CBC News | July 24, 2013

Fans, friends contribute to medical costs via Indiegogo campaign

Samantha Parton, right, of folk group The Be Good Tanyas is seen with bandmates Trish Klein, left, and Frazey Ford. Friends and fans are supporting Parton with an Indiegogo campaign after a ghastly year that included two car accidents and the discovery of both a benign tumour and a brain aneurysm that requires surgery. (Nettwerk Music Group/Canadian Press)

Samantha Parton of the Juno Award-nominated Be Good Tanyas has had a year almost too ghastly to believe.

It began with a serious car accident last September, in which Parton was sitting in the passenger seat of a friend's car in Salt Spring Island, B.C., when they were struck from behind by a pickup truck moving at a high speed. She was left with a concussion as well as multiple injuries to her neck, back and shoulders. She had to cancel fall tour dates after an attempt to play through the pain proved unsuccessful.

Just as she was beginning to recover, Parton was involved in another car accident in April. During the initial recovery period, meanwhile, a CT scan meant to probe for lingering problems from the concussion revealed a benign tumour.

The scan also revealed an aneurysm behind Parton's left eye large enough to require surgery.

That procedure is scheduled for Monday. But after watching Parton struggle for the past year — a period in which she hasn't been able to tour or make a living — her friends have looked to the Vancouver roots band's fanbase to help ease Parton's mounting financial burden.

Using the online fundraising site Indiegogo, Kori Miyanishi has started a campaign seeking to raise $15,000 to help see his close friend through a difficult time. After putting the link up on Sunday night, more than $7,500 has already flowed in on Parton's behalf.

"It's been a really good response — she has a lot of friends all over the world," Miyanishi said in a telephone interview this week. "She's a really community-oriented person, she's always been generous with her music and her personality and it's time to get it back to her."

Once Parton has the surgery, her recovery time could take anywhere from six weeks to a year, Miyanishi says, a timeline that could be complicated by the lingering pain from the car accident.

With Parton's blessing, the Be Good Tanyas — who were up for roots and traditional album of the year at the 2007 Junos — have continued touring, with a European trek set for late August.

But Miyanishi, as well as the Be Good Tanyas' manager Mandy Wheelwright, are both certain that Parton will do what she can to rejoin the band upon her eventual recovery.

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