Dude, where’s my guitar? Band reunited with their strings

BOTHELL — Dude, is this your guitar?

Bothell police found two electric guitars in the middle of a busy overpass Friday afternoon.

Officer Jon Caban brought the guitars he rescued from the road to the station. Hard cases protected the instruments from damage, and inside each was a six-string stunner.

“One of the sergeants said, ‘Oh, dude, someone is going to be missing these,’” said Capt. Mike Johnson, police spokesman. “This is not some kid’s guitar. These are serious guitars.’”

The guitars, a Suhr Classic T and a Jackson Soloist Eerie Dess Swirl valued at about $3,000 total, were put into evidence.

“We don’t normally find a lot of stuff in the middle of the road of value,” Johnson said.

He posted a tweet with a photo: “Lose a guitar? We found two today on Bothell/Everett Hwy at I-405 … If they are yours, please call … If they are not yours, but you are at a show tonight and the band is working the ‘air guitar’ please share.”

Lose a guitar? We found two today on Bothell/Everett Hwy at I-405. If they are yours, please call and describe the one not pictured. If they are not yours, but you are at a show tonight and the band is working the "air guitar" please share.
425.486.1254 ask for the duty sergeant. pic.twitter.com/wL5L3381Ts
— Bothell Police (@BothellPolice) September 13, 2019

Grayson Malone and members of his Everett band Rucker were going through Tacoma en route to Portland for a weekend gig when he saw a retweet with the photo of the red-and-white Suhr Classic T.

“I was like, ‘Oh, somebody lost their guitar.’ And then I was like, ‘Whoa, wait a minute,’” Malone said.

His Rucker bandmates reacted with skepticism.

“They were kind of like, ‘That’s probably not it,’” he said. “And I was like, ‘I think that’s it. Pull over.’”

Sure enough, the side cargo compartment of their rented RV was open and empty. They must have forgotten to lock it, Malone said.

The band turned around and headed to the Bothell station.

“We met some great cops,” Malone said. “We jammed out a little bit just to make sure they were intact. Not only were they intact, they were still in tune.”

It wasn’t the first time Officer Caban has saved the day. Caban was among the 2018 American Red Cross Heroes honored for a crisis intervention rescue along Bothell-Everett Highway for helping stop someone from possibly jumping off the railing.

Rucker is an emerging group.

Malone, barely 18, plays lead guitar in the alternative progressive rock band. Corey Palmer, 20, is lead singer. Drummer Ethan Schmidt, 20, who plays guitar in another band, owns the Swirl.

“He brought his guitar as a backup, just in case we broke a string,” Malone said of the Swirl. “Or in case a guitar falls out of the side compartment.”

Rucker was started by some Everett High School students around 2014 as a garage band. That garage was on Rucker Avenue, hence the name. Malone and Palmer joined the band in 2016. The original members eventually left for college. Schmidt took over as drummer in 2018. It has been those three since, recently joined by bassist, Amanda Jarman, 21.

Rucker plays original music mostly at Everett venues. “At Tony V’s and places like that,” Malone said.

Rucker’s first real break is a tour promoting its upcoming album, “White Whale.” This week they are playing in California, Utah and Idaho.

The second break is losing the guitars in the road, resulting in a surge of publicity.

Thanks to the Bothell PD, the shows will go on.

UPDATE: The show must go on…and now it can. The band who owns the guitars, @RuckerOfficial, is on there way here to pick them up so they can make their show tomorrow in Portland. Thanks Twitterverse for helping us reunite this band with their instruments.
— Bothell Police (@BothellPolice) September 14, 2019