The document header reads, "Gayngs LLC vs. CJ Starbuses Inc.," and it was filed yesterday at 4:19 p.m. at the chancery court in Davidson County, Tenn. (Nashville). Gayngs wasted no time, then, suing the bus company that took off with its musical gear two weekends ago and prevented it from making its big gig at the Austin City Limits Festival. Among the revelations in the court documents is the performance fee the band stood to make at the fest, $15,000. Gayngs' lawyers also point out that the group lost out on merchandise sales at the fest, plus the "thousands of dollars" it spent on getting home from Austin and getting its equipment back from Nashville.
The rest of the legal packet thoroughly documents the oral agreements, phone calls and text messages between band manager Nate Vernon (Bon Iver singer Justin Vernon's brother). It builds the case that bus owner CJ Curtsinger and the driver "Radar" continually kept asking for more money following a $2,400 down payment -- money for everything from gas fill-ups to the $6,000 rental fee that Curtsinger says he didn't believe he was going to get. The final voicemail message from Curtsinger to Vernon, according to the papers, went down like this: "Buddy, I'm taking possession of my bus. I told Radar to go ahead and bring the coach back to Nashville. I'm tired of being jacked around. You can find somebody knew to jack off." Stay tuned for the bus company's legal response.
