You know the story. Local music die hard, and WXYC alum, Cy Rawls, was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in June of 2008. Unable to pay his mounting medical bills, bands and friends from all over North Carolina, Virginia, and the US pitched in to throw some of the most amazing concerts, film viewings, and even bake sales, with all benefits attributed to a fund which paid for Cy’s medical bills. Unfortunately, at just the age of 33, on October 3, 2008, Cy passed away at Duke Medical Center.
Thankfully, it did not end there. Enter CyTunes, a nonprofit music download site that “features exclusive music from artists who have contributed tracks (both live and in-studio) to help raise money for cancer research in memory of Cy Rawls." There are 44 bands and artists in all (as of today) which include:
| All Night Cantwell, Gomez, and Jordan Chew Toy Cy Rawl’s Sweet Militia Dirty Little Heaters Double Negative Ex-Monkeys Evil Weiner Experts Flute Flies Geezer Lake |
Greenades Hammer No More The Fingers I Was Totally Destroying It Joby’s Opinion Johnson, Eubank, Morrow, Pence Lesbian Afternoon Magic Babies Mercury Birds Nein North Elementary Ryan Pound |
Povlo Razzle Red Collar Rosebuds Shake Some Action Sorry About Dresden Starmount Superchunk Tractor Hips Wes Phillips Josh Zaslow |
ALL PROCEEDS from CyTunes go to Tisch Brain Tumor Center, where Cy was a patient. Please support this amazing organization, the bands that contribute to it, and the memory of Cy Rawls.
For more information, feel free to read these excellent articles by the Independent Weekly, and this write-up by Pitchfork.