Music Journalist Jeff Miers is reaching out to the Western New York community, to help support a fundraising initiative to support musicians displaced by the tragic Los Angeles fires.
From Miers:
“Feeling powerless and heartbroken watching this hellscape unfurl from the other side of the country, I wanted to put together a benefit for the people who have lost so much in the Los Angeles fires. I reached out to some of the very finest musicians and bands in the Buffalo area, who I’m blessed to call my friends, and asked if they’d be interested in donating their talents to this effort. All of them said yes, without hesitation. I reached out Jason Hall at the Sportsmen’s Tavern to inquire about a last minute date. He offered me one in seconds flat.
“This is personal, for me, and for so many in our region. My son Declan and his partner Hannah live in the heart of the area deeply impacted by the Eaton fires, in Altadena/Pasadena. They were able to evacuate. Buffalo’s own Zuri Appleby was able to evacuate too, and she’s safe. And so many Buffalo people are out there, many of them musicians and working members of the music industry. What’s left of their homes, their communities, their recording studios, and the tools of their trade remains an unknown at present.
“The Pasadena – Altadena area is a beautiful multi-cultural and diverse community full of working families. These communities have been pretty much destroyed. They’re largely gone. The same is true of the wealthier Pacific Palisades region, where the loss of homes and businesses and damage to the environment has been monumental. It’s heartbreaking. And we need to do our part to help ease the suffering. This, in a nutshell, is what I love about Buffalo.”
On Monday, January 20, the fundraiser concert – Help On the Way: A Buffalo Benefit for Musicians Displaced by the Los Angeles Fires – will be held at The Sportsmens Tavern, starting at 6pm. The concert will feature the following music acts: Organ Fairchild, The Damone Jackson Outcome, Miller & the Other Sinners, Critt’s Juke Joint, and Tiger Chung Lee.
Funds raised via the concert will be directed to MusiCares’ Los Angeles Fire Relief Fund. MusiCares and the Recording Academy have made a combined pledge of $1 million to ensure the success of the fundraising effort. Now Buffalo has a chance to pitch in, to make an even larger impact on the lives of those who are struggling due to the unprecedented disaster.
For those who can not attend the concert, but still want to help, please donate directly to MusiCares’ Los Angeles Fire Relief Fund at donor.musicares.org/page/lafirerelief.
For those interested in making a donation to Help On the Way’s efforts to raise money for MusiCares’ Los Angeles Fire Relief Fund on an organization’s behalf, please email Jeff Miers at jeffmiersmusic@gmail.com, or call 716-316-2699.
Help On the Way: A Buffalo Benefit for Musicians Displaced by the Los Angeles Fires
Monday, January 20, 2025
6PM
Sportsmens Tavern | 326 Amherst St, Buffalo, NY 14207
