Please read this...

[WretchAwry <vickie@pilot.njin.net>]

...even though it doesn't have anything to do with Kate or Tori
directly, I'm sure they would approve and support this Fund in
spirit.

I've loved Victoria Williams' music, voice and lyrics since 1988. She's
not for everybody, but then, who is? Everything about her is unusual,
which makes her one of those infamous "love 'em or hate 'em" artists,
but it would be nigh near impossible to find a more "real" artist. Her
lyrics and viewpoint come purely from the heart. She's a storyteller
born and bred, and, if you like her, her lyrics will conjure up vivid
slices of life. I've fallen in love, over and over again, with her
stories and characters. Her voice is highly unusual, but I love it and
feel that it's absolutely perfect for her songs. Besides all that, I've
met her and she's one of the nicest people in the world. She's a gem,
an American national treasure, as the filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker (Monterey
Pop, Don't Look Back) realized when he decided to film a documentary
about her, "Victoria Come Home."
 
I hope everyone with an interest in music will read this, even
if you've never heard of Victoria Williams or don't like her music.
It talks about far more than her plight, which is heartbreaking
enough, and talks about the lack of health insurance coverage of
working musicians in general.  This is a problem in America, especially
for independent artists.  The Fund mentioned within this article may
well someday help an artist *you* care about, so please read the article,
and please support this cause by buying the album when it's released.

Thank you.


I wish I didn't have to say this, but I feel the need: To any individual
who may feel like flaming this non-Kate, non-Tori piece, please don't.
Or, please, send the flames directly to me. Not that I truly believe
that there will be flames, but it only takes one person in a bad mood...


This has already been sent to Ecto.  Re-printed without permission
========================================================================
Chicago Tribune "Tempo" Section
Thursday, June 3, 1993


ANOTHER KIND OF HEALTH BENEFIT

"Sweet Relief" comes to the aid of ailing singer Victoria Williams

By David Rothschild


In the Darwinian world of the rock-music business, it pays to be tough
as nails.  Traveling from town to town for months at a time, performing
in smoke-filled clubs and living in strange hotels on a schedule that
only a vampire could love, rock 'n' roll musicians put themselves at
constant risk of illness--both mental and emotional--not to mention 
the frequent bodily peril of falling objects, faulty onstage electrical
wiring, last-minute charter planes and overly enthusiastic fans.

It's a long, unpredictable road to the top, even for a perfectly healthy
person.  When real-life tragedy strikes a rock 'n' roller, fellow 
musicians tend to respond quickly, with focus and compassion.  Maybe
it's because they sense the inherent vulnerability of their own state of
managed chaos.  Understandably, the plight of a peer strikes especially
close to home.

Which is the case with singer/songwriter Victoria Williams, whose talent
and misfortune have inspired the upcoming "Sweet Relief" benefit album
and fundraising project.  Williams, 34, was diagnosed with multiple
sclerosis, a degenerative neurological disease, last spring during a
stint as the opening act for Neil Young's solo acoustic tour.  Williams
had no health insurance at the time of her diagnosis and now faces a
frightening and uncertain future of mounting medical costs and dwindling
dexterity and numbness in her hands.  Because Williams usually performs
solo on guitar, the disease is striking at the heart of her livelihood.

After attending a Los Angeles benefit for Williams last fall that 
featured performances by Maria McKee, T-Bone Burnett and Michael Penn,
Sony Music administrative assistant and longtime Williams fan Kelley
Walker decided to organize an East Coast fundraiser.  The New York
benefit featured guest appearances by Bob Mould, Marshall Crenshaw
and Lou Reed, anong others, and raised $20,000.  Afterward, Walker got
together with Reed's wife and manager, Sylvia, and the two women set
about compiling the "Sweet Relief" record.  They took the project to
Thirsty Ear Recordings, an alternative record label that recently signed
a distribution deal with Sony.

"Victoria has a lot of really good friends, so it wasn't as hard as it
would appear to put this together," Walker said.  "Everybody, from the
studios to the managers, the attorneys, business affairs people--everybody
wanted it to happen.  They were very sympathetic because Victoria's one
of their own, she's a product of this industry.  I think that most of
these people would have done it for anybody in her position."

There's nothing new about benefit albums, but a really good one is 
rare. "Sweet Relief" is an unusually cohesive patchwork of Williams' 
idiosyncratic songs, performed by an impressive lineup that includes 
Reed, Matthew Sweet, Pearl Jam, McKee, the Jayhawks and Soul Asylum.
The diversity and consistant quality of the performances on the "Sweet
Relief" album are a testament to Williams' songwriting, which has a 
charming guilelessness that brings out the best in all those involved.

The record is schelduled for release June 19.  A music video of Soul
Asylum's "Summer of Drugs" single off the album is also in the works.
Proceeds from record sales will help defray Williams' mounting medical
bills and finance the "Sweet Relief" Musician's Trust Fund, a committee-
supervised last appeal for other musicians who find themselves in a 
position like Williams'.

Although she has released two albums (1987's "Happy Come Home" on Geffen
Records and 1990's "Swing the Statue" on Rough Trade), Williams, who was
born in Shreveport, La., is unknown to mainstream audiences.  She is,
however, well-known and appreciated within the rock music community.

