Living the Blues

Courtney’s story, plus Devil Makes Three, Anthony B and Django’s 100th

(Jan. 21, 2010) She’s fixing her makeup, getting ready for a night on the town dancing at the Jam to Moo-Got-2. Then suddenly it’s like something from one of the old blues songs she sings. The man she loves appears at the door with blood on his hands, and before she knows it, he’s pulled out a .45.

“He grabs his gun out of his safe and I try to stop him from leaving, reassuring him everything will be fine and to just breath. He runs toward the kitchen door and I try to stop him. He turns, looks in my eyes, and I no longer see the man I know and love. In a split-second he points the gun in my face, I hold my arms up screeching as the bullet goes through my right forearm, my top right lip, shattering my top right jaw as well as lower left jaw, lodging the bullet there.”

Courtney Weaver. Photo by Bob Doran

GALLERY >

Courtney Weaver, who sings the blues with St. John and the Sinners, survived the shooting, lived to tell her tale. From her hospital bed in Sacramento, she’s sending out messages to her friends on Facebook, and, despite what she’s been through, she’s maintaining a positive attitude.

She does have some complaints. In a personal note Tuesday morning she wrote, “It took 20 minutes for an ambulance and only three minutes for the police [to come] last Friday, and instead of trying to calm me, they insisted on asking a multitude of questions as blood spurted out of my arm and both my maxillary and mandible were badly shattered. It took until midnight to get morphine and until 3 a.m. to finally be airlifted to UC Davis Medical Center.”

Four surgeries later she’s patched up and out of the ICU. In between procedures, she’s been writing songs, left-handed.

“Before this all happened I was planning to go back into the studio to record my first original CD,” she noted. “Although [that’s] now delayed until May, I am very pleased with the lyrics pouring out and the notes floating around my head. I am still awed by all the concern and outreach from the community and will be excited to get back on the scene with my newfound fervor and zeal. Nowhere else could I imagine residing. My main goal is for everyone to maintain positive vibes.”

That “outreach from the community” is taking multiple forms. Chelsea Hoff Brown put together the “Support for shooting victim Courtney Weaver” Facebook group almost overnight with help from Deep Groovers Laura Trevino and Marc Gummic (445 members and growing as of Tuesday). Saturday they pulled in $500 at a Red Fox dubstep show; more donations came in at Sunday’s Deep Groove night at the Jambalaya and Monday at the Boiler Room’s open mic. As we go to press Tuesday, plans are underway for a full court press at the Jam’s Blues Jam. Courtney would have been singing with St. John and the Sinners this Friday at the Wave. They’ll marshal on without her and will definitely be passing the hat.

The popularity of the alt. Americana trio Devil Makes Three has grown by leaps and bounds since I first heard their country-blues-ragtime-folk-rock at Muddy Waters a few years back. They’ve played a bigger venue on each return visit; Thursday they hit the historic (and large) Eureka Theater with post-bluegrass quintet Trampled by Turtles from Minnesota opening. Catch TbT live on KHUM Friday morning at 10:30. DM3 frontman Pete Bernhard returns Feb. 23, for a solo show at Jambalaya.

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