Shawn Smith, the soulful and expressive Seattle vocalist for groups such as Pigeonhed, Brad, and Satchel, is reportedly in a distressed mental state and without a fixed address. A friend named Xana La Fuente started a GoFundMe campaign, which has raised $10,150 so far (the goal was $6,000).

After the jump, La Fuente explains Smith's situation in a paragraph taken from her GoFundMe page:

I do not know many details, other than at this point he is " technically" homeless- I say homeless not in the sense he is on the street- someone is giving him a room for he and his dog temporarily, but I don't think he's happy there-and again, its temporary ) I saw him yesterday, and he was in tears and not in a good place emotionally. Although he seemed happy to see me, and we had fun listening to Prince. He tried to joke and played it off like it would be okay -in a way, but I can tell you that honestly-I barely got any sleep worrying about him. If he has a room he's renting and has no lease on paper and only a small room, to me this is technically homeless. As nice as it is that someone is letting him stay with them for $200.00 a month, how long can he really stay there? Does he have money to eat? If he's getting help from family with a little cash, how long can that go on? These are all questions that are too grey of an area for me to feel that he's " okay ". Yes, I am aware there is probably more to the story, but this needs to be addressed now, so he can take some responsibility as well. Accepting help is " okay " and he's got to see that.

Since he emerged on the music scene in the early '90s, Smith has been this city's foremost exponent of the supple falsetto and libidinous rasp in rock and electronic contexts. As a lyricist, he taps into deep emotional wells that match the poignant grain of his versatile voice. In a Line Out post from 2007, Trent Moorman wrote of Smith: "Shawn’s like a gangster medicine man. He’s the outskirts of town, a shadow. A mystery. A Prince disciple who’s not afraid to watch Cheech and Chong all night long. His shows are always on."

If you're so inclined, you can purchase some of Smith's music here or donate to his GoFundMe here. Smith's group with Stranger Genius Steve Fisk, Pigeonhed, has an album called De Colores that's slated to come out "soon" on the Seattle label Cabin Games.