Joe McMahon, frontman of Smoke or Fire has put together an acoustic benefit to help raise money for bassist Karl Alvarez. Karl recently suffered a heart attack. He is the veteran musician of notable acts including All, The Descendents and The Lemonheads.

Joe explained:

"When I heard about Karl Alvarez's heart attack, and the amount of medical bills he is facing, I called the Middle East Club in Cambridge, MA to see if they would let me do a night of acoustic Descendents covers to raise money to help Karl out. The booking agent at the Middle East is a friend of Karl's and scheduled the benefit for Friday, November 9^th.

Since I started asking bands to be a part of this show, many different shows for Karl have popped up around the country (in California, Texas, Michigan, Alabama, Washington), and many on the same night as the Middle East show. I encourage anyone else who is interested to take part and help out a man who has inspired many of us musically.

I don't know Karl personally, but I know that being in a band usually means having no health care. This is an opportunity for us to give back to someone who has given the music scene a lot over the years. I'll be posting all of the info for the Middle East show when I have it, as well as the other shows going on around the country. Thanks to everyone taking part in this.

The show takes place November 9th at The Middle East in Cambridge, MA. Besides Joe's acoustic performance, the show will include Tomorrow the Gallows, Bread & Roses and King Everything.