It was in the middle of Nebraska, still a ways from Lincoln where Bay Area harmonica wizard Mark Hummel and his band were set to perform.

With the band packed into a touring van and 15 minutes from their motel, bass player Richard “RW” Grigsby was at the wheel while the rest of the guys slept.

“All of a sudden, there was this big ‘kaboom!’ and the airbags went off,” Hummel recalled.

The van had hit a deer. Or the deer hit a van. The van survived. The deer didn’t.

“It happened so quick,” Hummel said. “Nobody got hurt, but the van had a bumper hanging off and limped into town. We got to a Ford dealer who duct taped the bumper back. That was pretty hair-raising.”

That 2016 venture into the Midwest became known as the “Hit a Deer Tour.”

“When you’re on the road, some pretty crazy stuff happens,” Hummel said.

For he and Grigsby, we’re talking years, many which only the two Bay Area musicians rode together in a van while others flew to the scheduled destinations. It’s a friendship that ventures beyond merely music, including both giving up the bottle — some 34 years clean for Hummel, roughly 16 for Grigsby.

“We became pretty good brothers,” Hummel said by phone earlier this week.

It’s been a rough time for the harmonica player’s musical kin. On Sept. 4, Grigsby, 65, suffered a major stroke at his Sacramento home. He lost use of his right arm, hand and leg and his voice.

Though “he’s had some major improvements, he still won’t be able to work for months,” said Hummel.

To compound financial matters, Grigsby’s wife, Beth, suffered a severe foot infection from a cat bite and is shelved from her real estate job.

“It’s the perfect storm for an already messed up year,” Hummel said.

In an effort to keep his ailing friend afloat, Hummel started a GoFundMe campaign. With an $18,000 goal, $13,000 was raised by Tuesday.

“In the hospital six days, rehab 18 days,” explained Hummel of his buddy’s medical bills.

Hummel is hopeful Grigsby can return to playing, whether it’s a COVID-19 era live-stream show or, eventually, back in the saddle of a performance in front of an audience.

“His vocal chords needs strengthening and his hand has to come back so he can relearn the bass,” Hummel said. “And he has to learn how to drive and walk again.”

It’s a good time for Grigsby to heal, Hummel hinted.

“I don’t think we’ll be working this band at least another eight months” because of the pandemic, Hummel said.

Though Hummel and Grigsby met in 1991, they got to really know each other when Grigsby joined Hummel’s band in 2007.

“The thing is, when you’re 12 hours a day in a van with somebody, you get to know each other pretty well. You’ve really got to get along with someone if you’re going to spend that much time together,” Hummel said.

It helps, continued Hummel, that the two are in recovery and “have pretty much similar tastes in what we love musically.”

Hummel said he talks to or texts Grigsby every day to check in. Two days after the stroke, Grigsby’s voice was a whisper.

“The last time I talked to him, he sounded like his old self,” Hummel said. “He’s fortunate he didn’t get paralyzed. He still can’t lift his arm at all.”

Grigsby “is a very determined guy,” Hummel said. “He’s got a good attitude. If he’s determined to do something, he will do it. That’s why I believe he’ll get back.”

Hummel’s health hadn’t exactly been cover story material for Men’s Health & Fitness magazine. He had a mild heart attack four years ago — right after the “Hitting the Deer Tour” upon arriving back from Dallas.

“I had been doing this (touring) for 34 years and never had a problem,” Hummel.

On this day, however, “I couldn’t get myself out of bed.”

Hummel had a “burning in my chest” and went to the doctor. High blood pressure, high cholesterol. He would forever be on statins. The next day, he drank four espressos. Not a good move. Back at the doctor, it was discovered his arteries were 90 percent blocked. Three stents later, he was back on stage.

“My cholesterol is down, blood pressure down and I exercise all the time,” said Hummel, believing if he needed help, Grigsby would be there.

“Good people look out for each other,” Hummel said.

To contribute to the RW Grigsby GoFundMe, visit www.gofundme.com/f/Support-Medical-Funds-for-RW-Beth-Grisgby