I'm just so proud of the people of Nashville, well, with the exception of a few morons spouting gibberish in the comment section of this article over at the Tennessean.
Ah, I guess it comes with the territory and there will always be assholes and idiots out there who find fault with anything.
Hope to see folks tomorrow at the funeral; will be looking forward to sending the man off on his last performance.
Benefit concert will be December 9th at Center Stage; it will highlight and break the news about the new homeless songwriter's class that has been underway at the Campus for....errrr, Room in the Inn for several weeks now.
Any proceeds I receive from that will go directly towards improvements in a soundproof recording area I've been informed Charlie Strobel has agreed to have built there; this is NOT confirmed by Charlie however, and I'm merely passing along information given to me by the man who is behind the effort, so at this point I can only say it is underway, not cast in stone yet.
In any event, it's a great effort and I hope it comes to fruition.
Nashville street musician Velvet Thunder to get proper funeral
Funeral services, a cemetery plot and even a suit are provided for man who spent three decades performing
Velvet, whose real name was Elringo De'Angelino, died Nov. 16 after three decades of playing his guitar on the streets of downtown Nashville. A story in The Tennessean described friend and outreach worker Steve Samra's hope that he could raise enough money to give Velvet a proper burial, and many people reached out to help.
Woodlawn Roesch-Patton Funeral Home donated deeply to the cause, offering a plot in its cemetery and the entire funeral for free.
"Nashville has a lot of icons," said general manager Rodney Wells. "I believe he was one of them."
The more than $400 donated to his memorial fund this week will go toward a headstone for Velvet. Homeless advocates who are also ministers will speak at the service, which will be held at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at 660 Thompson Lane.
The funeral home even bought Velvet a suit to be buried in. It's a beige pinstriped number with a red velvet shirt, bought at a deep discount from K&G Clothiers.
"(They) nailed Velvet's taste, and I'm sure he'd be strutting proud in the suit they got him," said Samra, who is handling arrangements.
Samra hopes to get Velvet's guitar encased and displayed somewhere, and an upcoming songwriting class at the Campus for Human Development will be named for him. A benefit for the remainder of the costs to honor the musician will be held at Center Stage at 4 p.m. on Dec. 9.
Samra said people have bent over backwards to help honor Velvet, and his phone has been ringing nonstop from people wanting to reminisce. Some knew Velvet well, and others just heard him once or twice and didn't know the circumstances under which the soulful singer lived.
t heard him once or twice and didn't know the circumstances under which the soulful singer lived.
Velvet will always hold a special place in the heart of June Novelle, not just for his music but his compassion.
"He wasn't just a homeless musician," said Novelle. "He was someone who cared about other people."
Novelle's son Danny was in an accident in 1996, and she used to take him to Second Avenue to practice walking. Blind and in pain, he'd try to make the trek from one end of the tourist-laden street to the other.
A helpful gesture
Velvet kept a chair out for Danny every day, knowing he would need a break halfway down. She recounted the memories after learning of his death."It was a small kindness, but it made such a difference in my son's life," Novelle said. "After my son got better I'd still go down there to see him, and even though he had his own needs, he'd always ask me how he was doing."
Krissa Barclay, who often put money in the street performer's bucket in front of the Old Spaghetti Factory, felt compelled to donate to Velvet's burial fund to honor all the times he honored her requests for his raunchy rendition of "Big-Legged Woman."
She said it broke her heart to hear that he'd begun sleeping there.
"I always thought he was there because he wanted to be, and I'm sad I didn't know the true story," Barclay said. "I hope tonight that Velvet Thunder is at peace with no worries and playing to a crowd that admires his talent as much as I did."
