Before you go off spouting that I must've liked this Andrew and that's why it stuck out in my head. I do like Andrew, but not in the way that you think. I liked Andrew for just being real. He was the exact same person the first day that I met him, as he was last summer when I ran into him at a music festival. He's one of those incredibly genuine, what you see is what you get kind of guys. He's sweet and charming and even though I don't really talk to him all that much anymore, I'm 99.9% certain that if I needed something he would be there for me. He's just that good of a person.
Sitting on the drama room floor he told me how he much he was looking forward to the future. He wanted to make music but he wanted to have a family more. He told me that he wanted to have a daughter and name her Drew-Ann and that he thought that Drew was the best part of his name. I remember how much his face lit up under the lights and how great he was at listening and asking questions and letting me do the same. No topic was off limits and even though I don't really remember all the details, I remember sitting in the moment and realizing it was special.
Maybe the moment stood out to me because earlier a month or so earlier we had lost another of our classmates in a car accident and it hung over our school like a cloud. Mani was on the football team with Andrew and I was the football manager at the time. All of us were connected in our shared loss of such a bright star. Friendships had new meaning and his death may have changed some people. Perhaps it changed me. All I know is that one little conversation from drama class sticks in my head and many others have slipped out of it. Andrew touched my life in a way he may never know just by being who he is and letting me see a piece of that.
Yesterday, Andrew, now going by the name of Drew, posted the most heart wrenching thing on Facebook. He and his band had come back from playing a gig in Dundas and had left their gear in their truck which they call their tour bus. Someone broke in and stole the truck and all the contents and took off. Knowing how many hours playing and writing music Drew has done, this must be devastating. They asked anyone and everyone to look for their vehicle and their gear. Someone had to see it. Someone had to know where it was. Police reports were filed and the band waited.As word spread, devastating news came in from the OPP. The truck was found damaged near Caledonia but the gear was not in it. With all the word out in the music industry, everyone has their eyes peeled to find the gear and get it back where it belongs, most especially a laptop that has all the recent recordings of the band.
Drew's band was just starting to get their start. They just released their first single to the country market and they were nominated in the top 5 at the Toronto Independent Music Awards. Everything was looking up for the band that has been working for years to find the right sound and get the right recognition. The Waterloo Region Record picked up the story and it was shared at the Hamilton Spectator and other papers. Word is spreading and they've already heard of some leads. Maybe you can help by checking out this facebook album that details all of the instruments and gear that was taken. Maybe you can talk to your friends, who can talk to their friends and the word can keep spreading.
I don't want music to die for this band. Drew and his bandmates have worked too hard for too long. Let's help them get back to what they do best, preforming great music.
