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| GLOVER HAYDEN gloverhayden@suthurntouch.com OKAY, SUTHURN TOUCH FANS, HERE IT IS!! THE BLUE FENDER THERE ARE MANY PERSONAL STORIES ABOUT HURRICANE KATRINA. THIS IS JUST ONE THAT IMPACTED OUR BAND AS A WHOLE AND BECAME THE FOUNDATION OF OUR ‘STARTING OVER.’ IF YOU HAVE LIVED IN SOUTH MISSISSIPPI ALL YOUR LIFE, YOU KNOW THAT THE ONLY THING PREDICTABLE ABOUT A HURRICANE IS IT’S UNPREDICTABILITY. THE LAST MINUTE SHIFT IN KATRINA’S PATH PUT US ON THE ABSOLUTE WORST PLACE TO BE WHEN A HURRICANE MAKES LANDFALL – THE NORTHEAST QUADRANT. I LIVED ON HENDERSON POINT IN PASS CHRISTIAN ABOUT HALF A BLOCK FROM THE BEACH. WILLIE LIVES ABOUT FIVE MILES NORTH OF THE COAST IN LONG BEACH. I HAD A FORTY-FIVE FOOT STORM SURGE THAT LEFT A LANDSCAPE THAT RESEMBLED A TACTICAL NUKE EPICENTER-EVERYTHING WAS GONE! WILLIE LIVES IN AN AREA THAT HAS NEVER HAD STORM SURGE FLOODING IN RECORDED HISTORY. WE WORKED TOGETHER AT PASS CHRISTIAN HARBOR, AND THE DECISION WAS MADE TO MOVE ALL VEHICLES, EQUIPMENT, AND TRAILERS INTO HIS YARD. THE ENCLOSED TRAILER WITH ALL OUR BAND EQUIPMENT WAS ALREADY THERE. WILLIE KEPT TRYING TO GET ME TO COME OUT TO STAY WITH HIM, BUT AS A RADIO AMATEUR EMERGENCY SERVICES OPERATOR, I WAS ASKED TO HELP OUT AT THE EOC IN GULFPORT. ANOTHER HARBOR POLICEMAN DECIDED TO STAY WITH WILLIE. AS THE WIND AND RAIN INCREASED, THEY WERE PREPARED TO RIDE IT OUT, AND THEN THEY NOTICED WAVES OF WATER-FLOWING INTO THE YARD. WILLIE SAID THAT THE WIND SUDDENLY INCREASED TO A DEAFENING ROAR. THE WAVES WERE INCREASING IN HEIGHT AND STRENGTH, AND WERE SOON UP TO THE WINDOWS OF THE HOUSE. THEY DECIDED THAT THEY WOULD HAVE TO GET OUT OF THE HOUSE TO SURVIVE, SO THEY MANAGED TO EXIT THE HOUSE AND CLIMBED INTO AN 20FT CABIN CRUISER THAT WAS TIED TO A SMALL SHRIMP BOAT (ON TRAILERS) IN HIS YARD. HERE IS WHERE THEY RODE OUT THE STORM. WHEN THEY LEFT THE CONFINES OF THE ‘CUDDY-CABIN’ OF THE BOAT, THEY WERE 300 FEET BEHIND HIS HOUSE NEXT TO A TREE LINE. THE NIGHTMARE OF THE STORM’S WRATH CONTINUED – ALL THE VEHICLES, EQUIPMENT, AND TRAILERS, (INCLUDING THE BAND’S EQUIPMENT TRAILER), HAD GONE UNDERWATER AND WERE STREWN ABOUT HIS YARD. HIS HOUSE HAD 3” OF MUD ON THE FLOORS, AND 7 FEET OF WATER INSIDE, (REMEMBER, THIS IS FIVE MILES FROM THE BEACH.) “I JUST SAT DOWN AND CRIED,” SAID WILLIE. “I DIDN'T’T EVEN WANT TO OPEN THE DOORS TO THE BAND’S TRAILER, BUT I HAD TO KNOW.” WHAT HE FOUND WAS OVER $40,000 OF EQUIPMENT HAD GONE UNDERWATER. “AS I REMOVED EACH PIECE OF EQUIPMENT AND PLACED IT ON THE GROUND, WATER WAS IN EVERYTHING! “THEN I CAME TO THE HARDSHELL CASE WITH ‘FENDER’ ON THE OUTSIDE, I KNEW IT WAS GLOVER’S BRAND NEW FENDER STRATOCASTER GUITAR. “I PUT IT ON THE GROUND NEXT TO MY FENCE ALONGSIDE THE OTHER EQUIPMENT, AND WHEN I OPENED IT, THE GUITAR WAS IN A POOL OF WATER INSIDE THE CASE. “I FELT LIKE MY STOMACH WAS TURNING UPSIDE DOWN, I COULDN'T’T