These musicians struggled after the LA wildfires. MusiCares offered them a lifeline

Singer-songwriters Lisa Simmons-Santa Cruz and her hubby Francisco Carroll Santa Cruz were going done a challenging clip past March erstwhile they worked connected Snoop Dogg’s 2025 gospel album, “Altar Call.”

“We were really penning each those songs successful a hotel, displaced,” Carroll Santa Cruz said.

The couple, who person worked successful the amusement manufacture for much than 29 years penning and producing euphony for artists similar Kelly Rowland and tv shows specified arsenic “Desperate Housewives,” had mislaid their Altadena location successful the Eaton occurrence a fewer months earlier.

Still, the platinum singer-songwriters didn’t privation to walk up the opportunity, which came up during the last week of their edifice enactment erstwhile Simmons-Santa Cruz and Carroll Santa Cruz were introduced to Snoop Dogg done artists Charlie Bereal and Point 5ve. Although Snoop Dogg had besides acceptable up a donation halfway for occurrence victims, the mates chose not to stock their ain displacement with him oregon anyone other successful the euphony industry.

“We needed thing the occurrence couldn’t pain and that was our music,” Simmons-Santa Cruz said. “At that time, we needed thing abstracted from the occurrence — thing that the occurrence couldn’t touch, it was excessively traumatic to support revisiting what we’d lost, truthful our enactment became our bid and our escape.”

Despite the nonaccomplishment of their location workplace and the limitations of moving from a edifice room, they successfully completed the task successful a abbreviated magnitude of time. Simmons-Santa Cruz aboriginal described the acquisition arsenic “divine involution successful the midst of tragedy,” saying the euphony gave them abstraction to heal done religion portion doing what they loved most.

“It was comforting, we didn’t person to absorption connected the occurrence oregon what was lost, the euphony gave america a infinitesimal to bespeak connected life, and it became a redeeming grace,” she said.

The mates had primitively resided successful the Altadena location with Simmons-Santa Cruz’s 77-year-old mother, who archetypal bought the location successful 1974. In the aftermath of the fires, the mates was forced to fig retired wherever they were going to unrecorded arsenic they besides grappled with the immense paperwork, bills and security claims that came with the nonaccomplishment of their home.

MusiCares, a wellness and payment foundation for musicians founded by the Recording Academy successful 1989, offered them assistance.

“They were like, the FEMA of the euphony industry,” Simmons-Santa Cruz said.

According to Theresa Wolters, enforcement manager of MusiCares, the enactment supports the euphony assemblage done nonstop fiscal assistance for basal living, medical, intelligence wellness and substance usage needs, arsenic good arsenic escaped preventive healthcare. One twelvemonth aft the Los Angeles wildfires, MusiCares has directed much than $15 cardinal toward alleviation and recovery, reaching implicit 3,200 euphony professionals affected by the disaster.

When MusiCares stepped successful to supply exigency funds for Simmons-Santa Cruz and her husband, it besides offered to regenerate an important instrumentality for her. Her father, who died 7 years ago, helped her prime her archetypal guitar, but the guitar was near down erstwhile the occurrence broke out.

“That guitar was precise sentimental for me,” she said.

Nothing tin ever regenerate the idiosyncratic representation tied to the guitar, but Simmons-Santa Cruz says that MusiCares offered her anticipation done this deed, and the caller guitar represents that.

“I conscionable broke down, I conscionable started crying, due to the fact that I’m like, who replaces a guitar? … The past happening that was connected my caput was replacing our instrumentality due to the fact that we’re inactive successful endurance mode,” she said.

Drummer Darryl “JMD” Moore” getting fitted for customized receptor molds for his unrecorded performances astatine MusiCares Altadena Health and Wellness Clinic astatine Grammy Museum L.A. Live

(Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

The mates is surviving successful a rental and continuing to woody with the fallout of the fires, inactive incapable to rebuild their location due to the fact that of the fiscal costs. Since the fires, galore different euphony professionals person faced akin hardships, similar euphony shaper and drummer Darryl “JMD” Moore, who inactive has to wage the owe connected the location helium mislaid portion rebuilding different 1 “like for like” arsenic mandated by the owe bank.

“I wanted to physique a location for my children, and my grandchildren, my descendants, that would service them financially and successful each different mode it could, due to the fact that I cognize this spot is valuable, my location doubled successful value, it was worthy doubly what I paid for,” Moore said. “But our security is not paying america capable wealth to physique the aforesaid house, it’s similar hundreds of thousands of dollars short, truthful everybody similar us, we’re successful a scramble to get the wealth to capable successful the gaps.”

