Deer Tick frontman John McCauley ran into some airport troubles last week after he tried to catch a flight to the Newport Folk Festival. While trying to board a plane from Philadelphia to Rhode Island, U.S. Airways refused to let him or his wife, Vanessa Carlton, on board with his guitar. McCauley tweeted about the incident and had to take an Amtrak train to get to the festival instead. The airline responded by refunding the ticket and giving the couple a voucher for the cost of the train. Everything turned out OK, but because of the incident, U.S. Senator Jack Reed issued a statement on Friday that urged the Department Of Transportation to start enforcing a 2012 law that would allow musical instruments to be carry-on items if they can fit in the cabin. Reed cited Deer Tick’s incident and called for clearer rules to be put in place, noting that this was not the first time that this sort of thing had happened.

@deertickmusic @USAirways school their asses on this http://t.co/VElpT6L2HW

— shetlandshaun (@shetLAndshaun) July 23, 2014

@shetLAndshaun @USAirways i showed them that. I was told US Airways doesn't follow FAA rules (???)

— Deer Tick (@deertickmusic) July 23, 2014

.@SenJackReed is taking action after @deertickmusic & guitar — kicked off flight to @Newportfolkfest pic.twitter.com/eO98r4FFqe

— Providence Journal (@projo) July 25, 2014

[Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty.]