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Musicians rally behind bassist Matt Call after hit-and-run accident

by Andrea Swensson

July 23, 2012

It was business as usual for Minneapolis bassist and barista Matt Call as he left Urban Bean Coffee on Lyndale Ave. and 24th St. on June 27 to run errands with his girlfriend, Missy Morken, after work.

But then, the unthinkable happened.

As she stood at the passenger's side of Call's car and waited for him to unlock the door, Morken's ordinary evening turned into a nightmare. A black Jeep drove up and struck Call, pinning him to his car and then throwing him into the air. "These are noises I will never forget," she wrote in a harrowing account of the incident on her blog. The Jeep's driver sped away and disappeared, leaving the pair alone to deal with the aftermath.

Call broke both of his legs in the accident, in addition to sustaining other injuries, and his recovery is expected to take between six months and a year. Though he is insured, Call will be out of work for the foreseeable future, and is expected to face numerous expenses throughout his recovery.

Already, friends and fellow musicians have begun to rally behind Call -- including a one-of-a-kind benefit that will be held tomorrow night in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, not far from the scene of the accident.

Urban Bean owner Greg Martin will open his two-story loft to the public for the event, and has partnered with photographer and budding event planner Sara Montour to book an excellent lineup of Twin Cities musicians. The second floor of the loft will be turned into a music venue, and Jim Walsh, a.k.a. frequent hootenanny host The Mad Ripple, will lead a round-robin concert with songwriters Chastity Brown, Gabriel Douglas (The 4onthefloor), Danny O'Brien (The Farewell Circuit), Brad Senne (Walker Fields), Party House, and The American North.

Downstairs, DJ Ken Hannigan (Anthem Heart), DJ Bach, and So Gold will provide the soundtrack to a silent auction that hopes to raise more money for Call. Members of the Northstar Bartenders Guild will be on hand to mix drinks, and 2 Gingers Whiskey has donated some product to the event.

View some of the items that will be up for grabs in the silent auction (including a baseball bat signed by the entire Twins team and an autographed copy of Neil Gaiman's novel Coraline) over on Facebook, and purchase tickets to the benefit here.

 

Clean Water Land & Legacy Amendment
This activity is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.