GBAMA Teams up with MBS
Your Total Donations to MBS is over $8000 +
Musicians Benevolent Society of Houston

GBAMA Press Release

“The only helping hand you’ll ever get is when they lower you in the ground” a comment made by John Mellancamp in a television interview a few years back. Mr. Mellancamp, however, wasn’t referring to the Galveston Bay Area communities and their helping hands. On any given weekend in communities and neighborhoods all along the Galveston Bay there is an abundance of fund raising events. Events hosted to assist Volunteer Fire Departments, to help victims of accidents and disease, to assist students with educational items are just a few of the fundraisers that occur and there are many more. Although these communities continue to struggle with post Ike rebuilding there is always time set aside to help those in need. Neighbors helping neighbors….communities reaching out to adjacent communities...all lending a helping hand.

Such is the case with the series of IkeFest fundraisers designed to assist musicians with equipment losses suffered at the hands of Hurricane Ike. For an entire year after Ike hit volunteer organizers planned and structured events that supplied musicians and bands with instruments needed to continue performing. Venues offered their services, entertainers donated their time and talent, cook teams prepared food, individuals and businesses donated services, products and items for auction and use, toys were donated for the Marines Toys For Tots campaign and volunteers worked tirelessly to run the events. It has been truly heart warming and inspirational to see the outpouring of assistance.

To the communities and citizens of the Galveston Bay Area, on behalf of all involved with IkeFest I, II, and III, League City’s Holiday in the Park, Smoke on the Bayou, the Musicians Benevolent Society and the Galveston Bay Area Musicians Alliance, thank you for supporting your musicians, helping live music play on…thank you for the helping hand!

Lynn Raggio

IkeFest III Sept. 12th -13th at Texas Saloon & FishbonZ

IkeFest III

A fundraiser to assist musicians with equipment lost in Hurricane Ike.



Hosted by the Galveston Bay Area Musicians Alliance (GBAMA)



If you are interested in volunteering, sponsoring, renting a booth and/or performing please visit www.KemahCitylimits.com/contact-volunteer.htm for details or call 832.226.1306.

GBAMA - Creating awareness of the Galveston Bay Area Music Scene

On September 12 thru 13, 2009 the Galveston Bay Area Musicians Alliance (GBAMA), in partnership with the Musicians Benevolent Society of Houston (MBS) will host IkeFest III. The two day event coincides with the anniversary of Hurricane Ike and will feature bands from Galveston and neighboring communities.

IkeFest III, in the tradition of IkeFest I & II, is a fundraiser to assist Galveston Bay Area musicians with equipment they lost in Hurricane Ike. To date, MBS and GBAMA have purchased and delivered in excess of $10,000 worth of equipment to needy Galveston Bay Area musicians through monies received from donations. Everything from cymbal stands to a Yamaha A series upright piano.

IkeFest III begins Saturday September 12, 2009 (12pm - 2am) @ the Texas Saloon in Pasadena and features Grammy Recognized Vertigo Blue with performances by Andre B, Burnt Face Jack, Direct Impact and various other local favorites. The Texas Saloon is located @ 7337 Spencer Hwy Pasadena, TX 77505 (281) 479.2679. The two day event concludes Sunday September 13, 2009 @ Fish Bonz in Bacliff, TX on the anniversary of Hurricane Ike. This location features The Guppies From Outer Space, Krankshaft, Scruz Loose, Slide Effect, The Sugarland Brass Company and more. Fish Bonz is located at 725 Grand Ave. in Bacliff, TX 77518.

Contacts: Herman Garcia 832.875.2523 hermangarciahgh@aol.com
Rob Carroll 281.961.5820 rob@nitelifeinc.com
Jim Tacl 281.787.3901 jtacl@4i4.net
Lynn Raggio 832.226.1306 onleadguitar@sbcglobal.net

On April 4 -5, 2009 the Galveston Bay Area Musicians Alliance (GBAMA), in partnership with the Musicians Benevolent Society of Houston (MBS) and Heads-n-Tails Bar & Grill, will be hosting a Spring Music Festival/fundraiser to assist musicians that lost their equipment in Hurricane Ike. The all day family event is titled “Smoke On the Bayou” and will feature local entertainers that are donating their performance time to give back to the music community as well as some that were victimized by Hurricane Ike. There will also be activities for the little ones including moonwalks, face painting and more.

