Benefit show will help musician injured in crash

Sometimes when bad things happen to good people, the best comes out in other people.

The Joleen Bell Benefit Concert has turned into the biggest roots-music event to grace Colorado Springs in a long time. A baker's dozen of the finest acoustic acts in the region are donating their talents for the show.

Event organizer Charlie Hall, of the Black Rose Acoustic Society, said musicians just kept saying yes when asked to play the show for Bell, to help her pay her medical bills after she was injured in a head-on collision with a drunken driver.

"We wound up with too many acts," Hall said. "We finally decided that the only way to do it is to have two stages."

The final product is a local version of "We Are the World," a festival of 14 hours of music on two stages that showcases some of the best from various quarters of the musical community, including local folk favorites such as Chuck Pyle, The Mitguards and Joe Uveges, longtime Penrose Room performer Lila Mori and Ronnie Cook of the Flying W Wranglers. Much beloved Phil Volan, Bell's musical partner the past five years or so, will also take the stage. Bell was driving two of her kids, 16 and 19, home from her son's wrestling meet at about 8:20 p.m. on Jan. 31, headed down Mesa Ridge Parkway, when a driver swerved into her lane and crashed into her car.

Her son's hip popped out of joint, and he was forced to miss the regional wrestling tournament and his shot at state. Her daughter somehow walked away with only a sprained wrist. But Bell wasn't so lucky; she suffered a spiral fracture of her left leg, a broken collarbone and sternum, two broken ribs and a punctured lung.

The other driver, a repeat drunken driving offender, was uninsured. And Bell, as a self-employed musician, was under-insured.

So, she's on the hook for thousands of dollars in medical bills.

"We are all very fortunate to be standing and talking and alive," Bell said. "Afterwards, it's humbling and you walk around thankful all day. . . except when I hurt. Then I need really good drugs."

Bell said she's been amazed to see the love that has come from the tragedy.

"There are two sides - the medical side that feels dark and scary, and the other side is to have this community that is so open and willing to give.

"I'd rather think about those people than the fear and darkness and money."

details
Joleen Bell benefit concert

When: Daylong show, 2:30 p.m.-about 9:30 p.m. Sunday

Where: Benet Hill Center Auditorium, 2577 N. Chelton Road. Tickets: $15-$50, donation at the door

On the bill: Palmer Divide, The Mitguards, Chuck Pyle, Jim Adam Blues Band, Phil Volan, Joe Uveges, Willson & McKee, Adam Gardino, Lila Mori and Ken Miller, Ceol Céilí, Ronnie Cook (of the Flying W Wranglers), The Storys and Acoustic Eidolon.

More info: Check out www.blackroseacoustic.org or call 232-2875. To help: If you can't make the show but want to help Joleen Bell, contributions can be made to a special fund, No. 482449 at any Ent Federal Credit Union branch.