It seems like only yesterday — or maybe it was several thousand yesterdays ago — that we were gathering together at various locales in and around the city on a semi-regular basis to witness the feral intensity of Mad Anthony. The band survived several personnel changes and the tragic death of drummer Tony Bryant to become one of the most compelling, engaging and entertaining outfits in Cincinnati music history, as evidenced by their frequent trips to the stage to claim recognition at the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards.
Even a devastating van accident back in 2013 wound up being a minor setback; co-guitarists/vocalists Ringo Jones and Adam Flaig hit the road as an acoustic duo while drummer Marc Sherlock recuperated from a serious neck injury. At the time, scene goddess Kelly Thomas organized a series of fundraisers to help defray the band’s hospital bills and living expenses, and when it was suggested that fans help the band by purchasing their merch, Jones noted with typical humility that if you had all of Mad Anthony’s stuff, you should support another local band by buying their wares. That’s the kind of guy he’s always been and presumably remains to this day; he could have turned into a prick after his relocation from Cincinnati to St. Louis and now to Arkansas for professorships…but I doubt it.
The above anecdote was intended to highlight Jones’ selfless attitude and to underscore the simple fact that if he actually asks for help, it must be for something incredibly important. He recently sent out an appeal to Mad Anthony fans with a humble request: to support a GoFundMe campaign, organized by his aunt Cindy, to help his mother Cathy, a regular fixture at Mad Anthony shows back in the day.
At the end of August, my mother, Cathy Gutzwiller-Jones, whom many of you met at Mad Anthony shows, was hospitalized and…
Posted by Ringo Jones on Wednesday, October 7, 2020
In August, Cathy left work early with symptoms that hinted at the flu. Subsequent tests came back negative for coronavirus but the search for the source of her ailment turned up the devastating diagnosis of a brain tumor. Two weeks later, she underwent brain surgery, during which most of the tumor was removed, but her situation now centers around follow-up medical visits and physical therapy appointments.
Cathy’s younger sister, Cindy, has taken a leave of absence from her job in order to be caregiver and chauffeur for her older sister. But her unpaid leave means that her expenses are mounting with each passing week that she remains in Cincinnati. To help whittle down some of her bills, Cindy has set up a GoFundMe campaign with a goal of $5,000. At the time of this writing, contributions stood at just over $4,000 but Cathy’s recovery could conceivably require several more weeks of recuperation and therapy, and the $5,000 goal may need to be extended.
So: Here’s the pitch. If you ever stood gin-soaked, slack-jawed and volume-pummeled in an area club, paralyzed in the best possible way by the immutable power of the sadly on-hiatus Mad Anthony, and would dearly love to express your gratitude to Ringo Jones in some palpable and meaningful way, this is the perfect vehicle. There are many hands out for many worthy causes in this grotesque season of wither, but this is an opportunity to directly help one of the most important people in the Mad Anthony family, of which so many of us were a part for so many glorious years.
The link for Cindy’s GoFundMe campaign is gofundme.com/f/kztxr-she-ain039t-heavy-she039s-my-sister. No amount is too small, and every contribution is welcome and greatly appreciated.
Get well, Cathy, and God bless you, Cindy. And maybe, just maybe, if we wish upon a star, or several thousand stars, Ringo MF Jones will return to us for a Mad Anthony benefit show to help sweeten the pot. (Hint, hint.)
This article appears in The Fall Guide.