Scotland Yard Gospel Choir (Courtesy of Bloodshot Records)

A few days ago, Elia Einhorn of the Scotland Yard Gospel Choir took his first walk alone since the Sept. 24 accident that nearly destroyed his band. Even though he was wearing a cumbersome neck brace designed to keep him from reinjuring his spine, it felt amazing to be out in the fresh air. He went to a book store in Evanston, did some browsing, had a cup of hot chocolate, then went home and slept for 10 hours, exhausted from his big day out.

“I’m feeling better every day,” he says. “It’s the strongest I’ve felt emotionally and physically in quite a while. Once I realized everyone in the band would be OK, I came alive again.”
           
Einhorn, 29, is the founder of the Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, a Chicago band that has been building a following over the last decade with its mix of orchestral rock and tart lyrics. On Sept. 24, the six-member band was heading off through Indiana to begin an extensive tour behind its latest and best album, “ … and the Horse You Rode in On” (Bloodshot), when their van blew a tire and swerved off Int. Hwy 65, narrowly avoided hitting on-coming traffic, and then rolled over at least five times. Miraculously, no one was killed, but everyone was hurt and required hospital treatment.

Three band members --Eliezer Santana Jr., Alison Hinderliter, and Ethan Adelsman – were treated and released. The other half of the band was not quite so fortunate. The worst of the injuries was suffered by Mark Yoshizumi, who had to be airlifted to Advocate Christ Hospital Medical Center in south suburban Oak Lawn with leg and internal injuries, and major head trauma. He has since left the hospital and entered a facility to begin months of rehab. Mary Ralph was hospitalized with head trauma and a broken shoulder, and released after nearly three weeks. Einhorn’s head was injured, requiring stitches, and his fractured vertebrae initially caused doctors to fear that he was “in grave peril of quadriplegia.”

“I was conscious through the whole thing,” Einhorn says of the accident. “The tire made a ‘thunking’ noise and we veered off the road into an oncoming line of semis. Fortunately, our best driver, Jay [Santana], was behind the wheel, and he was able to get control and veer away from the oncoming traffic back into the median. Jay’s a hero, his driving saved our lives. But we flipped, and I remember bleeding profusely from my head. The top of the van had caved in and sliced my head open. Later, I saw pictures of the van and there was blood all over the inside --- I think it had to be from my head wound. The ambulance came and they cut my clothes off and strapped me to a board. They were afraid I had spinal damage and later they gave me morphine at the hospital. When I woke up the next day, my brother and dad were there, but I was in bad shape.”

His condition improved enough that he could leave the hospital after a few days, but he had to wear the neck brace for fear that he would aggravate his spinal injuries. “I went to see a specialist in Chicago, and when he told me that I was in no danger of paralysis, it was one of the best days of my life,” Einhorn says. 

Now the band is on the mend, but the financial damages keep piling up. Only a couple of the band members are in good enough shape physically to return to their day jobs, and the cancellation of the tour further cut into their revenue. Besides losing their beloved van, nicknamed “Chrissie Gonzalez,” they lost most of their instruments in the crash. Though five of the six band members have medical insurance, Einhorn says, the fiscal setback is still substantial.

“We’re getting slowly healthy, but the insane bills are piling up,” he says. Yet he and his bandmates have been cheered by an outpouring of financial and emotional support from the Chicago music community, as well as fans and friends from around the world.

Bloodshot Records has set up a PayPal address for donations: tsygc@bloodshotrecords.com. And the label is updating the story of the band on its Web site: http://www.bloodshotrecords.com/news/sygc-van-accident.
   
Meanwhile, a number of benefit concerts are being lined up, the first on Halloween at Subterranean.

“We feel we made the best album of our career, we were getting great reviews,” Einhorn says. “We played the Hideout [block party on Sept. 12] and it was a triumphant day. So to go through this accident and be unable to tour behind the album is really disappointing. We need to get our lives back. But we’re going to tour next year, I have no doubt about that.” 

greg@gregkot.com

Scotland Yard Gospel Choir benefit

With BBU, New Duncan Imperials, Canasta and the Avondale Ramblers

8:30 p.m. Oct. 31 at Subterranean, 2011 W. North Av., $10; ticketweb.com.

Update: Another Scotland Yard Gospel Choir benefit show will take place Nov. 12 at the Hideout with the 1900s and Brighton MA. All proceeds will go to the band. Details and advance tickets can be found at:

http://hideoutchicago.com/calendar.html#Nov12

  Sponsored Link: Amazon's The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir Store

     Punk Planet, the Chicago-based magazine that for 13 years documented underground music and culture with journalistic insight and a diehard fan’s passion, announced Monday that it is ceasing publication.

    In a parting letter on its Web site, punkplanet.com, the magazine cited a number of factors for closing up shop, including competition from free Internet media and declining ad sales. The magazine also took a financial hit when its newsstand distributor, the Independent Press Association, declared bankruptcy last January. 

     The publication founded in 1994 by Daniel Sinker grew from a self-published fanzine into a bimonthly publication and book publisher. It reviewed hundreds of bands ignored by mainstream media, and it remained staunchly committed to independent labels and artists: “We do not review materials that are produced under the auspices of a media conglomerate,” its Web site declared. But it also went well beyond the music to engage the broader culture, with interviews of figures such as Noam Chomsky and a profile in the current issue on student activism.

       That us-against-them attitude made Punk Planet one of the most respected music magazines in the country.  But it wasn’t enough to keep it in business beyond 80 issues, as co-editor Anne Elizabeth Moore wrote: “Benefit shows are no longer enough to make up for bad distribution deals, disappearing advertisers, and a decreasing audience of subscribers.”

    Addendum: A video eulogy can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz6oOkdm2FU

    greg@gregkot.com