I want to take a moment to introduce to you one of my best buddies, Ryan Butler. I have had the privilege of not only knowing Ryan for over twenty years, but also playing with Ryan in North Side Kings. He is one of the most uplifting people I know and quite honestly, one of the funniest. Matt Martinez, one of Ryan’s closest buddies and bandmate from Landmine Marathon, wrote this great detail of what our buddy is dealing with on his GoFundMe Page.
Ryan is a great friend to so many of us. Ryan has more than likely entered and impacted your lives through music; As a member of the bands Landmine Marathon, Unruh, North Side Kings and many more, he has released music to critical acclaim, toured the world and established countless lifelong friendships. As the owner and engineer of Arcane Digital recording studio, he produced, engineered, mixed and mastered an impressive catalog of music that fills our record collections. From local bands recording their first demo to international acts recording major album releases, Ryan’s passion and relentless dedication to properly capturing the artists’ creation was unparalleled. Ryan is entering the long homestretch of the fight for his life.
In 2019, Ryan was diagnosed with Wilson’s Disease; this is the same disease that took his mother’s life. Wilson’s Disease an extremely rare, inherited disease that causes excessive copper to accumulate in the liver. Unfortunately the disease has progressed to the point where liver failure is inevitable. Luckily, Ryan was recently put on the list for a liver transplant. The transplant will eradicate the disease and return Ryan to a much more normal way of life. We expect a suitable donor organ to be found very soon (weeks or months). Knowing that these are both financially and emotionally stressful times for all of us, we are humbly reaching out to our strong and powerful community and extended family to help offset some of the overwhelming financial impact of the journey of healing that Ryan is taking on. Graciously donated funds will be utilized for the abundance of medical bills already accumulated, as well as future bills.
Once Ryan receives the transplant, he will be unable to work for 6-12 months. When he returns to work, it may be in a limited capacity. Funds will also be utilized to assist with cost of living expense. We are starting this fundraiser with a $20,000 goal, but the goal will likely increase as financial needs increase Any and all contributions are greatly appreciated. Reaching out to our community to ask for help is no easy task. We love and appreciate you all. Updates will follow as the become available, leading up to the transplant and through the recovery. Thank you. (Matt Martinez)
The GoFundMe has been doing amazing, but in addition I wanted to offer something to give some back as well for everyone’s generosity and love. So after speaking to my good buddy Jason Freeman from Golden Rule Tattoo, we came up with an idea for the most metal t-shirt ever to benefit Ryan. For starters, Ryan doesn’t even have long hair anymore, but how can you make a shirt dedicated to a metal guy without bringing back his Dan Lilker Nuclear Assault hairdo. When Jason and I were kicking around ideas I had said that we should make a shirt that has Ryan playing guitar, with some kind of camouflage clothing or a guitar, fire and lightning, Manowar esc and maybe some skulls.
Jason within a week sent the artwork over and we couldn’t be more excited. It’s so metal Ronnie James Dio returned from the afterlife, jumped on a tiger and rode off on a Rainbow in the Dark! To really kick off the shirt we were looking for the perfect saying for Ryan. After spending days looking though lyrics from old songs I heard the theme of themes in the background while my wife watched television in the living room. The Golden Girls theme. So the front of the shirt features, “Your Heart is True, You’re A Pal and a Confidant.” And across the back it states the most important line of all, “Thank You For Being a Friend.
That is the funny thing about putting those lyrics on the shirt, Ryan is one of those guys that you truly want to thank for being a friend!
You can link directly to the t-shirt right here Ryan Butler Benefit T-Shirt. Also, there are socks to match! So if you wanted to go the socks route you can get some super metal socks as well to keep those feet warm in the coming months! As a bonus there is a Second Pair of Socks available. They read, Ryan Got a New Liver And I Got Lousy Socks.”
All the profits from the two pairs of socks and the t-shirt will go directly to Ryan’s GoFundMe Account when the shirts limited run is completed.
Now here is an extra perk: I plan to do quite a few giveaways. For every person that buys one Ryan Butler Benefit item their name will go into a hat one time, just the same as if you buy two, you will get two names in the hat. But if you buy all three, I will put your name in the hat five times.
What am I giving away? I will be posting the items on my personal Instagram every Monday, so you are going to have to wait and see. But its some cool stuff.
For more information on Ryan’s situation please watch this piece our local news station Arizona’s Family 3TV. Thank’s again to Max Gorden for taking the time to help get the word out.
