We have a certain tradition in the Austin music scene: when something terrible happens, we have a benefit. These benefits are a lot of fun, but they almost never make any money. In many respects they’re just a way for like-minded folks to get together and commiserate. The day after the earthquake and Tsunami hit. I watched the same horrible images over and over: children being swept away in rushing water. I wanted to do more than just write a check, and I was pretty sure others felt the same way.
The solution was obvious. But this benefit would have to actually make money. One of the perks of my job as a writer at Texas Monthly is that sometimes I get the private cell numbers of famous rock stars. So I called up Willie Nelson. “Let’s do it”, he said. With Willie driving the bus, others hopped on. Joe Ely, then Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis, then Patty Griffin. The show had to reflect all of Austin, not just men with beards and women with acoustic guitars, so I called Indie pop star Spoon. They said yes, so did Alejandro Escoveda, along with Jon Dee Graham. The show sold out in seven hours.
Ever day Willie got more and more excited about the event, and so did everyone else in town. Austinites rushed forward to offer ther help, before the show then during it. The groups we were earmarking funds for CARE, UNICEF, and the Red Cross — sent volunteers to man booths, and so did the American Friends Service Committee, the Miracle Foundation (a group helping Sri Lankan orphans). Everyone got involved because the wanted to help in ways behond just writing a check. They wanted to be part of something.
The show was absolutely magic, so was the atmosphere. In between acts, people visited the booths, talked with the volunteers and gave more money. They bought t-shirts and posters. They drank a lot of beer and liquor. At the end of the night the bartenders donated their tips and the Music Hall donated the expenses. By the time the final tallies were made, we had made more than $130,000.
Tsunami Relief was Willies’ show, but it had come together in a way that made you proud to live in Austin. Form the red-headed stranger to the volunteers selling t-shirts and posters, it was like we were all on a mission. A couple of journalists asked me the same thing that someone asked Margaret Shaw at the t-shirt table that night: “What organization are you with?” She said the same thing that I did: “There is no organization; it’s just a bunch of citizens.”
— Michael Hall
Songs for Tsunami Relief – Austin to South Asia
Love Be Heard (Patty Griffin) Mary (Patty Griffin with Natalie Maines) All Just To Get to You (Joe ELy) Boxcars (Joe Ely) Everybody Loves Me (Alejandro Escovedo) Break This Time (Alejandro Escovedo) Mathematical Mind (Spoon) Everything Hits at Once (Spoon) What I deserve (Kelly Willis) Traveling Soldier (Natalie Maines with B. Robinson and K. Willis) What Would Willie Do (Bruce Robison) Living in the Promiseland (Willie Nelson) Whiskey River (Willie Nelson) Still is Still Moving to Me (Willie Nelson) Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain (Willie Nelson) The Great Divide (Willie Nelson) Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys (Willie Nelson) Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground (Willlie Nelson)
