The holiday season may be a time when a charitable spirit swirls around, but not for everyone. Witness this Facebook post by Nick Woods, frontman of Milwaukee punk band Direct Hit, on Saturday night:
"Direct Hit's van was stolen in Detroit a block from Slow's BBQ about 2 hours ago w/ all our equipment, tour money, and personal sh*t inside (laptop, Kindle, passports, clothes, luggage). Someone alert Santa that my list is null and void, and that a gun with one bullet will do just fine."
The band was on tour, on the road back from Toronto, when the theft occurred.
Having a car stolen is a blow to anyone, but to a band on the road – now stranded and with all its gear gone – well, frankly, it completely sucks.
Woods posted a long statement yesterday explaining the incident in more detail and sharing some ways the band is hoping to raise a little cash to replace the estimated $20,000-$25,000 in losses.
"We're not the first band who's had their shit jacked, and we're not gonna be the last. Other groups have had it way worse. So we're not gonna sit around and bawl our eyes out like a bunch of twangs," the statement read.
Woods also noted that the band had car insurance and homeowners' insurance and expected that some portion of the loss will be covered.
In the meantime, the band heads into Shane Olivo's studio today to record a track that it will sell online.
"Our pals from Charlotte, Dollar Signs, have been cool enough to let us record a cover of one of their Christmas tunes, which our friend Shane is letting us do in his studio tomorrow for free. If you want a copy delivered to your inbox on Christmas Morning, all you gotta do is PayPal $2 (or more if you feel like it) to nick.woods.wi@gmail.com. Just make sure you include your email somewhere so it gets sent right.
"If novelty Christmas music isn't your bag, you can also consider nabbing a shirt or hoodie at our store. And if stylish apparel ain't your thang neither, then you're always welcome to head over to our Bandcamp page, download some of our old sh*t, and send us a few bucks that way.
"All of that being said, no one reading this should feel obligated to send us anything. Our good friend Kyle Stembaugh said it best: A band is a really awesome hobby, not a job, and anyone who plays in one should feel lucky if anyone at all is interested in it. It's for that reason it's impossible for me to really describe how it warms my cold, black heart to have gotten so many texts, so much email and so many comments and messages from our friends all over the world over the last day asking how they can help out. DH is an extremely lucky band."
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
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