Hoboken Musicians to Play Stevie Ray Vaughn for Texas Flood Relief

ABOVE: Water levels reach the base of a well-known statue of Stevie Ray Vaughan along the banks of Lady Bird Lake in Austin. Heavy rains continued in the area causing extensive flooding and damage to the area. Photo by James Gregg/American-Statesman

Flooding sucks.

Ask anyone in Hoboken—they’ll tell you.

You know what else sucks? Misguided, obstructionist politicians. We could probably tell you a thing or two about that as well.

Whether it’s a full-on hurricane or a quick deluge, Hoboken knows all too well just how devastating the impact of flooding can be.

While we in Hoboken were experiencing our most recent incident of flooding this past Sunday, waters were devastating parts of Texas. In their wake, 31 people are dead, 10 are still missing, untold numbers are homeless and damages will reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

When flooding hit our city as a result of Superstorm Sandy in 2012, certain Texas politicians voted against federal aid for our region.

That said, if the rest of the country were to judge the people of New Jersey by our politicians, they’d all hate us. Well, they probably do anyway, but that’s not what this is about…

Right now, people are in need—when it comes to flooding, there comes a point where you need to rise above the muck and get things done.

Here in Hoboken, a number of musicians have agreed to join up and raise funds for Texas Flood relief by playing a Stevie Ray Vaughn song in the middle of their gigs. Of course Stevie Ray and “Texas Flood” are often mentioned in the same breath—one of the newest inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Texas Flood was the name of SRV’s 1983 debut album, followed by Couldn’t Stand the Weather, and later came the posthumous album The Sky is Crying.

Stevie Ray Vaughn was killed in a helicopter crash in 1990.

Last week, his statue in Austin, Texas was poncho-deep in a true Texas Flood.

This Thursday, Davey & The Trainwreck will perform along with Nipsey in Sinatra Park. At some time during the Nipsey set, you’ll hear the tell-tale sounds of SRV. At that point, a cowboy hat will be passed around the crowd in hopes that anyone on hand will be able to pitch in what they can to help the good people of Texas who have lost so much over the past few weeks.

At other shows throughout the month of June, including Casey & The Dirty Water Dogs at Finnegan’s on June 19th, the cowboy hat will come around. All money collected will be donated directly to a flood relief charity on the ground in Texas.

Check back with hMAG.com for more details on upcoming gigs and fundraising totals. At the end of June, we will coordinate the delivery of funds with full disclosure right here on this website.

Any other Hoboken bands, venues, organizations interested in participating please email chris@hMAG.com.

Here’s Hoboken’s Sinatra Park—the day after Superstorm Sandy hit our city. Davey & The Trainwreck will be playing here with Nipsey on Thursday, June 4th. Donations will be collected for Texas Flood Relief.