New Song of the Day #27: Shannon Lay "Tides" (LA wildfire relief benefit)

Today (Friday Feb 7) until midnight PT, Bandcamp donates all proceeds from LP, CD, and t-shirt sales to LA wildfire relief efforts. They're also hosting two fine benefit albums.

I’ve written about Los Angeles folk-punk-pop singer-songwriter Shannon Lay before. Her Covers Vol. 1 is wonderful. She’s got Irish roots, and I think that comes across gorgeously in her ballad singing. This song sounds like something from an unfairly-forgotten 1970s private press LP. Ancient, evocative, comforting, but a little bit uneasy.

It’s the first track on Super Bloom, a benefit LP for indie musicians and others affected by the horrific California wildfires. It’s a 62 track digital album for just $10 — cheap enough to gift a few to friends.

The list of artists who donated obscure and/or unreleased tracks is impressive: Robyn Hitchcock, Jim James, The War on Drugs, Jenny Lewis, Guided by Voices, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Dirty Projectors, Dr. Dog, Hiss Golden Messenger, Ty Segall, Cass McCombs, Bedouine, Mary Lattimore, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Mac DeMarco, etc.

There’s also Los Angeles Rising, a similarly-themed benefit set from the good samaritans at Sweet Relief, with unreleased tracks from PJ Harvey, Nick Cave, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and more. Jarvis Cocker does a gentle, haunted “California Dreamin’.”

These projects dovetail with Bandcamp’s Friday fundraising collaboration with MusiCares. From the press release:

On [Friday] February 7th, from midnight to midnight PST, 100% of Bandcamp’s proceeds will be donated to MusiCares. Offering preventive, emergency, and recovery programs, MusiCares is a safety net supporting the health and welfare of the music community.

How You Can Help on February 7th:

For Artists: Add new music or exclusive merch to your Bandcamp store to inspire purchases. Share personal stories or behind-the-scenes content with your fans to encourage engagement.

For Fans: Purchase music, merchandise, or exclusive tracks from your favorite artists—or discover new ones on Bandcamp’s Discover page.

For more information about this initiative or how you can participate, visit: https://bandcamp.com/lafirerelief

And below are some of the causes Super Bloom is supporting, if you’d like to learn more about their work or offer direct support:

Sweet Relief : www.sweetrelief.org
The Anti-Recidivism Coalition: antirecidivism.org/donate/
Pasadena Humane: give.pasadenahumane.org/give/654134#!/donation/checkout
Mutual Aid LA Network: mutualaidla.org
Direct Relief: www.directrelief.org

Thanks for reading, as always. — Will