This isn’t a week for discussions about music industry trends, arguing about what should or shouldn’t be country music or what is real or fake. With Los Angeles in flames and hundreds of thousands of people displaced, this is a week to offer comfort and support. And, critically, ask for help if you need it.
Over the past 24 hours, I’ve heard of at least five Los Angeles-area country and roots musicians who have lost everything and dozens of others who have evacuated on short notice. We will learn more in the coming days, but we know enough now to say that these fires will have a lasting impact on our community.
The winds are easing a bit, but the largest fires are burning out of control, with additional fires exploding across the Southland. And the winds will pick up again tomorrow.
This is a scary time for Los Angeles. And we know it will get worse. And unfortunately, we know this is the new normal.
We also know that a tight-knit community shows its moral fabric during tragedy. LA is a huge place that is often dismissed as heartless and cold. But those of us who comprise its thousands of self-selecting communities — actors, artists, musicians, parents, cyclists, foodies or just neighbors — know that our warmth and soul make our huge city small. Even as thousands of acres burn.
It will take some time to feel comfortable in this new normal. But we will be there to celebrate our victories, comfort those who experienced unimaginable loss alongside thousands of others and once again listen to music in our spaces, even if we must rebuild some of them.
“In the dark times
Will there also be singing?
Yes, there will be singing.
About the dark times”
-Bertold Brecht
If you need assistance, please let me know, and I’ll do my best to connect you with someone who can or wants to help. I’m collecting fundraiser information and will share it across my network in the coming days and weeks.
In your opinion, what has been worse between Los Angeles 1992 riots and Los Angeles 2024 wildfire?