Be a Good Neighbor and Give Generously to the Dutchmen Fund.

I was asked by a good friend to post this story over a month ago and I never got around to it and feel quite guilty. For those of you unaware, the Dutchmen is a very historic place not only for the Seattle music community, but for anyone who's a fan of rock music and grunge in particular. Nirvana, Tad, Mudhoney; they all recorded there. Here's the gist of the story:

On the morning of Thursday January 8, historic rehearsal studios the Dutchman and Calleye recording studios were destroyed by a tragic fire. Gary Mula, founder and proprietor of this Seattle music landmark, was away when the blaze erupted and fortunately was not injured. He is however terribly shaken and unsure of his future.

The Dutchman Fund has been organized in response to this catastrophe. The intent of the fund is to provide an opportunity for Gary's friends and colleagues to assist him in a time of dire need. This website has been set-up as a channel to receive donations (which are payable directly to Gary via PayPal) and to promote upcoming benefits. It is also intended to serve as a resource to communicate developing news on the event and its aftermath, as well as serve as community forum to remember and celebrate the Dutchman and Calleye.

UPDATE: January 23, 2009
The Seattle Fire Department has determined that the cause of the fire was accidental and has handed control of the building back to the owner's insurance company who are in the process of conducting their own investigation. At present Gary has limited, escorted access to the studio. He was able to determine that Jules-studio cat extraordinaire-unfortunately did not make it out of the building. He was a fantastic cat who will be greatly missed. As for Gary's personal belongings, a few items have been salvaged, but all of his instruments and studio gear have been totally destroyed. On the brighter side, his data archives and most of his hard discs miraculously survived the fire and a great deal of data has been recovered. His main recording drive however, did not survive and we're hoping to raise funds to recover the data. There's a lot of wonderful music on this drive and it would be tragic if it is lost forever. If anyone out there specializes in data recovery and would be willing to donate their services, please contact us immediately.

Here's the link to the website.