"She has fans all around, which I think becomes obvious with this 
project," Sweet said. "I think for some people it's kind of an aquired
taste to get into Victoria's sound.  There's a childlike quality about
it, but it has a real stream-of-consciousness effect.  She reminds me
of Van Morrison or someone like that.  She has her own soulful thing
that's really folky too, bluegrassy."

  Falling Through Cracks

Once a street musician in Venice Beach, Calif., Williams has recorded 
or toured with a variety of musicians, including Young, Van Dyke Parks
and the Golden Palominos.  She just completed a 10-day tour as solo
warmup act for the Minneapolis country-rock band the Jayhawks.  Formerly
married to singer-songwriter-guitarist Peter Case (Plimsouls, the Nerves),
Williams has continued to plug away. 

"I feel so greatful, I really do," Williams said.  "Because nobody would
have ever heard those albums, they're both out of print and basically
they've kind of resurrected those songs."  Williams said she has also
enjoyed the artists' interpretations of her songs.  "Every time I hear
another cut [from the album] it has been a high point.  They've all
really been delightfully suprising, I'm just so touched."

Few working musicians without a gold or platinum-selling album can afford
the high cost of basic health insurance.  Typically, bands or solo artists
are signed to recording contracts as independent contractors.  Because
they aren't full-time employees, they aren't eligible for coverage under
a record company's major medical group health plan.

Musicians unions and performance-rights organizations provide health
coverage to members who generate a minimum yearly income, or who can
afford to pay their somewhat reduced premiums out-of-pocket.  But the
costs are still over the heads of many working musicians.  Asked if he
is covered under a health plan, Lemonheads lead singer-songwriter and
"Sweet Relief" album contributor Evan Dando admitted: "I don't know.  I
think I might have some.  I'm pretty lazy.  I don't like the whole idea
of insurance very much.  I don't know why, it just doesn't appeal.  It's
not something that people talk about much.  What's really good about
'Sweet Relief' is, it's making people talk about it and realize the whole
issue."

Seattle's successful Sub Pop independent record label may soon offer its
bands health care.  Sub Pop's director of East Coast operations, Joyce
Linehan, claims health care is high on the label's list of priorities.
"When I talked to Victoria about what was going on with her, we started
lamenting the fact that I had insurance and she didn't.  It didn't seem
right that the employees of the companies are all set, but the artists are
sort of out there and they, more than anybody, need it.  They're traveling
all the time and, God forbid anything catastrophic should happen happen. 
At least this way, they'd be covered.  It's really important to us."

  Obstacles to coverage

If Sub Pop does institute a health-care program for its artists, it would
be one of the few record companies to do so.  The Cassandra Group is a
Boston-based money-management firm that works exclusively with the arts
community and non-profit entities.  Dana Giacchetto, director of the
Cassandra Group, is facilitating Sub Pop's entry into health insurance.
"The insurance companies don't want to cover bands," Giacchetto said.
"Insurance companies make you sign something that says, 'Have you ever
done any drugs?'  If you say no, you get sick and they say: 'You lied,
forget it.  We're not going to honor the claim.'  This happens a lot."
The perceived rough-and-tumble existence of the average, working rock 'n'
roll musician is yet another obstacle to musicians' medical coverage.  

In addition to its work with Sub Pop, the Cassandra Group has been
instrumental in the creation of the "Sweet Relief" Musician's Trust Fund.
By Williams' request, the fund is being organized to provide emergency
money to financially strapped musicians with medical problems.  "The
Cassandra Group can take care of the money, invest it in worthy causes,
and it'll be there in case someone gets sick," Williams said.

The trust's board of directors includes musicians and other music-
industry people.  "Generally speaking, it's set up to allow musicians
to petition the board for funds when they have nowhere else to turn,"
Giacchetto said.  "Everyone who's working on this--the lawyers, the
accountants, the investment managers--I've demanded that they work 
for free.  A lot of the time, you get these things together and they
become marketing gimmicks for the labels and the money never gets to
cause.  So the key here is to make sure that the money gets to the
people who need it."

  Staying 'on the sunny side'

MS is a progressively debilitating disease that strikes the central 
nervous system.  A flareup adds a heightened sense of randomness and
vulnerability to an otherwise normal healthy outlook.  That's why it's
so poignant when Williams approaches her situation with childlike 
optimism, much as she approaches her music.

"Stay on the sunny side, always on the sunny side," she said.  Sometimes
you can get really down about something, but it doesn't really help in 
the long run.  You can ride it for a little while, but it doesn't really
lead to anyting productive."  She paused for a moment, then added, "Well,
maybe you get a good song out of it."


  For more information about the "Sweet Relief" Musicians Trust Fund,
  or to make a contribution, write to the fund c/o Cassandra Group Inc.,
  715 Boylston St., Boston, Mass.  02116-2612

==========================================================================

"Be sweet, be free, every day is poetry"  Victoria Williams

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Vickie                "Fight for your right     "My ears are lucky to hear
vickie@pilot.njin.net   to have a monster" TA     these glorious songs" HR
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 all the voices begin" KB      |__|_ ||_|  ecto-request@ns1.rutgers.edu
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