May/June 2000

Musicland provides Distribution to over Nine-Hundred Stores Nationwide with a Little LFC Teamwork

National distribution is the most daunting aspect for any independent label. Through its nine hundred and twenty-two Sam Goody, MediaPlay and One-Cue retail music outlets nationwide, the Musicland Stores Corporation, under a generous agreement made earlier this year, made it possible and worked "around the clock" to get the LFC CD out just in time for the April 20th Columbine Anniversary.

Due to unforeseen technicalities in early April of this year and a very tight manufacturing and printing schedule, product took longer than originally planned to have ready for shipment to Musicland’s distribution facility in Franklin, Indiana. To get product to them in time, LFC had to "enter into the freight business" as LFC executive producer, Michael Tamburello put it. "At the recommendation of one of our primary project strategists, Erin McNamara, we had one weekend to get seven tons of CDs inexpensively ‘over-nighted’". It was already Friday, April 7. None of us could justify paying nearly $20,000 in shipping costs to get it there the following Monday.

Thirty Thousand CDs "Over-Nighted" a Thousand Miles for a Fraction of "FedExing"

In a recent interview for Sue Goode’s upcoming book, "Ripples of Love", Erin continues with the story, "I flew to Eugene, Oregon to pick up a large twenty-five foot rental truck. I was not looking forward to driving from Eugene to Denver where Michael would take over the second half of the trip. I was exhausted and began to wonder if I could make this trip alone.

Sue Goode put me in touch with Ribbon of Promise, an anti-violence project born out of the tragedy of the Thurston High shootings. A kind man from their office volunteered to help me drive back to Denver. I was overwhelmed by his generosity.

Driving back to Colorado in the middle of the night, I pulled over at the Idaho border and put my head down on the steering wheel and cried. I wanted to quit so badly, but then Rachel Scott and Cassie Bernall came to mind. Only half my age, their faith dwarfed mine and I felt a renewed sense of strength and drove on pulling into Denver twenty-six hours after I had started. God’s mercy and grace humbled me and His presence evident every step of the way."

As with many great stories, this too had a happy ending. Erin arrived in Denver just before midnight on Saturday with her partner from Oregon who had kindly insured her safe return. About an hour later, Michael pulled the semi loaded with "tons of healing", and headed out for a non-stop trek to Franklin.

"Even though I’ve done extensive traveling across the U.S., never before was every mile in any other trip so deeply spiritual for me", Michael recalls. "In the late hours of Sunday night, without any sleep since early Saturday morning, I began to have nightmarish visions of running off the road and destroying a quarter of a million dollars worth of CDs, our cause, and myself in the process. I again turned my thoughts to the victims who have become my ‘celestial family’ that I have bonded with over the last year and who have given me so much strength. It was as if Rachel or Cassie were in the cab with me helping with the drive all the way to Musicland’s dock."

While passing through St. Louis just before sunset, the something moved him to stop at the famous arch. He parked the truck along the banks of the mighty Mississippi and walked up to the arch where he laid down directly underneath it looking skyward. Michael vividly recalls what happened next. "After talking to my family on my cell phone to let them know I was alright, I just laid there peacefully gazing at the moon which was peeking out from behind a blaze of the last few minutes of sunlight reflecting off the beautiful arch.

As I laid there, my body still vibrating from the road, I began to hear the sound of a bagpipe playing ‘Amazing Grace’ in the distance. At first I thought I was hearing things in my tired head, but I lifted it to see where the haunting sound might be coming from. When my eyes met with the horizon, I saw a group of people standing on an outlook over the river with their hands over their heart and their eyes fixed on a large float of lovely flowers being launched from the river’s shore by a small group of military guardsmen. It was a very ‘grounding’ experience and one that felt as if I was exactly where God wanted me to be at that very moment in time.

The beautiful sound of the bagpipe ceased as the sun fell behind the cityscape and the crowd disbanded. An elderly couple, who stood where the flowers were launched, began to walk up the cobblestone riverfront toward me. As they got closer, I approached and greeted them and asked about the ceremony that had just ended. They told me they headed the local chapter of Parents of Murdered Children who was memorializing the youth who had died from violence in the St. Louis area in honor of National Victims Rights Day. When I heard this, it underscored to me the tremendous significance our mission of healing was."

Michael introduced himself and told them about the Lullaby for Columbine Project. They took some pictures with him and he gave them several copies of the CD and companion poster. Minutes later, they made a fond farewell and Michael hopped back into the truck and drove away. "Over the remaining part of the trip to Indiana that night, I kept thinking over and over again about what had happened in St. Louis", he adds.

Several hours later, Michael pulled into a motel near Franklin and got a few hours of sleep. Early the next morning, he crawled back into the truck and headed for Musicland's national distribution center just minutes away.  "As I backed the shipment into one of Musicland’s docks early that morning, I felt like a climber does when he finally reaches the summit", he said. 

Michael shared a few celebratory moments with some of the people in the center's warehouse who were very cordial. Afterwards, he returned the truck in Indianapolis and caught the next available flight back to Denver.

"The great people at Musicland have gone out of their way for us and I wasn’t about to make their job any harder than it was already by pushing the envelope for national delivery", Michael again reflects. "I was very glad Erin had the vision for us to do the delivery ourselves. It not only saved us valuable time and thousands of dollars, but it gave us both an opportunity to add a personal touch.

Quite honestly, I have always felt from the very beginning of this awesome endeavor that the ‘heroic thirteen’ literally worked through our hands to bring healing to their families whom they love so dearly and whose pain they deeply feel. As with all of the selfless others who put their hearts into this project over the past year, I feel completely honored to have even played my small role in this whole divine process.  I say 'divine', because when my daughter and I first started, we had no money or established contacts in the music industry for a project of this magnitude - just faith, prayer and my cell phone."

Copyright © 2000 The Lullaby for Columbine Project.
All Rights Reserved.

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