Indigo Girls' tour bus driver Kirk killed in crash

**Reported** by TMZ.

The Indigo Girls' longtime tour bus driver died Friday in a South Carolina crash, TMZ reports. The band identified him as Kirk and cut two dates from the tour.

Kirk was at the wheel when the bus hit a tractor-trailer that had stopped on Interstate 20, according to authorities, TMZ reports. The collision happened around 6 a.m. Neither Amy Ray nor Emily Saliers was aboard, and no one from their crew was either. He was alone on the bus.

TMZ reports the cause is still under investigation.

The folk-rock duo behind "Closer to Fine" said in a statement that Kirk had driven them safely for thousands of miles and had become part of the family that travels with them. "He was a joyful constant in our lives, and we will miss him dearly."

The dates

Saturday's stop in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is off. Sunday's date in Wilmington, North Carolina, has been moved. TMZ reports decisions on other dates are still to come, and Ray and Saliers say they will return to the road when they are ready.

If you were planning around either show, the plan has changed. The Myrtle Beach date is canceled, the Wilmington date is postponed, so check the band's channels and the venue listings before you book travel or a hotel.

On a tour, the driver is the least visible person and the one the whole schedule leans on. Bands do not always name the people who drive them. Ray and Saliers did, and they said he would be missed. Two dates are off the calendar for now, and the pair says the road will come again when they are ready.

• Amy Ray
• Emily Saliers
• Indigo Girls
• South Carolina
• tour bus crash
• tour cancellations