollywood site for MusiCares® MAP Fund clients. Facilitated by qualified Addiction Recovery Specialists, these groups provide a safe environment and additional support to clients addressing addiction issues. The groups are 60 – 90 minutes in length and occur on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of each week. All MusiCares® MAP Fund groups are free of charge. Groups are mandatory for current MAP Fund clients, but are voluntary for alumni and other music industry professionals interested in additional support.

Gender-specific issues can occur while a person is on their path to recovery. A person may feel more comfortable in a same gender group or have issues that they need to address with a gender-specific population. The MusiCares® MAP Fund identified a need for this service and recently began offering a Women's Recovery Group and a Men's Recovery Group on Monday mornings. The purpose of these groups is to provide a nurturing environment to help participants deal with issues and concerns specific for music industry men or women in recovery. These groups are open to all MusiCares® MAP fund clients, as well as other recovering men or women in the music industry interested in a support group of their peers. The groups are facilitated by MusiCares® and MAP Fund trained employees. They meet weekly for one hour and participation in these groups is voluntary. The Women's Group held its first meeting on Nov. 3 and the Men's Group met for the first time on Nov. 15.

Over the next few months, MusiCares® plans to offer recovery support groups around the country in several Chapter cities. These groups will be facilitated with trained Addiction Recovery Specialists who have the education, experience and knowledge to provide exceptional supportive care. These groups will also be free of charge and open to alumni, current MAP Fund clients, and interested music industry individuals. We acknowledge that a vital part of recovery is support and aftercare services. The implementation of these new groups will help ensure that MAP Fund clients are receiving the tools that they need in order to maintain a clean and sober lifestyle.

MAP Fund Sober Connection Expansion

MusiCares® began the establishment of a recovery network service approximately five years ago. It was created to identify music people who are in recovery and are willing to offer their support to others going through the recovery process. The network consists of individuals nationwide who will provide a touring musician with support via meeting them at an airport, providing hospitality, confidential support and/or transportation to and from a 12-step meeting. We are currently in the process of expanding this resource and compiling the participant information on an electronic database, which will be easily accessible to all our Health and Human Service staff.

Outreach and Leadership Activities

MusiCares® organizes and supports a number of outreach activities to educate members of the music industry and the public-at-large about available human service opportunities. These include health care referrals, publication of its Directory of Human Services and self-help guides, a national ad campaign, addiction recovery symposiums, panel presentations, health fairs, and financial wellness workshops. To further its reach among our youth, MusiCares®, along with the Recording Academy’s Nashville chapter, publishes the Youth Yellow Pages, an adolescent crisis resource guide distributed to 60,000 teens in the central Tennessee region.

How can I help?

There are sponsorship and donation opportunities throughout the year that allow you to make a real difference in the lives of less fortunate members of our cherished music family. If you would like to know what you can do to help MusiCares® continue serving as the heart of the music community, please contact our national headquarters by calling 310.392.3777 or writing to MusiCares® at 3402 Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica, California 90405.