A head-on, wrong-way crash on a highway in Arizona has the Twin Cities music community in mourning.
Musician, sound engineer and tour manager Trevor Engelbrektson died in the crash along with members of the British rock duo Her's, with whom he had been traveling for all of March from the East Coast to the West Coast plus a stop at the South by Southwest music conference in Austin, Texas.
They were driving westbound on Interstate Hwy. 10 after a show in Phoenix, headed to their tour's penultimate stop in Santa Ana, Calif., when their tour van was struck by a pickup truck going the wrong way around 1 a.m. That vehicle's driver also died, according to Phoenix media reports.
Originally from Superior, Wis., Engelbrektson, who celebrated his 37th birthday on the road Monday, worked at music venues all over the Twin Cities, including the Hook & Ladder, Icehouse, Nomad World Pub and Amsterdam Bar & Hall. A part of many local artists' stage crews, he also booked shows, ran a small record label and was a bassist himself for several local bands, including the soul-rock group Southside Desire, led by his wife, Marvel Devitt.
The Minneapolis couple have two young boys, Julian, 4, and Rigel, 1. A GoFundMe page has been set up by friends to help raise money for his family. A fundraiser and musical memorial, dubbed "A Party for the Best Dude on Earth," also has been arranged Tuesday night at Mortimer's in Minneapolis.
"Trevor was one of the best," said singer Sean "Har Mar Superstar" Tillmann, one of the many shellshocked musicians and friends in the local music scene to post condolences to Engelbrektson's family Thursday. "I can't wrap my head around this one."
Guitarist Joe Hastings of Hastings 3000 wrote, "I've played in four or five bands with him, toured the States with him, watched him get married and grow into having the sweetest family. … I'm devastated."
The tragedy was reported internationally from U.S. outlets such as Billboard and Pitchfork to British press including NME and the Guardian. Her's was one of several touring acts that Engelbrektson hit the road with over the past year to bring home a steady paycheck. Others include Canadian band Royal Canoe and locally beloved Illinois rocker Ike Reilly.
