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Medicinal Music
Local performers unite to assist typhus-stricken bassist with bills
From the State Journal-Register - Springfield, Illinois
Published Thursday, April 19, 2007
Music and modesty have been the best medicine for Bill Laymon's medical concerns.
Since the journeyman rock bassist and Springfield native contracted typhus from a flea near his Hawaii home, his depleted immune system has warded off encephalitis, he suffered something similar to a stroke and, now, a recurrence of bladder cancer.
Ostensibly, a long list of local talent performing for Laymon on Sunday will do so to raise money for his many medical bills not covered by health insurance.
Laymon acknowledges that purpose, but says that it's not the top priority for him.
"Ultimately, the thing is to have a good party for Springfield," Laymon says. "I have every belief I'm going to get over this health stuff."
Laymon didn't conceive "With a Little Help From His Friends," an eight-hour benefit for the bassist kicking off at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Firefighters Postal Club, 940 West Lake Shore Drive.
It was the idea of Jeff Kornfeld and Ed Fliege (of the Groove Daddies), along with Kornfeld's sister, Jill, his brother-in-law, Byron Francis, and Trout Lily Cafe owner Kate Hawkes.
"We got started on it about a month ago, and it just kind of snowballed from there," says Kornfeld, who will perform with the Groove Daddies at the event. "When word got out, we had a lot of people calling me up and wanting to come play. We had to start turning some people down."
Other acts in the indoor lineup include Black Magic Johnson, Real Time, Micah Walk, Helton Brothers, Moonlite Rhythm Rangers, the Suns of Circumstance, Perfunctory This Band, Sofa Kings and Tom Irwin & Raoul (of Black Magic Johnson).
Just this week, an outdoor stage was scheduled, featuring Eva Hunter, Jill Manning and other acts to be announced.
"All of these folks were magnanimous enough to put something together to try to help me out," Laymon says.
Food and drink will be available, as well as raffle tickets and an ongoing silent auction, for which Laymon says there will be "very special things ... that would be of interest to people who like the kind of music that I've done."
Items include a guitar signed by members of Little Feat, an unopened eight-album box set of Jimi Hendrix music and artwork by local artist Ed Martin. (Anyone who wants to offer something for the silent auction, or make further donations, should call Jeff Kornfeld at 697-5042.)
Laymon graduated from City Day School in 1973; one week after his 1981 graduation from Sangamon State University, he moved to California. He accomplished what he told his friends and family he'd do - play bass for New Riders of the Purple Sage.
The band was a country-music extension of the Grateful Dead, and Laymon joined as it was morphing into an extended-family branch of the Dead and its fans. David Nelson, a founding New Riders guitarist, re-worked the ensemble into the David Nelson Band, with which Laymon has been a regular ever since. He also has filled in for Jefferson Airplane bassist Jack Casady.
Laymon's bout with typhus forced him off a tour with the David Nelson Band, and he came back to the Springfield area about 11/2 years ago to begin a recuperative process. Illnesses haven't slowed Laymon's live endeavors, as he's performed in and around Springfield since his return.
Lately, he's been connecting with friends from bluegrass jam-band Leftover Salmon as they've passed through central Illinois. He surprised Vince Herman during a solo gig in Peoria.
"The last time I saw him was a festival in Colorado, which was my last gig on tour before I fell off with illness," Laymon says. "I walked into the place, Vince looked at me and said, 'You're still alive!' I did the whole show with him, and the place went bananas. I think people were glad to see me out and playing."
That gig got Laymon a "way-over-sold-out, rip-snortin' good time" opening gig for fellow Salmon player Drew Emmitt, when he played Capital City Bar & Grill in Springfield last month.
Laymon looks forward to the good time of getting onstage Sunday and jamming with all of his friends who have come together.
"All those years I've been out there playing and all the things I've done," Laymon says, "I've always tried to let people know I did it for all of us in Springfield."
Nick Rogers can be reached at 747-9587 or nick.rogers@sj-r.com.
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