My good friend Brett is a musician.

He is also a recording engineer, and he records some beautiful music.

Like this: https://brettschieber.bandcamp.com/track/lightning-strikes-extended-acoustic-version

Or This: https://brettschieber.bandcamp.com/track/our-last-cigarette

Or this: https://brettschieber.bandcamp.com/track/cinema-sheet

Or this spoken word album he did with my friend Caleb: https://brettschieber.bandcamp.com/album/unnecessary-content

Or this score he did for a Georges Melies short: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubvM4P2HuUc

In addition to releasing some really excellent, carefully recorded music, he's also one of the nicest people I've ever met.

We would book him at the venue we ran on a regular basis, regardless of the genre of the other bands performing. He'd normally come in with a guitar and a uke, and sit down on the edge of the stage and play unamplified.

I gotta tell you, watching a room full of 40-60 scene kids at a hardcore show sit down in a circle around a dude with an acoustic guitar and sing along to songs like Our Last Cigarette (linked above) or The God Particle (https://brettschieber.bandcamp.com/track/the-god-particle) was always magical.

And Brett didn't care how many people were in the room. He'd play his heart out, even if it was just four or five folks in the audience.

He also does childrens songs under the name Mark D Pencil, and sometimes he'd play those to a room full of rambunctious hardcore kids. You'd expect that that would be a disaster, but he's such a kind and genuine person that everyone just sang along.

He has a kind of magic about him. I don't understand it, really, but when I say he's the nicest man I know I mean it as sincerely as I can. I can't imagine that anyone will ever challenge him for that title. He's just a wonderfully patient and kind dude, and he deserves so much success

Anyway, Brett's car was totaled today. He's fine, his wife is fine, their little girl is fine. But he's a school teacher trying to support a family. Did I mention that? He teaches elementary school special education, in spite of the fact that it barely pays anything.

His car was totaled. Insurance is going to cover some of it, but not enough for him to replace it with something reliable. Listen to some of his music and, if you like it, maybe buy some, or tell someone else about it so that he can get a new car.