We have just heard the terrible news that our friend Travis Crider (a.k.a. Wrath) passed away on Thursday, August 21. Many of you were kind enough to help the Crider family out in their time of need last summer with Travis's mounting medical bills.

If you would like to donate now to help his wife Kim and her son Nich get through this tough time, it will be greatly appreciated. 100% of all donations here will go directly to Kim Crider.

All donations are kept anonymous and confidential.

If you would prefer to mail a check directly, please use the address on the right.

Brad Wilhelm wrote the following Eulogy for his friend:

A short Eulogy for a friend.

Travis Crider

I've spent the afternoon and evening today deeply affected by the
passing of my friend, Travis Crider.

Travis and I were not best friends, but we had known each other for at
least twenty years.

To say that Travis was a guitarist would be an understatement. He was
one of those guitarists who could play in ways I could not fathom.
Travis was Metal. Metal to the core. He played lead in one of the
early big draws at Rhino's, Lawless. There were straight ahead
80s-90's heavy metal, but as the genre darkened and became more dense
and complicated, Travis branched off and found his niche. He fronted
bands that drew national attention including Black Earth and his final
band, Betrayed with a Kiss.

But underneath the Anton Levay posing and the down tuned shredding was
a guy who loved old rock and roll, and he especially loved KISS.

This is where we found our friendship.

We spent hours talking KISS and 70's rock bands. He gave me bootleg
VHS tapes of KISS shows, and marveled at how I could not own any of
the KISSTORY books (they cost $300 a piece).

Lately, he had been bringing his stepson to Rhino's and then coming in
to my office to shoot the shit for a couple of hours. Sometimes, if he
saw I was online late at night after a Rhino's show, he would call me,
and we'd talk about music until I couldn't hold my eyes open. I was
surprised that he was complimentary of my own musical flailings and
even said I had helped him see how important it was to be a showman,
even if there are 6 people in the room. (He never said he actually
LIKED my bands, but at least he understood what I was trying to do)
We talked about life and marriage and family and argued about Black
Sabbath. I contended that the Ronnie James Dio Sabbath was infinitely
better than the Ozzy Sabbath, and he shook his head in quiet dismay.
We talked guitars and the legacy of the great rock and roll
guitarists. 3 weeks ago I tried to convince him that Cheap Trick were
just as vital as Pantera, maybe even more so.

2 weeks ago he brought me a Rick Nielson pick from his collection.

Perhaps prophetically, our talks lately had been more "big picture" of
life. We couldn't talk politics, but we could talk wives and family.
He talked about his Roller Derby Queen wife, Kim with awe and devotion
and even a hint of still simmering lust. She took care of him and
their family during his illnesses and fought with him. He truly loved
her and her son. He worried about him like all parents of teenagers
do, and he wanted Nick to be happy and healthy. He even patiently
listened while I prattled on about my kids and grandkids.

There were a couple of benefits for Travis and his family to help them
recover from the devastating cost of his health problems at Rhino's a
while back, and during one, he sat in my office while the other bands
played and confided that he felt awkward and undeserving of the
attention and affection being shown to him.

I told him, "Travis, people love you. They may admire you for being a
great guitar player, but the love you for being a good person."

And he was.

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