Dusting off old instruments and playing with borrowed equipment, Big Joe Walker and his band are keeping their music alive -- in spite of a crime that threatened to kill it.
Friday morning, before hitting the road for a show in East Texas, Walker said a thief or thieves stole the band's cargo trailer, which was packed with at least $40,000 in equipment.
"It makes me sick to my stomach just because everyone's made sacrifices to even get to this point that we're at," Walker said.
The gear, accumulated over years of investment by bandmates, was locked inside a 16-foot silver trailer parked in the driveway of Walker's Oak Cliff-area home. Walker said the hitch and trailer had locks, but they didn't deter the thieves who worked quickly. Walker said the trailer was taken sometime between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Friday.
"The question you have to ask yourself is, "Hey, since this happened are you going to quit?' No. You're not going to quit. So you've just got to push forward and make it happen," Walker said.
He said the band was able to piece together enough equipment to make it to their Saturday show in East Texas. Their next show is this Saturday. They're working with their insurance company to replace the tools of their trade. Though band members point out the equipment took years to earn and customize for their sound.
"You can't get past the fact that someone, in a matter of minutes, can just take everything away from you that you've accumulated over years," said lead guitarist Casey Green. "It really pulls at you. It's hard."
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Walker said the trailer didn't have any markings on the outside indicating it belonged to a band. The trailer also contained merchandise the band sells at its concerts.
"People don’t buy records anymore so the way we make money is touring and selling merchandise, so it's a huge blow," Walker explained.
"When you're doing that, you're not just stealing things," Walker said. "You're taking the way they provide for their families."
Walker said the band will look into outfitting their tour bus with cameras and adding GPS trackers.
The band reported the crime to Dallas police. The trailer had a license plate number of 67345M. It was a light silver, tandem axle Interstate brand cargo trailer.
If you have any information about this crime, contact Dallas police.
