- The Big Cleanup:
Here's an update from some of the many music biz folks affected by recent Nashville flooding, beyond what's already been reported from Country Aircheck....
- RPR Media's Brandy Reed lost everything. "I think we may have one or two pieces of furniture that we may be able to keep, but that's about it. But we are tough and are going to make it through. Right now, we are just trying to find a new place to live. If you know anybody who has a house for rent, please let me know."
- Curb VP/Promotion Adrian Michaels and wife Kim are still stuck in their hilltop home. Adrian says they are safe and dry, although there are no roads open that allow them to get out. As for the basics, "FEMA helicopters are dropping military rations and water!" says Kim. Adrian says he and his neighbors are thankful to Sam Tate (songwriter of "If You're Going Through Hell"), who, along with friends, cut a four-mile road through the woods and used four-wheelers to get food for two days to nearly 30 people who had lost their home and had no provisions.
- Redneck Records' Bob Mitchell reports four inches of water in one of the Morris Management Group buildings. He says more than half of Gretchen Wilson's band is staying with friends, as their houses are flooded or inaccessible.
- Radney Foster and wife Cyndi Hoelzle ended up with three feet of water in their basement. See video of the onset here.
- Turnpike Music's Ryan Barnstead reports, "My car is still soaked and muddy inside, and smells like a river. I don't live near any body of water, but in about 20 minutes my apartment complex's parking lot flooded and my car was in three feet of water. By the time I even noticed, it was already a lost cause. I'm pretty sure the electrical system is fried and the car is gonna have to be totaled. It was insured, and now I'm just waiting to hear back from them, so I was lucky, I guess!"
- Nine North's Tom Moran says, "A very large gazebo, a sit-down lawn mower, and various backyard items have relocated to our backyard, and I have no idea where they came from. We live in a gully and the driveway became a raging river pouring directly into our garage/basement. We were up all Saturday night trying to push as much as we could back out into the driveway, but exhaustion got the best of us and we gave up about 3am. We had about 18 inches of water across a 3,000-sq.-ft. space. Everything in the basement was lost. We're now clearing everything out and hitting it with fans in preparation for the battle with mold and odor. The attic took on a lot of water, an unknown amount of which went down the back wall; we discovered this as it dripped on our heads while working on the basement. I've heard stories a lot worse than mine, so I've kept my bitching to a minimum. But it was/is a tough, tough time."
- Former Lyric Street Dir./National Promotion Chris Palmer tells us, "My house flooded Sunday night, and it's wild how fast it happened. Saturday night we were watching the rain and the water level rising out front of our house, but never thought it would reach us. The water kept getting higher, and by Sunday that night the main level was totally flooded. We spent one day ripping out carpeting and the next day tearing out the hardwood floors. Here's some footage I shot Saturday night and Sunday morning."
- Big Machine's Erik Powell posted a photo on Facebook of flooding in his house Sunday (5/2). "Everyone is safe and the house is drying out," he says. "Hoping to get someone out here soon to check the walls to see if we need to rip the drywall out. I was lucky that I was home Sunday when the water started to come in. Otherwise, I would have lost everything downstairs."
- Debi Fleischer-Robin's Bellevue rental house was flooded to the countertops. Her tenants had rental insurance, but the house wasn't covered for floods. (Via Facebook)
- Red Light's Jeri Cooper has her brother- and sister-in-law and their toddler staying with her after their East Nashville home flooded. Cooper's house was surrounded by floodwaters, but only suffered some water leaking around a window.
- Toby Keith is facing a near-total loss of touring gear and stage equipment except for that which is on his current USO tour. Partially underwater are seven production trucks filled with Keith's stage set, production cases, backdrops and soft goods. "We're going to be OK," says manager TK Kimbrell. "The focus needs to be on those that lost a lot more than we did."
- UMG's Regina Stuve says the company offices on 5th Ave. were closed on Monday as requested by the mayor. "It's possible that one of the guitars of Vince Gill's late father was with instruments and equipment at [badly flooded] Soundcheck. Wardrobe stylist Renee Layher (Gary Allan, among others) lost everything."
- Nine North's Larry Pareigis says, "Our sump pump died, so I had to pump a few hundred gallons of water from our sub-basement last night. But no major damage here."
- AristoMedia President Jeff Walker reports, "We had about six feet in our basement here at the office, but we were able to pump everything out. All things considered, we were very lucky."
- "All staff are safe," says Bigger Picture President Michael Powers. "Water ran in under the doors at our offices, but we're getting some new carpet and will be good to go."
- Capitol & EMI Nashville's Sr. Director/Media & Public RelationsDixie Owen thought she'd have to hike up the 11 stories to their offices on Tuesday, but one of the six elevators was functioning again after being flooded (along with the garage) on Monday, which forced the labels to close.
- Finally, word is that at least one pair of flesh-eating piranha escaped from the Aquarium Restaurant at the Opry Mills mall and are swimming in the waist-deep corridors. No joke.
This is only a few of the stories I've seen, there are many many more. PLEASE help! Text REDCROSS to 90999 for a $10 donation on your cell phone bill that goes directly to helping those in Nashville and surrounding areas devastated by the flooding. Keep the prayers coming! ~Vanessa
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