Monday, January 2, 2006

In Memoriam: Bryan Harvey

[Added link to Daily News article — see below:]

My friend Steve Huff just put up a post about the horrific, unthinkable murder of a married couple and their two young daughters. They were bound to chairs and their throats were slit, and then their house was burned.

I knew the husband, Bryan Harvey. He played in my old friend Steve Wynn's former band, Gutterball.

I remember chatting with Bryan, mostly about our shared love of obscure Sixties pop music, when Gutterball played the Mercury Lounge on the Lower East Side, circa 1994. He had a natural sweetness about him, a warmth and lack of affectation coupled with something that I can only call integrity. I'm in a state of shock that such a thing could happen to him and his family.

UPDATE: This story is just too painful to imagine. Read the Richmond Times-Dispatch's account of how the Harvey family contributed to their community.

UPDATE #2, 1/3/06, 10 a.m.: Read today's New York Daily News article on Bryan and his family. I helped provide sources for the piece.

Please pray for the Harveys' family and friends, and for the capture and prosecution of the murderer or murderers.

The comments space below is for anyone who would like to share memories of Bryan Harvey and his music. Thank you.

RELATED, 1/8/06: My Daily News column is about bloggers' remembrances of Bryan.