Karl Blaus musical life tragically went up in flames.
Karl Blau's musical life tragically went up in flames.

First Lee "Scratch" Perry, now this. Musician Karl Blau—a major figure in the Northwest music scene and on K Records' roster—lost all of his instruments and recording gear last night in a fire that gutted Anacortes Music Channel, which served as his studio and a community gathering place. Nobody was in the building at the time of the blaze. Blau's band mate in Your Heart Breaks and Stranger Film Genius nominee Clyde Petersen has set up a GoFundMe page to help Blau get his life back in order and obtain gear. You can donate to the campaign—which hopes to raise $20,000—here.

On Facebook, Blau posted a message about the incident:

Hard news, my friends and community - last night the Anacortes Music Channel place at 216 was terribly burned in an accidental fire. We feel EXTREMELY fortunate that no one was seriously hurt, AND that the Olsen Building itself is going to be OK. Sadly, among the things lost are many, beautiful, Gustavo Vargas paintings, and the vibe in there was just so beautiful that the harshness seems intensified. The fire is still under investigation, I don't have access to see what has and hasn't been damaged. This is just a little note to tell everyone that people are OK, let's keep in touch and figure out how to move forward.
I am already envisioning some sort of collaborative work effort to get the space ready somehow for The Business to move in should the damage be something we can get a handle on. Stay posted, I love you all for being a part of this wild and apparently, unruly, dream.

A multi-instrumentalist who's recorded several adventurous and oddly tuneful dub-rock albums, Blau has also played with Earth, D+, Little Wings, Mirah, and Laura Veirs.