Billy Joel sang on his 1977 album “The Stranger” that “Only the good die young,” and a little more than two weeks ago those words rang true as the Baton Rouge local music scene bid farewell to Jonny Trosclair, guitarist of local rock group Delta Crutch.
Trosclair died Feb. 24 at 1:30 p.m. at River Parishes Medical Center in LaPlace. He was 21 years old.
At press time the exact cause of death was pending on an autopsy report, according to the St. John Parish Coroner’s Office, but members of Trosclair’s band Delta Crutch said they believe the death was drug-related.
“It was an overdose,” said Royce Legg, drummer for Delta Crutch. “We all got to the hospital and [Trosclair’s] grandfather told me that when they got him there he had a temperature of 108 and climbing. His brain wasn’t showing any activity, and his lungs weren’t working either, so they put him on a ventilator machine. His temperature got up to 110. Then they pumped his stomach to see if it was an OD, but they said it wasn’t enough pills for an overdose. They thought it might have been some bad ecstasy, like some homemade stuff, but I know he never made it. He just got some bad stuff.”
However, Legg said the doctors at the hospital later explored the possibility that Trosclair could have suffered from meningitis because the chronology of his multiple organ failures is characteristic of the disease.
“For Jonny it came down to lifestyle choices,” Legg’s said. “Looking back on it now, I’m not sure it was an overdose; I’d rather believe it was meningitis.”
Band members said the Saturday night before Trosclair’s death they played a show at The Daiquiri Shop in LaPlace, and following the show Trosclair left with some friends to go out.
“His friends said that he woke up around noon the next day and said he was feeling bad and was breathing funny,” said Brian Nosacka, singer and guitarist for Delta Crutch. “He went to bed that night, then around midnight someone checked on him, and he wasn’t doing well, and they called 911.”
Trosclair had somewhat of a rough upbringing and always was chasing his demons through partying too much, band members said.
“We always told him ‘one day you’re going to get loaded, and you’re never going to come down,'” Nosacka said.
Drugs and alcohol were a way for Trosclair to escape some of his issues, Legg said, and although he was reluctant to go into detail about any substance abuse, he admitted there was a problem.
“He was always looking for something,” Legg said. “If it wasn’t a permanent fix, at least it was for three or four hours and he was all right. But Jonny did have some demons.”
Formed in Gramercy, La. in 2001, Delta Crutch band members were boyhood friends who began playing the Baton Rouge and New Orleans rock circuits in the last year, releasing an independent seven song EP, with hopes to begin work on a more professional recording.
“We all learned to play together,” Nosacka said. “But that boy was awesome. Jonny’s hands and fingers were getting so much quicker, and he had this unique style of playing. Toward the end he blew my mind every time we’d sit down and jam new stuff. He was good. He was damn good.”
The reaction to Trosclair’s death was sadness and disbelief, but the local music scene pulled together to eulogize the guitarist’s life in its own way.
Baton Rouge rock band Brother and local online music Web Site www.redstickrock.com each designed a tribute page on their Web site in Trosclair’s memory, while two local music radio shows held tribute programs, one on KLSU’s “Saturated Neighborhood” and the other on 93.7’s “Red Stick Rock Show.”
There will be a concert March 21 at Zeppelins in New Orleans in Trosclair’s memory and a show March 27 at Ichabod’s featuring local music acts 4 Mag Nitrous and Brother performing Delta Crutch songs.
Ultimately, the band has not decided how it will regroup permanently, but it does plan to perform an April 5 show at Ichabod’s as a three- piece.
Legg said after that show the group will determine whether they need to bring in another guitarist or not, but emphasizes they cannot replace someone like Trosclair.
“When Jonny was onstage you got to see the real Jonny,” Nosacka said. “He really loved it.”