Imagine that your band gets into a new rehearsal space and the rent includes the option of renters’ insurance for your costly equipment.

Wouldn’t that be fantastic? Yes, it would. Unfortunately, Murfreesboro bands have few options for a safe place to make music and store their gear. Unless you are one of the lucky groups that actually has the space to spare and kind neighbors that don’t mind musical vibrations, you will end up renting a practice space at some point in your musical career.

The generally unpleasant condition of locally available spaces wasn’t a widely discussed issue until June 2006, when the space owned by Concert Productions on W. Main St. caught fire and burned up roughly one quarter of the local music scene’s equipment. The space was run-down with faulty wiring, and had been for several years. Multiple bands reported experiencing abnormalities with the electricity that increased in frequency up to the time of the fire.

Life lessons never come in easy packages. Most of the bands lost thousands of dollars in musical equipment with the highest loss totaling $17,000 worth of gear. A few groups even suffered further repercussions, such as BooBoo Bunny’s unreleased album, and, though not completely related, a possible domino effect resulting in the split of Espaso. However, for some groups, the tragedy inevitably drew them closer together. Such is the case with Happy Birthday Amy, who is still together.

“The fire clenched my decision to move to Nashville with HBA,” said the band’s drummer, Miles Cramer.

Also, Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza set off on a month-long tour two weeks after the fire, playing on borrowed equipment. Obviously life moves forward after tragedy, but taking a few precautions might have saved some of the bands a lot of grief.

When signing a contract to lease a space (apartment, practice space, etc.) renters’ insurance is rarely included in the deal. This being said, it becomes the lessee’s responsibility to obtain a contents policy to protect their belongings on the rented property.

The low percentage of local bands that actually have renters’ insurance to protect their equipment is surprising. What is also alarming is that the owner had no insurance on the building at the time of the fire; this is something that should have been properly researched before the fire, but these issues surfaced only after the damage was done.

A large number of area bands were asked for their opinions on who should carry the insurance responsibilities. The majority of bands who have been together for a number of years and those of a wiser age all carry their own private insurance on either the spaces they rent or on the individual equipment. The younger bands, when asked, were not as concerned about insurance or the risk of losing their gear.

“I hear of this type of thing happening quite a bit; not enough bands insure their stuff,” said Brad Thompson of TDTE.

Only half of the bands surveyed outside of Murfreesboro reported having insurance for their gear; however, most described their respective practice spaces as gated, properly maintained and climate controlled “havens du roc” very much the opposite of the space on Main St. A few bands also reported insurance being available to them through their practice spaces. Additionally, many bands to not have the money to invest into an insurance policy.

In any case, insurance should always be considered when you have thousands of dollars worth of anything sitting in one room, whether it’s at your home, apartment, office or haven du roc.

So back to the burning question: who should be held responsible in this type of situation, the owner or the renters?

This issue brought in different responses. Some bands collectively agreed that in this particular situation the owner should offer some type of compensation. Other bands aggressively argued that it is always the responsibility of the band to get insurance, and when the lease was signed, this act relinquished any responsibilities of the landlord.

“All in all I don’t know if anyone is really to blame here,” Cramer said.

The point is that unfortunate things will always occur in life, and the only way to obtain justification when these things happen is simple. The answer that rises from the ashes: cover your ass no matter what.