01.12.07 - Hall of Flame Part 2

-- Hall Of Flame Update -- Fundraiser Concert --

Howdy Y'all!

Happy New Year Everyone! Hope you are enjoying your suspiciously mild winter... This weather is weirding me out a little, I must admit... But it's wonderful in a stressful way. I wish it was always like this, but then it's like rooting for global warming... So, I take it back. I wish it was cold. Too cold, even. I digress even w/in my first paragraph...

But here we go...

For those who immediately erase my email updates, or pass over my xanga/myspace entries, or don't visit my journal on my site... but for some reason started reading this... I have much to catch you up on :)

06 sure didn't go down w/o a fight. In November, my band, along with Jinny Kim and Mike Schmid, were on an awesome tour with high hopes in the south until a devastating van/trailer fire in the middle of Arkansas abruptly sent us back home to think about life for a while...

It's been roughly 2 months since the incident, and I've spent that time doing a lot of calculating, reflecting, rebuilding, planning, searching for guitars/gear, and asking God what the next step was... while living out the hectic holiday seasons and also getting to be a part of the wedding of one of my best friends in the whole world... all the way on the other side of the country.

In the midst of all of that, I've been receiving many emails and comments on xanga and myspace (which if I didn't get to respond to right away, I ask for your apology) asking me about the incident and asking how they can help and what we needed and what we lost.

I wrestled with the thought of asking for help for.. well, the past 2 months.. but even before asking, have been blessed and encouraged tremendously by folks who went out of their way to send donations and collect offerings from people I've never even met before! I'm simply amazed and am experiencing a new level of gratitude in my life and especially in this music career I was always slightly on the fence about to begin with...

Truthfully speaking, I was afraid to ask for help because well, I just didn't feel that I deserved it, especially while I wasn't doing anything to earn it. And it was with that mindset that I learned once again the humbling lesson of grace and how it is NEVER merited... it is simply to be receive with a grateful heart that longs to do good with it...

And so I learned that people genuinely want to help and get involved! It baffles me, but all I can say is that I'm thankful and moved... and that I want to do the best with any help that comes in...

With that, I wanted to address a few FAQs:

1. Were we insured and did the insurance cover our losses?

Unfortunately, we were not insured for any of our gear because we didn't have a business policy. The car insurance only covered up to 200.00 worth. I only had liability on the van because it was a used 97 chevy van.

2. How did the fire start?

Not sure really. We have a few guesses, but the "check engine soon" light came on for a while, then went off again, so we thought we were in the clear. Right before we left for tour we got inspection done and they said it was fine... It's a bit of a mystery and I'm not sure that we'll ever know how it happened.

3. How much (what) did we lose?

I calculated, then recalculated, and it looks like we lost somewhere between $65,000.00 - 70,000.00.
This includes the following:
Van, Trailer, PA System, Instruments (that belonged to all band members), which ranged from guitars to drum kits to keyboards - (you just can't put a price on some of these instruments that were lost.. we miss these the most), Misc Instrument/Tour Gear - amps, effects, cabinets.... Personal belongings: clothes, ipods, cameras, video camera, CDs, a few laptops, etc., Several hundred CDs we didn't get to sell yet, and all checks and cash we had earned so far on the tour (thanks to those who sent replacement checks for honorariums and CD purchases)

4. If someone would like to send a donation where can they send it?

You can make it out to "Broken For Good Records", and send it to:

Koo Chung
56-34 228th St.
Oakland Gardens, NY 11364

We also set up an online donation button through paypal:

So, currently we are slowly starting to rebuild and plan for 07. My biggest concern is acquiring a new van and trailer for touring. I guess I learned my lesson that this is an area where I really shouldn't be skimping, so I need to get a decent tour van (even if it's used) that's big enough to take a full band (we were starting to outgrow the minivan)... We also need a new trailer and an entire PA system...

Hopefully, we'll be able hit the road again with a new setup. Until then, I hope to have more local shows and I plan on opening up for my good friends "Jacob's Well" very soon.. More news to come with that!
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--To continue raising funds, we decided to have a HALL OF FLAME FUNDRAISER CONCERT! :)--

SAVE THE DATE!! FEBRUARY 3rd, 2007

I hope many of you New Yorkers and New Jersey folks will be able to make it out to this!
Here's the info:

HALL OF FLAME FUNDRAISER CONCERT

Koo Chung Band with Jinny Kim

2/3/07 Saturday

Lincoln Elementary School
51 West Englewood Ave.
Englewood, NJ 07631

7:30 pm (Doors Open 7pm)

$10
(Additional Love Offering Will Be Taken)

In addition to this, we'll be selling fundraiser T-Shirts which are in the middle of being designed right now!

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--XANGA --

Also, thanks to Jinny Kim, we've set up a xanga to let you know the progress of our fundraising... Here's the address:

http://www.xanga.com/bfg_support

We'll keep you updated with all things related to the "Hall of Flame", so be sure to check now and then if you're interested!

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Alright, well this is getting VERY lengthy, but I didn't want to miss anything :) But before I go, I know I sent out emails.... but I just wanted to say thank you again to everyone who has sent in support so far. It means so much to all of us and we're all encouraged and moved beyond words... Thank you for caring so much about our music and our ministry... We look forward to everything to come in 07, and we're excited about where God will lead us through all of this....

With that, I'll leave you some photos that Mike Schmid took during/after that crazy day in Arkansas...

AFTER THE FIRE...

At Jonathan Chu's place, opening up our bags full of "Target" goodies...
Thanks again to Jonathan (of the Todd Agnew band) and Bethany for coming to our rescue all the way from Memphis! And congratulations on your recent engagement!!!

Jonathan cooking up some food for us...

Taking care of some internet business :)

It's not so bad, when at the end of the day, there's time for video games!!

Thanks Mike, for the great photos! So glad you got to grab your camera so we could document that day...

Thanks for reading, everyone! God Bless... and hopefully, we'll see a bunch of you in February at the Fundraiser Concert!!!

By grace alone,
Koo

PS - For those who already have my phone #, and we haven't talked since the fire, please give me a call or email me with your phone # cuz I lost my phone in the fire too!