Headlining Smoke On The Bayou is international recording artists The Paula Nelson Band (featuring Willie Nelson’s daughter). Musical performances by Abrahams Tree, Benny Brasket, Big Slick, Billy Bourbon, Cap’n Rick, Cymblem, Dade Tweed, David Schwopes & Co., End Game, Greg Woppler, Groove Kings, Hank Wolfe & Abel Salazar, Luscious Collide, Kozmic Pearl, Raw Energy, Robin Kirby, Sid Maxwell, Slide Effect, 10 String Stro-Kings, The House Cats, Think Tank, Thrill Hill & the Real Deal, Tom Rodgers, Undesided, Wood ‘n Wind and DJ John Prince as MC.

Sponsors for this event include Bay Area Moon Walks, Dimensions In Design, Heads-n-Tails Bar & Grill, kemahcitylimits.com, KILT-FM, Music News Magazine, Nitelife Entertainment, Performance Sound & Light, and The SCENE Magazine.

Special thanks to Erik Miller and the outstanding staff @ Heads-n-Tails for their assistance with IkeFest I & II and now, “Smoke On the Bayou” (thank you Erik for the name!). Heads-n-Tails will be providing, in addition to a great live music venue, crawfish, bar-b-que and spirits for the event.


To date GBAMA and MBS have assisted Galveston Bay Area musicians with equipment ranging from drums and guitars to P.A. Systems, and are in the process of assisting additional musicians from funds donated by generous individuals from all over the United States.

"Smoke On The Bayou" - April 4 & 5 -
Band / Performance Schedule - Information

Hurricane Ike "6" Galveston Bay Musicians Artists "0"
(Scores by Ike represent total losses)

Down Load Press Release

Photos by Andy Eng tell GBAMA story
Pictures of Island Music Store in Galveston were taken by the store's owner, Robert .

10/04/2008 Good afternoon everyone and welcome to today's broadcast. We are in the top of the second inning and your home team, the Galveston Bay Area Musicians, have been shut out so far. While the pitcher is warming up, let's re-cap the first inning. Basically, no matter what our starting pitcher brought, whether it was a slider from Slide Effect or a curve ball by reliever Bodacious Tata’s, the visiting team, Hurricane Ike was shattering the bats ( venues with blown off roofs, guitars, pianos, drums destroyed, etc.) and knocking it all over the playing field (Galveston, San Leon, Bacliff, Kemah, Houston, etc.). If it were not for some blue star plays by the defense (evacuations, boarded up windows, etc.) the home team would be getting killed. Unfortunately, we've had some injuries: Rex Bell (Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe) was hit by a season ending pitch and was left stranded on first (Reports say he will be back and we wish him the best), and of course, the career ending blow to the old timer and future hall of famer Balinese.

Inning two started out with a triple from Brittney Wilson-Sullivan on the Channel 11 Debra Duncan show but was left stranded when power hitters Channel 13 and News 2 Houston failed to lay down a sacrifice. It's going to take a bit of coaching here to survive this but it can be done. The way I see it is our pitchers (musicians and bands spreading the word) need to throw strikes. Defense has already cleaned it up for the most part and we'll need the hitters (music community, venues, media, and fans) to band together to overcome Ike.

And now it's the third inning.....
All, I hope this analogy does not offend anyone. We need to come together and help our fellow musicians artists that have suffered losses due to Hurricane Ike. Our once vibrant music scene has been devastated. The following is the injury report that I have so far:

Rex Bell from the Old Quarter lost everything.

The Balinese, Maribelle’s and the 18th Street Pier are gone.

Pat and Holly Beadles from Slide Effect suffered severe damage and equipment loss to their home in San Leon.

Sandbar is shut down for 8 months.

Taildraggers’ Troy Long lost his amplifier and had significant damage to his home.

San Leon Beach Pub is shut down till October.
Joey Cone from Fuzz Box Junkies lost his clothing and a drum kit.

Chris Elliot of the Bodacious TaTa's home is unlivable.
Abel and DeAnn Salazar lost their home and severe damage to their grand piano.

Andy Upchurch of Andy and the Dreamsicles lost two keyboards.

