Support Cliff Rooks in His Health Battles

As a tour manager, manager or tour promoter rep, I've been on the road 26 years. You meet a lot of people on the road, but when you meet a bus driver who really takes care of people and is genuinely happy to be in their seat, you remember that person. Cliff Rooks is that person. After a career as a touring bass player (including playing the Arsenio Hall show!), Cliff took a job driving a grocery truck for a while until he got a call about driving a tour bus. His first tour was the 2018 Sugarland reunion, and when the bus company told me they were sending a brand new driver out I think I yelled or cussed or sent a snarky email. And then I met Cliff. His spirit POURS from his body. His smile is infectious and it's what anyone who meets him remembers. From helping a crew to dump a trailer on Sunday morning when stagehands didnt show, to driving me an hour out of the way for Czech Stop kolaches to going to the Nashville airport in his own vehicle to pickup a drummer coming in for a funeral, I've asked Cliff for a hundred favors since I've known him. He's never asked me for one.

Today I found out Cliff is battling some really severe health issues. I knew he'd been sick the last fourteen months but I felt like if I didn't acknowledge them then my friend would be OK. Cliff needs a heart transplant. But since his health fell apart 14 months ago he hasn't been able to work and he doesn't have health coverage, so without insurance he cant get on a transplant list. Without the transplant, doctors have given him a year to live. The average wait for a transplant is about 10 months. So I'm asking all my friends and touring brothers and sisters, whether you know Cliff or not, please help one of the good ones. If you're a fan of Sugarland, Brandy Clark, Ben Rector, Morgan Evans, Maren Morris, Darius Rucker or Brad Williams...just know that Cliff delivered them (and many others) safely, night after night, so you could enjoy their art.

I'll leave you with a story...

This summer I called Cliff and asked if he felt up to driving a sprinter for the comedian Brad Williams for a few weekends...he said "Anything for you, J!" After a week or so on tour, they pulled into Omaha or Des Moines or Evansville at 2am and parked the sprinter on the curb across from the hotel while Brad slept in his bunk. There was a homeless man sleeping under a bench right by the sprinter who woke up and rolled out and started chatting. Cliff said "hey man, you gonna stay right here tonight?" and the man shook his head yes. Cliff pulled out $100 and said, "my brother, I need you to take this $100 and go get something to eat real quick while I check these rooms in...and I want to pay you the rest of that hundred to keep eyes on this sprinter until morning and make sure my man sleeping in his bunk gets a good night of rest before his show tomorrow."

So -while Cliff would never ask any of us for help - I need him to keep eyes on all of our Sprinters for a few nights. And I need help in making it happen.