BELIEVE WHAT I WAS SEEING.” IT STAYED THERE FOR TWO WEEKS WHILE WILLIE SHOVELED MUD AND DEBRIS OUT OF HIS HOUSE. THEN HE AND ROBBY DECIDED TO TAKE ALL THE EQUIPMENT TO ROBBY’S HOUSE IN THE COUNTRY. “WE TOOK EVERY AMP AND GUITAR OUT OF THEIR CASES AND STARTED CLEANING THEM UP,” SAYS WILLIE. “SOME JUST FRIED AND SMOKED WHEN WE TRIED TO POWER THEM UP” “WHEN WE OPENED THE FENDER CASE, THE STRINGS WERE JUST LINES OF RUST LYING ACROSS THE FRETS AND PICKUPS,” HE ADDED. “WE HAD TO USE A DREMMEL TOOL TO WIRE BRUSH THE FRETS WHERE THE STRINGS HAD RUSTED.” WELL, I WAS STILL WORKING EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS FOR HARRISON COUNTY WHILE THIS WAS GOING ON, AND KNEW THAT MY HOUSE WAS GONE, BUT I HAD NO IDEA THAT THIS WAS HAPPENING TO MY BROTHERS!. ALL I COULD CONFIRM WAS THAT THEY WERE ALIVE. ABOUT FOUR WEEKS LATER I TALKED TO WILLIE AND GOT THE NEWS. THE STRANGE THING ABOUT BEING IN THE MIDDLE OF A DISASTER LIKE THIS IS THAT YOU TEND NOT TO REMEMBER A LOT OF THINGS. IN JANUARY OF 2006 I WENT TO LOUISIANA ON THE COAST GUARD DISASTER RESPONSE. I WORKED OVER THERE UNTIL SEPTEMBER 2007, THEN RELEASED. I REMEMBER THE MANY CONVERSATIONS WE HAD, BUT IT WASN’T UNTIL I CAME BACK AND SAW A DVD OF THEIR PERFORMANCE AT THE MISSISSIPPI COAST COLISEUM THAT I NOTICED THAT ROBBY WAS PLAYING MY BLUE FENDER STRATOCASTER. NOW, THE LAST TIME I SAW THAT STRAT, IT STILL HAD THE MISSISSIPPI MUSIC STORE TAGS ON IT, ALONGSIDE A BRAND NEW PEAVY AMP. IN MY MIND, I ASSUMED THAT THEY WERE BOTH GONE WITH THE OTHER EQUIPMENT, BUT THERE HE WAS, PLAYING IT ON STAGE! I JUST SAT DOWN AND STARED, DUMBFOUNDED. I WAS AT ROBBY’S HOUSE, AND YELLED, “HEY ROBBY, IS THAT MY BLUE FENDER?” WELL THE REST IS MUSIC HISTORY, AND TO FIND OUT THAT HE RECORDED “ DOIN’ ALRIGHT “ WITH THAT GUITAR JUST AMAZED ME. HE SAID IT STILL HAS A CONNECTION JUST WRAPPED TOGETHER, AND NEEDS SOLDERING, BUT IT SEEMS TO BE DOIN’ ALRIGHT. (NO PUN INTENDED) NOW I’M BACK WORKING AT THE HARBOR HELPING WILLIE REBUILD THE DOCUMENTS AND FINANCIAL STRUCTURE OF HARBOR ADMINISTRATION. AT THE TIME OF WRITING THIS STORY, I’M AT PRACTICE, TENDING THE MIXING BOARD, WHILE THEY’RE GETTING READY TO PLAY THIS FRIDAY AT SHAGGY’S FOR THE ‘CHRISTMAS IN THE PASS’ CELEBRATION ON FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7TH, AND THEY REALLY SOUND GOOD TONIGHT. AND THAT’S THE SHORT VERSION OF THE BLUE FENDER. I HOPE TO ONE DAY BE ABLE TO AFFORD TO GET ANOTHER GUITAR AND AMP. I LIKE TO WRITE SONGS, AND IT HELPS TO HAVE SOME MUSIC TO GO WITH THEM! I KNOW THERE ARE MANY MORE LINES TO WRITE, BUT I’LL SAVE THAT FOR ANOTHER DAY. Fender®, Stratocaster®, and the distinctive headstock and body designs of the Stratocaster® guitar, are trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation and used herein with express written permission. All rights reserved. MANY THANKS TO ROBYN AT FENDER FOR THE USE OF THE IMAGE ABOVE! |
| 'NUFF SAID |
