Ticket agency launches fundraiser for local musician

POULSBO — Brown Paper Tickets is helping the punk/thrash band D.R.I. (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles) raise money for the Spike Cassidy Cancer Relief Fund.

Cassidy, 51, lead guitarist for the band, lives in Poulsbo.

In March 2006, Cassidy was diagnosed with colon cancer. After surgery and treatment, he got back out on the road.

Last month, Cassidy’s cancer treatments forced D.R.I.’s management to cancel several tour dates, just a few days before the shows. In a show of support, Brown Paper Tickets donated the full amount of all tickets refunded to the fund for Cassidy’s medical bills. The company also set up a fee-free donation link at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/290152, and will match donations up to a total of $2,500.

According to Cassidy’s website, “Whether you are donating $5 or $50, you will be helping Spike and his family tremendously. D.R.I. and the Cassidy family thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”

D.R.I. formed in Houston, Texas in 1982 and opened for Black Flag, Minor Threat and the Dead Kennedys.

In the late 1980s, with bands like Suicidal Tendencies, Corrosion of Conformity and Stormtroopers of Death, D.R.I. spearheaded the “crossover” movement  which melded hardcore punk with speed metal to create thrash metal.

While never earning widespread commercial success, the band known among fans of U.S. hardcore and thrash metal for its albums “Dealing With It” and “Crossover.”

Cassidy is a native of Queens, N.Y. He moved to Poulsbo in 2006 from California for “a better quality of life,” he wrote on his blog.

 

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