The vibe bar saga
On Sunday, May 21, I left a case containing my vibe bars on a sidewalk in Asheville. Lots of people have told me that, considering how much I travel and perform and the amount of gear I carry around, it's amazing that this hasn't happened before. (I'm not really sure whether that makes me feel any better...)
So, this case is very small, very heavy, and contains bars worth about $3000. These bars are the actual notes for the vibe, so the instrument is less than worthless without them. The bars are also the main thing that gives a particular instrument its tone, so if I couldn't get my bars back I would never have my same vibe again, even with new bars.
I didn't realize the case was missing until 5 days later when Stephanie's Id was packing up for an out-of-town gig. There ensued a frantic search of my van, my house, and the street where we finally realized the case had been last seen. (Chuck, Stephanie, and Cameron were great, supportive partners in this initial search.) We eventually had to give up and go to our gig, which we played with Cameron's malletkat - not a great musical experience, but at least we were able to make it through.
Saturday morning - we got home from Charleston at 6 am, and I continued the search. Here's the e-mail I sent out later that day:
Hi everybody,
Well, I
have done one of the most stupid things ever. Somehow, I lost the
bars for my vibraphone. The best I can figure out is that I left
them outside of Barley's Sunday night. Many of you know what the
missing item looks like - it's the small black case, about 18" on the
longest side, the one that weighs about a million pounds because it's
full of metal bars. Or, if the bars are not in the case, they're
two sets of rectangular gold-colored bars strung together and
(possibly) wrapped in thin foam.
I have
checked at Barley's and the restaurant next door, 2 nearby pawn shops,
the police station, every lost and found I know about, and every alley
and dumpster within a few blocks of Barley's. I have also posted
flyers around Barley's offering a no-questions-asked reward. The
thing is that these bars would be of no use to a thief - unless he
happens to be a thief who plays a Musser vibraphone. The worst
scenario is that they've simply been dumped somewhere, but the best
scenario is that an honest person picked up the case and is trying to
figure out what it is and how to find the owner.
So, the
only remaining thing I can think to do is ask all of you, my friends
and acquaintances, to keep your eyes open. Maybe someone will
bring it to a music store, or it will show up in the paper, or
something, and someone will happen to hear about it. I know it's
a really long shot, but I don't know what else to do.
This is
the main instrument that I use all the time, and if I have to replace
the bars it's going to cost thousands of dollars. Even more
important than that, this vibe has been my main instrument for thirteen
years now. It's part of my artistic soul, and it's my good
friend. There's not much hope of finding the bars, but I have to
try everything I can, because this is breaking my heart.
So, please
keep your eyes and ears open, especially those of you who frequent
music stores and pawn shops. And please let me know if you think
of anything else I can do.
Thanks,
Matthew
