[Editor's note: This story previews Habitat for Humanity's Band Build benefit show this Saturday at The Waiting Room in Omaha. Voodoo Method, Millions of Boys, The Big Deep and Field Club will play the concert starting at 9 p.m. RSVP here.]
story by Sean Holohan | photos by Chloe Ekberg
Nate Gasaway knows that music can mend broken hearts. He knows because a song helped to mend his own.
Seven years ago, Gasaway’s grandfather passed away. The pain he saw in his family’s eyes that day was a strong image that stuck with him.
“For awhile, I wondered if it was possible to die of a broken heart,” he remembers.
Gasaway coped with that pain the only way he knew how. He sat down and spilled all of his pent-up emotions out onto paper, carefully crafting a song that would convey his grief to anyone who heard it.
The process was therapy for him, and it was the music that carried him through and made him feel as if he weren’t alone.
“I think music is such an avenue to the human experience,” says Gasaway, lead vocalist and guitarist for Omaha band The Big Deep. “Music is a way of connecting everybody on that instantly emotional level. Hurt is a part of life, and it lets you know that it is going to be OK.”
Saturday, The Big Deep hopes to provide a similar sense of comfort and relief to those in need as they perform at Habitat for Humanity’s fourth annual benefit show at The Waiting Room for Band Build, a fundraising project under the Habitat’s banner.
The show, sponsored by Habitat for Humanity’s Young Professionals, will feature other Omaha bands Voodoo Method, Millions of Boys and Field Club and will be hosted by WOWT news anchor/reporter Chase Moffitt.
In addition to music, there will also be raffles and a guest speaker from Habitat for Humanity between bands. All proceeds from the event will go directly to Habitat for Humanity.
The idea came about four years ago when Matt Guzallis, who’s now the chairperson of Band Build, became interested in working with Habitat for Humanity. He brainstormed with a few other colleagues for new and creative ways to raise awareness and money but also appeal to a younger demographic. Since he knew Jim Johnson, co-owner of The Waiting Room, a benefit show at the Omaha concert venue made sense. And like that, Band Build was born.
Guzallis says since the first show in 2011, he has been elated with the amount of awareness and enthusiasm that has surrounded the show. Last year’s benefit headlined by Icky Blossoms sold out for the first time ever and raised about $5,000. Guzallis says bands have started contacting him, requesting to play the show.
Guzallis is hoping this year’s show will double the amount of money raised last year and come in around $10,000. But he is not just stopping at this show. He is hoping that the Habitat for Humanity sub-group, Young Professionals, can raise $100,000 total in 2014 for Habitat for Humanity and completely pay for a new house for a family in need.
Gasaway, who says his band tries to play a handful of benefit shows each year, thought it was a no-brainer when bassist Jared Bakewell approached The Big Deep with the idea.
“Band Build has put on some awesome shows in the past, and it is always a great night,” he says. “We couldn’t be more honored to play for this great cause.”
For him, this is not just an ordinary show. It is a chance for Gasaway and The Big Deep to help the less fortunate in Omaha into new homes, attempting to improve lives in the same way the songwriter was able to repair his own — through music.
“We always play shows to hopefully make money to fund a new record or to print more CDs,” he says. “But to play music to actually help people have a home is going make us rock even harder on Saturday.”
Gasaway is excited for the show but knows playing music is secondary to what this show could do for families in need.
“Habitat for Humanity promotes pride in the community and gives people something they can be proud of,” he says.
Sean Holohan is Hear Nebraska’s editorial intern. He is happy to see bands working together for a greater cause. Reach him at seanh@hearnebraska.org.