Laura Kennedy of Bush Tetras has died after a long battle with Hepatitis C. According to Spinner, she was diagnosed with the illness twenty years ago while living and playing music in New York City. She had been living in Minneapolis for the last 12 years with her girlfriend, and after a long and trying wait, she received a liver transplant at the University of Minnesota. Fundraising initiatives from her friends and well-wishers helped fund her weighty medical bills and aided her recovery. In January 2009, the Bush Tetras reunited to play the Twin Cities for their first time in 25 years along with Suicide Commandos, David Thomas of Pere Ubu and Skoal Kodiak at a fundraiser at Nick and Eddie.
Bush Tetras started out as a post-punk band, but found themselves moving towards a different sound. They – along with Konk, fellow New Yorker’s Talking Heads, and Manchester’s A Certain Ratio – went outside the realm of Western music for inspiration. African and Caribbean influences played a significant role in their sound. Laura will be missed and the great music of Bush Tetras will live on. “Too Many Creeps” is the song they may be most famous for. Here is the great video they did back in 1981.
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