
The aftermath of a wildfire in one Los Angeles neighborhood. Photo by Raul Quezada/AP.
In Wednesday’s (1/15) Los Angeles Times, August Brown reports on the effect of the LA wildfires on the city’s rock, pop, and rap musical scene. “The Palisades and Eaton fires wiped out two neighborhoods with unique significance in L.A.’s music industry. The Palisades fire claimed ocean-view studios in Malibu, where Grammy winners lived and recorded platinum albums steps from the sand. Fifty miles away, the Eaton fire demolished a neighborhood adored by working artists and industry pros … The infernos have claimed at least 25 lives and more than 12,000 structures … Los Angeles-area musicians and industry pros began to circulate a spreadsheet noting who had lost a home or workplace. The list stretched over 200 entries…. Already, the music industry is fundraising for the thousands of displaced Angelenos…. ‘It’s unfathomable,’ said Laura Segura, the executive director of MusiCares, the charitable partner of the Recording Academy. ‘All the music companies we think of as behemoths have staff who lost homes. So did tour crew, musicians, bus drivers, electricians.’… Segura said MusiCares has already received more than 2,000 requests for aid from affected music professionals … The Recording Academy announced that the 67th Grammy Awards, planned for Feb. 2 in Los Angeles, will go forward with a focus on relief efforts.”
The League of American Orchestras’ Disaster Relief and Preparedness site at americanorchestras.org/learn/disaster-relief-and-preparedness/ offers guidance and disaster relief resources.