Sometimes, tragedy hits close to home. A number of Long Island bands recently played a benefit show at Mr. Beery's to aid the family of fellow musician Mike Miller.
Normally, I like to post positive notices about musicians. Unfortunately, life doesn't always swing to the positive pole, so having a 100% good cheer rate is impossible. There is, however, a certain degree of contentment that can arise from acknowledging that reality, and also a certain joy that can be experienced when resources and passions are pooled to help alleviate some of the negative.
A few weeks ago, a benefit show was held at Mr. Beery's in Bethpage NY, to raise money for the family of local musician Mike Miller. Miller is the vocalist/guitarist, and the head namesake, of Mike Miller & the High Life, an outfit which also consists of Matt McLaughlin (Bass/Backing Vocals), Dom Barranco (Drums/Percussion) and Jess Debellis (Keys/Percussion/Backing Vocals).
In early March of this year, Mike Miller's cousins, Matthew and Elizabeth Bergman, lost their lives as result of injuries they sustained in an apartment fire in Reno, Nevada. He was 16, she was 12. The April 15th show on Long Island was arranged as a means of raising money to help Miller's uncle Ronald begin a financial recovery process after enduring such a terrible loss. Mike Miller & the High Life was joined that night by Playing Dead, Graz & the Dangerous Few, as well as Andrew and Derek from Vision Through Sound. Below are a few performance photos I shot.
Mike Miller & the High Life
Playing Dead
That night, Mr. Beery's and Mike Miller were able to successfully raise $508 for the surviving members of the Bergman family. There were also a number of fundraising efforts in California and Nevada, as well an online campaign, the latter of which reached a total of $5617.
No comments:
Post a Comment