At some point, the Death Angel eventually comes for all of us... The only question is when. It's funny, you can work directly with someone for any number of years, have a great working relationship and repertoire, and not know as much about them as you think you did. Jim Rollins was such a person. As great a person as you'd ever want to know, never a cross word, just a great guy all around that you could depend on. Some days he'd seem groggy or absent minded... I knew he gigged regularly, and didn't think much about it. Come to find out he might drive to VA, NC, or wherever, then drive back home afterwards and be at work the next day. I never went to see him play with his band, 'The West End String Band', and I deeply regret that now. You see, Blue Grass really isn't my thing, musically, although I hold the musicianship in high regard. Major talent in that genre. Maybe I'll pay more attention now.
At 11:30pm on 9/7, he was returning from a gig in NC (he was just a few miles from his home) and a drunk driver hit him from behind at over 100mph. Jim's car was spun out and went into the ditch beside the interstate. He was thrown from the car, and died from blunt force trauma to the head. He was a safe "speed-limit-abiding-two-hands-on-the-wheel" type driver, so I don't know why he wasn't wearing his seatbelt that night. Maybe he was and it failed, I don't know. Same result either way. We buried Jim Sunday 9/17... This gave time for everyone to get out to pay their respects, since his family was scattered across the country and he had no wife or kids or anyone local. The number of respected musicians from all corners that showed up was unreal.
That visitation and service did help me put some things to rest, and I suppose this is my final outlet to move on. I haven't posted anywhere else about this. Guys and gals, if you know someone who is insisting on taking off drunk or even buzzed, please BUST THEIR ASS! Don't let them do it. The guy that hit Jim is still in jail, his wife and two girls are still at home alone, and Jim is still dead. Such a senseless, wasteful situation, all because of a really bad choice by one person. Thanks for listening.
For anyone interested, there was a write-up on Bluegrass Today, the very next morning after it happened:
https://bluegrasstoday.com/jim-rollins-passes/
At 11:30pm on 9/7, he was returning from a gig in NC (he was just a few miles from his home) and a drunk driver hit him from behind at over 100mph. Jim's car was spun out and went into the ditch beside the interstate. He was thrown from the car, and died from blunt force trauma to the head. He was a safe "speed-limit-abiding-two-hands-on-the-wheel" type driver, so I don't know why he wasn't wearing his seatbelt that night. Maybe he was and it failed, I don't know. Same result either way. We buried Jim Sunday 9/17... This gave time for everyone to get out to pay their respects, since his family was scattered across the country and he had no wife or kids or anyone local. The number of respected musicians from all corners that showed up was unreal.
That visitation and service did help me put some things to rest, and I suppose this is my final outlet to move on. I haven't posted anywhere else about this. Guys and gals, if you know someone who is insisting on taking off drunk or even buzzed, please BUST THEIR ASS! Don't let them do it. The guy that hit Jim is still in jail, his wife and two girls are still at home alone, and Jim is still dead. Such a senseless, wasteful situation, all because of a really bad choice by one person. Thanks for listening.
For anyone interested, there was a write-up on Bluegrass Today, the very next morning after it happened:
https://bluegrasstoday.com/jim-rollins-passes/
