We recently brought you news of beloved indie rocker Matthew Sweet's stroke and Go Fund Me campaign, which has already raised $435,000, soaring past both its initial goal of $200,000 and its revised goal of $400,000. As many of you mentioned in the boards, and I wholeheartedly agree, the fact that anyone—never mind a supremely talented and successful musician—should have to set up a Go Fund Me to pay for medical care should be considered shameful. Boing Boing's own Thom Dunn insightfully stated that:
. . . it should be a god damn indictment on the awfulness of the music industry. Would it really kill the labels to even offer healthcare subsidies, so people like this don't have to push their bodies to the breaking point in their 60s and still have no support to fall back on?
And Gracchus agreed:
And, more generally, an indictment of the healthcare system to which Americans are subjected. None of these heartwarming crowdfunding efforts would be necessary if the U.S. had some version of single-payer universal for its citizens.
In the meantime, we're stuck with raising money, sadly. And it sounds like Matthew will need more, as his recovery could take up to a year or longer, which Matthew's manager Russell Carter revealed in this update on October 25:
Matthew is checked in and has already had a successful but tough first couple of days at the rehabilitation and therapy hospital back home in Omaha. After going through several rounds of testing and evaluations, we're thrilled to report he's begun physical and speech therapy. His doctors have told us with reasonable certainty that Matthew will need to remain in the hospital's care until early December at the soonest when he will then transfer to home care with a professional caretaker. That next stage of outpatient therapy will last anywhere from six months to a year. Furthermore, the doctors have told us he'll have to convert a den into a bedroom on the first floor of his house and upgrade the adjacent bathroom to be ADA compliant.
We've heard from many friends, fans, and doctors in the last few days who have shared stories of stroke victims who, over time and with perseverance, have made full recoveries. This is very heartening for all of us to hear. Our gratitude for the deluge of kindness and generosity toward Matthew in the last 72 hrs. is immense.
The chart posted at Matthew's bedside gives his basic vitals and measurement along with his primary therapy goal. Matthew's goal is not to walk and talk – it reads very clearly in black sharpie, "my goal is to play guitar and sing and make art". He is very determined and we all can put faith in that!
In the spirit of helping a fellow musician and friend, English musician Robyn Hitchcock—described on his website as a "truly one-of-a-kind artist – surrealist rock 'n' roller, iconic troubadour, guitarist, poet, painter, and performer"—will be hosting a fundraiser for Sweet. Hitchcock announced on his social media that the next "Live from Tubby's House" will be on November 13 and will feature Hitchcock and his partner, Australian-born songwriter Emma Swift, who blends "classic folk, Americana and indie rock" in her music. In 2020, she released "Blonde On the Tracks," an album of interpretations of Bob Dylan songs that garnered "Best of 2020" praise from Rolling Stone, The Guardian, and more. It was produced by Pat Sansone of Wilco fame (and before that, decades ago, one of my favorite bands to see live in Jackson and Hattiesburg, Mississippi—Beagle Voyage).
During the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020, Hitchcock and Swift began hosting "Live From Sweet Home Quarantine" livestream series, during which they performed weekly sets joined by their two cats, Ringo and Tubby. The fundraiser for Sweet will be hosted on the website StageIt, which is an "online venue where artists perform live, interactive, monetized shows for their fans directly from a laptop, offering fans unique experiences that are never archived."
I saw Robyn Hitchcock perform with another one of my favorite musicians, Billy Bragg, years ago, and they were both terrific. I'll definitely be tuning in to this fundraiser for Matthew Sweet. If you want to watch, too, here's the link. The site says that the show is 30 minutes, starting at 6:00 pm PST on November 13. It's donation based, and while the price states "pay what you can," the suggested donation is "50 notes" which equals a mere $5.00 (According to the StageIt website, "Notes are StageIt's currency. 10 Notes = $1.00 USD. Use them to tip performers or buy tickets to shows"). And surely half an hour with Hitchcock and Swift—with proceeds going to Matthew Sweet—is worth way more than that.
Register and tune into the livestream here. And to give to Matthew Sweet's Go Fund Me, here's the link.
