Put A Record On: For The California Country Kids
Some L.A. music, and ways to help if you can.
There might be some good words about the kind of destruction we’re seeing out of the L.A. area right now, but I certainly don’t have them. Mostly just hoping and praying for the burning to stop, for the air to clear, for the people who have already been displaced to be safe.
Here is a list of L.A. mutual aid organizations you might consider supporting; KQED has a broader list of organizations, including traditional nonprofits, who are supporting those affected (without claiming much expertise, I tend to want to err on the side of supporting local orgs vs. national ones). If you’re in the area, I’m sure you have better resources than us but in case — this spreadsheet has available resources, and also notes which organizations need volunteers.
This is a list specifically of people within the music community who have been affected, with a number of GoFundMe pages attached. Regarding country/Americana etc. in the area, there’s no better expert than
— he wrote a bit about the fires’ impact so far in his newsletter, linked below.
We also wanted to share some music from active artists in the area; the app I was using to make Bandcamp playlists stopped working for some reason, and unfortunately there’s not another great way to marry encouraging you to purchase the music with making a streamlined playlist — so, a million clunky embeds it is.
But! Don’t let that stop you from buying anything you dig :) Even for those artists who aren’t materially impacted, a disaster like this still has a massive impact on your life and ability to work (obviously). Feel free to throw any artists I should have included in the comments (I know Donnie will have a ton!) (also, some people don’t have music on Bandcamp which is a bummer). — Natalie
Thank you!
If you want to stream two songs a few more times (or even go BandCamp and buy something hard), Céleigh Chapman lost her home, and Jonny Fitz's might have lost his -- he's not sure yet.
It's pretty rough out here, but the winds we were expecting last night didn't materialize, and the latest fire was hit hard by air support and fresh ground teams to be nearly 35% contained within the first few hours. Palisades and Eaton are still massive and horrifying.
On a pure music note -- take a listen to each of these artists. They are some of the best of what the LA Scene has to offer. They work their asses of for a dedicated but dispersed fan base. We have a good crew here but we'd love your support now. These folks play some of the best country music being made today.
Thanks for this important post! Also, on a less serious note, "Only You" is probably one of my favorite 80s ballads and one of those childhood radio songs I haven't grown tired of at all – didn't expect Marfa to be a cover, so thanks for that too!