Being a musician can be a difficult life. Although some enjoy the spoils of multi-platinum hits, most live day to day, driving (not flying) city to city in cramped conditions needing to perform nearly every night to make a decent living. Many musicians cannot afford health insurance, retirement savings, or many of the other benefits provided in more traditional full time jobs.
Richard Swift has been one of the hardest working musicians in recent years. In the studio, he produced albums like Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats' break out self titled album and Tearing At The Seams along with albums by The Shins, Damien Jurado, Guster, and more. On the road, he plays live with The Black Keys and The Arcs. He's is one of those artists who you hear is involved a surprising number of projects and contributes on a lot of big releases.
Recently he was hospitalized for a serious medical condition. Like most musicians, even with all of the success he has, he does not have medical insurance to help pay his hospital bills. His friends have set up a GoFundMe fundraiser to help alleviate the fiscal burden so he can return to health and get back to recording music. His friends are pitching in by spreading the word about the fundraiser:
Click here to find out more information on how you can help. Non-profit organizations like MusiCares work to shed light on the issue and provide assistance to musicians in need as well.