T-Bone Toms, Monkey Bar, Palapas, Gingers, Green Parrot and the Amadeus Lounge will be delayed in re-opening.
And there are many more.

What do we need to do? We need to raise funds to help get these people their equipment replaced so that they can continue to perform.

How do we do that? We will ask the communities, the fans, and the media to support an event or several events that raise the funds. We will form a Pitch Team to ask for equipment donations. We will create an awareness of our situation.
What can I do for the immediate? Share this message with everyone you know and email me at onleadguitar@sbcglobal.net with information about musicians artists that suffered losses due to Hurricane Ike.

What else can I do? Email me at onleadguitar@sbcglobal.net with what you are willing to do to help this cause. We need sales people, graphic artists, web site designer(s), people with marketing skills for press releases, people who have contacts with the media; people have contacts with the local city councils, etc.

Who will coordinate all this? The Galveston Bay Area Musicians are forming an alliance to start organizing fund raisers. Bill Perkins is contacting the Mayor's offices of the local municipalities to find out if they are planning any Ike related events, Jay Trevino and Rick Valente are contacting out door venues for the event and assisting with the formation of an alliance of Galveston Bay Area Musicians. Dave Raub and Alexis Thomas are assisting with development and marketing. Andy Eng (Andy and the Dreamsicles) is assisting with the development and Scene Magazine’s John and Betsey Ennis have weighed in and are willing to help. We’ll ask Barry Radcliffe to assist in legal matters. Christi from “theCrisis”, Brandi, Steve Revak and Bobby Emerson (Wood ‘N Wind) will be assisting us as well. Toree Montgomery, who made sure that our alliance was mentioned on The Great Day Houston Show with Debra Duncan through Britney Wilson-Sullivan’s interview, will be contacting the media via emails daily.

All, I am very proud to be associated with the Galveston Bay Area Musicians. When Cindy Peterson needed assistance paying her cancer related medical bills the musicians artists came together for her. When Charlie Greenway's (God Bless) family needed assistance with his funeral we were there. When Mark Fenton needed help paying his medical bills we were there. The list goes on and on. We are a passionate, giving group of musicians artists and will continue on helping all those in need. Now, our fellow musicians artists are in need and it's our turn at the plate. Let's knock one out of the park!

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Here is some support from Ohio

From: Kathy Hill <gncwildlife@nls.net>
Subject: Fw: Musicians Friends struck by Hurricane Ike
To: " Kathy" <gncwildlife@nls.net>
Date: Monday, October 13, 2008, 10:39 AM

Dear Friends and Family:

RE: Hurricane Ike

As most of you know, I’ve spent a great deal of time in Texas and the Galveston area. Ever since the hurricane hit, I’ve had a desire to contribute someway to the relief effort. Initially, I inquired about volunteering on Galveston Island , but was told it was not a healthy situation. Unfortunately, bodies are still being recovered and due to Ike’s impact, there are still no water or facilities etc. Daily these people are on my mind. Please note picture attachment of Galveston .

During this past weekend, Richard and I took a drive through areas that are so devastated we cried. People still waiting in long lines just for water, 26 days after Ike hit! We witnessed a couple in the front of their home, his arm around her shoulder, both crying knowing their home was a total loss. This was in an area that was low income housing anyway, most likely not insured. We saw houses flattened from the weight of the water; we saw watermarks on houses and fences 5 feet high in this area. Mind you, this is an area not even on the Island of Galveston ! It was very disturbing and disheartening to view peoples life possessions piled high along the roadway for pick up.

On Sunday I attended a Musicians Meeting with Richard in which he is a member. The meeting was an effort to promote a benefit event that will take place on November 16th to generate money for the musicians in the Bay Area. Many musicians have lost their instruments, homes and their livelihood. The venues at which they performed no longer exist or are so damaged…they will not open for months.

This benefit will help defray costs such as house payments, car payments, insurance payments, and many bills the musicians are unable to pay during this time.

My goal is to petition Ohio corporations, friends and family to help in anyway they can. I want to let the musicians of the Bay Area know that Ohioans, care about their situation and want in some way to help monetarily resolve their dilemma.

I feel so Blessed to have my home and all the amenities that make my life an easy path to follow, I want to help these friends to have hope again!

Will you be willing to donate? If so you may make an online donation Click Here

Thanking you in advance for your time and efforts.

Kathy