Precisely one yr after the devastating Eaton fireplace broke out, the Los Angeles folk-rock band Dawes will current an all-star profit live performance on Wednesday night time for victims of the blaze that killed 19 individuals and destroyed greater than 9,000 constructions within the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.
Amongst these affected by the hearth: the 2 brothers who’ve led Dawes for greater than a decade and a half.
Drummer Griffin Goldsmith’s Altadena residence was destroyed final January, whereas singer-guitarist Taylor Goldsmith misplaced his close by recording studio and its a long time’ value of musical gear; the siblings’ dad and mom’ home in Altadena burned down, as effectively.
“I remember talking to my therapist early on, and he was like, ‘Well, if you ever wondered what you and your family would be like under the most extreme circumstances — now you know,’” Taylor, 40, recalled with fun the opposite day.
But Wednesday’s present on the Pasadena Civic Auditorium “is not some pity party,” Griffin, 35, mentioned. “This is for the other people. And the reason it feels good to be doing it is because a lot of people are in much more need than we are.”
With proceeds earmarked for the Altadena Builds Again Basis, A Live performance for Altadena will function Dawes together with acts together with Stephen Stills, Lord Huron, Aloe Blacc, Rufus Wainwright, Lucius, Jenny Lewis and Brandon Flowers of the Killers. Taylor’s spouse, the singer and actor Mandy Moore, is ready to carry out, whereas John C. Reilly will function host.
Rounding out the invoice is Brad Paisley, the nation star (and part-time Angeleno) who joined the Goldsmiths to open final yr’s Grammy Awards ceremony with a boisterous rendition of Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” that additionally featured Sheryl Crow, St. Vincent, Brittany Howard and John Legend.
The brothers hope to boost no less than $500,000 from the present, which they organized with guitarist Eric Krasno, who can even carry out, and Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman, a fellow Altadena resident whose residence was broken by smoke within the fireplace.
“It’s putting the spotlight on something that’s kind of just begun in certain ways,” Griffin mentioned of the slow-moving restoration course of. “The world moves on — that’s just how things go. But these problems don’t fix themselves.”
Raised in Malibu, the Goldsmiths shaped Dawes round 2009 and play strummy, country-inflected rock with echoes of Jackson Browne, the Eagles and Warren Zevon.
Brad Paisley performs onstage throughout iHeartCountry Reside in Burbank on Nov. 11, 2016.
(Kevin Winter)
“To me, they’re like the closest thing we have to that ‘once upon a time in Los Angeles’ type of sound,” mentioned Paisley, who met Taylor via his acquaintance with Moore.
“I reached out to Mandy at some point after they got married and said, ‘Your husband is like my favorite songwriter going,’” he recalled. “She told him that, and then he reached out and we became friends.”
In 2024, Paisley joined Dawes at Taylor’s dimly lighted studio to chop a reside model of “House Parties,” from the band’s newest album, “Oh Brother.”
“Couple of months later, the place was gone,” he mentioned. “It’s hard to believe.”
Requested how the hearth might need modified him, Taylor mentioned, “I don’t want to feel like it’s changed me at all — I don’t want to give it that kind of power.” He added, “I’m not comfortable in the victim role, and I’m not saying that as some sort of humble-brag.
“People come up with their eyes wide and want to give me a hug, and I’m like, ‘Don’t be silly — I’m fine.’ That’s my reflex. I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but I resist it when someone says, ‘Oh, I’m sure things are different now.’ I don’t want that to be the case.”
“On one hand, it can be a defining aspect of our band and our lives,” Griffin mentioned of the hearth and its destruction. “On the other hand, I think what can be defining is the way we move forward and how we can continue to lift up this community.”
Taylor not too long ago visited a development website the place Altadena Builds Again and Habitat for Humanity are rebuilding a home that burned down.
“They got me so excited that I was like, ‘Can I come back and be a volunteer?’” he mentioned. “They’re already on their third or fourth home, and they’re doing them fast.”
Added Griffin: “That’s an amazing success story, and so how do you make that scalable? It’s a pretty insurmountable-seeming problem when you look at the macro of it. But focusing on the micro can be really important to feel like, OK, this is getting done.”
What do the brothers make of native officers’ dealing with of aid efforts?
“I don’t want to get too cynical, but I couldn’t really say that I feel like the city or county or state government have helped,” Griffin mentioned.
“The bureaucracy makes itself clear really quickly,” Taylor mentioned.
Trying again on the hearth itself, Taylor mentioned, “It’s so easy now to be like, ‘How dare there be a shortage of firefighters on the Eastside when that fire was on its way toward us?’ But as a musician I’m in no position to say that I know what could have been done — that I know what they should be taking responsibility for.”
“It seems like the politicians don’t know either,” Griffin mentioned. “But the firefighters were obviously nothing but amazing. No one’s blaming them. They were just doing what they could with the resources they had.”
“We only have so much information, and you can approach that lack of information in good faith or bad faith,” Taylor mentioned. “I choose to believe that intentions are good. Maybe someone else would hear me say that and shake their head and insist that I’m not being skeptical enough. And maybe they’d be right. But that’s how we’re deciding to approach it.”
Paisley, whose former residence in Pacific Palisades was destroyed within the Palisades fireplace, mentioned he’s by no means seen anybody course of loss because the Goldsmiths have.
“I didn’t lose anything except the house we used to love,” the nation singer mentioned of the place he and his spouse, actor Kimberly Williams-Paisley, bought in 2013. “And I’m madder than they are.”
Taylor Goldsmith, left, and Griffin Goldsmith on the 67th Grammy Awards in February 2025.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Instances)
In the present day, Griffin and his spouse, Equipment Goldsmith, live in Eagle Rock with their 11-month-old son, who was born a month forward of schedule simply two weeks after the Eaton fireplace ravaged Altadena.
“In some ways, that was insanity — like, I can’t believe this is happening right now,” he mentioned of the newborn’s early arrival, which he assumes was the results of stress. “But once he was here, it definitely gave us a new, brighter perspective that this is what matters most.”
Do he and his household plan to return to Altadena?
“We still have our lot, but there’s just so many pieces that need to fall into place before we have a clear picture of what the future is for us,” he mentioned.
Taylor, Moore and their three younger kids are again of their Altadena residence after having left for about 9 months to cope with smoke harm. And Taylor mentioned he’s within the plans and allowing stage of rebuilding his studio.
Requested how he expects the experiences of the previous yr to form Dawes’ subsequent album, the singer mentioned he wasn’t certain but.
“The times I’ve tried to sit down — ‘What’s the song here?’ — it feels opportunistic,” he mentioned. “At least right now. Maybe someday that won’t be the case.
“But I will say that it’s contributing to the mood,” he added. “Our last record, there’s a certain levity — a certain number of songs that are even meant to be a little silly.” He laughed. “That’s not falling out of me right now.”
