Another Reason Fort Wayne is Cool

I've had the privilege to work in the show biz, entertainment, marketing, and advertising industry most of my adult life. Currently I work for Summit City Radio which includes 4 radio stations including ROCK 104.

A few days ago I was talking with Doc West and discovered that he was going to be the emcee for a benefit concert that featured the Mimi Burns Band.

I heard Mimi's Band for the first time when they did a number during the Holiday Pops concert last month with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic.

Last night, my wife and I attend the benefit concert with about 100 others and over $4000 was raised.

The pictures on the right side I snapped during the concert and I've included a snippet of their music in the first video below.



WANE TV did the following story:

Benefit concert uses music to help fire victims heal emotionally

Updated: Saturday, 29 Jan 2011, 11:58 PM EST
Published : Saturday, 29 Jan 2011, 11:57 PM EST

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - About a hundred people came to a benefit concert at C2G Music Hall Saturday night to support Spencer and Zoe Tomasi, who lost their mother in a house fire.

On New Year's Eve, their house caught on fire. The family had fallen asleep watching a movie. Spencer woke up when he smelled smoke and was able to break a window to get his little sister out. But, their mother didn't make it.

"When all this happened we wanted to put on an event to help inspire them to use music as a positive outlet," Steve Tyler said.

Tyler lived around the corner from the Tomasi family and is also a member of the Mimi Burns Band. He and Burns helped the children get into music before the fire and they organized the benefit concert.

"When you have something challenging happen to you, that emotion's going to come out somewhere," Tyler said.

C2G Music Hall hosted the concert.

"We use music as one of the best ways to express yourself and the best way to heal," Mark Minnick, the pastor at C2G, said. "Music provides a means of focus and the work of music is always about inner thoughts and to be able to ... thrive musically will help them express their grief, which is very real."

Sweetwater Sound is also helping the Tomasi children continue their love of music. The company gave Spencer a guitar and amp and Zoe a keyboard. It also gave them both music lessons for a year and $250 each to rebuild their music collection.

"We believe in the healing power of music so we wanted to give a little something to them to get them on their way," Thad Tegtmeyer from Sweetwater Sound said.

If someone would like to know how they can help Spencer and Zoe, contact the Mimi Burns Band.

Benefit concert uses music to help fire victims heal emotionally : wane.com