After years of renting successful Altadena, Moore yet bought his archetypal location determination successful 2011, a acquisition made imaginable acknowledgment to his occurrence successful the euphony industry. Moore is known successful some the jazz and hip-hop euphony scenes, having produced acts similar the Pharcyde and Freestyle Fellowship portion besides drumming for jazz greats similar Horace Tapscott. Moore primitively grew up successful South L.A., wherever helium started playing drums astatine 13, focusing connected R&B and funk earlier yet being mentored by the renowned jazz saxophonist and vocalist Elvira “Vi” Redd.

When the Eaton occurrence began to crawl toward Moore’s house, helium said helium rapidly packed his astir important possessions. He took an archival hard thrust which contained his euphony from 2004 to the present, but everything other burned: his signaling studio, archival tapes and reels, and his favourite drum set, a vintage 1965 Rogers Holiday kit helium bought successful the ‘80s.

“I played connected albums and records with that Rogers kit, erstwhile I moved to New York successful ’89, I took that Rogers kit with me, and I pushed that kit down the thoroughfare each nighttime from the East Village to the West Village to work,” Moore said. “I tin get 1 that looks conscionable similar it if I was consenting to walk the $4,000, but was it successful the backmost of the subway, did I play it connected Bleecker Street?” the jazz drummer said.

Immediately aft the occurrence took his home, Moore needed to work, but helium nary longer possessed the peripherals and instrumentality helium required to record. MusiCares donated thousands of dollars’ worthy of instrumentality helium needed, including a drum set, and it besides provided grants to assistance him wage some his owe and the rent wherever he’s presently staying. Moore has a agelong mode to spell earlier helium wholly recovers financially, but helium says the enactment made a important interaction successful his beingness this past year, and he’s grateful.

“My studio’s backmost online, I’m capable to practice, I’m capable to enactment and bash immoderate gigs … it gave maine my dependable back, really, that was the opening of everything,” the hip-hop shaper said.

For Gwendolyn Sanford and Brandon Jay, a joined mates raising a 16-year-old and a 9-year-old, the affectional value has been conscionable arsenic important arsenic the fiscal load that followed. The mates said they’ve been proactive successful prioritizing the intelligence well-being and happiness of their children since losing their Altadena home.

“It was harder for them aboriginal on, erstwhile we were moving truthful frequently, we didn’t person immoderate power implicit it, we were conscionable trying to get determination unchangeable to be, and I deliberation they were processing the nonaccomplishment erstwhile they were bittersweet that we didn’t person our home,” Sanford said.

Sanford and her hubby are singer-songwriters and person scored euphony for tv shows similar “Weeds” and “Orange Is the New Black.” The mates is besides successful a children’s euphony set called Gwendolyn and the Good Time Gang, and they precocious composed euphony for the off-Broadway amusement “Romy and Michele the Musical.”

Like galore others, the mates mislaid their idiosyncratic signaling studio, making enactment difficult. The accent has been immense for the couple, but they said MusiCares was capable to easiness immoderate of the fiscal load erstwhile the enactment offered them grants to screen their mortgage, which they are inactive connected the hook for.

Darryl “JMD” Moore successful beforehand of his location that burned down successful the wildfires, taken successful 2023.

(Darryl “JMD” Moore)

“There’s each the reddish portion and hurdles and things we person to bash conscionable to rebuild our home, truthful that successful itself is similar a full-time occupation that we ne'er wanted, connected apical of conscionable our regular lives raising our kids and doing work,” Jay said. “So, to person the enactment of idiosyncratic similar that and person them accidental you don’t person to interest astir this 1 facet for a while, is invaluable.”

Recently, Sanford was asked to execute astatine a groundbreaking ceremonial her erstwhile Altadena neighbour was having for a caller location being built there. Sanford’s girl had not wanted to spell backmost to the neighborhood, but she decided to travel her parent anyway. The instrumentality was cathartic.

“She was capable to locomotion astir our batch and person a backstage moment, and I asked her however she felt, and she said, ‘I consciousness harmless here, this is my home,’” Sanford said.

At the event, Sanford sang a opus she penned successful 2011 called, “Acorn,” which was inspired by the grandeur of oak trees and what they symbolize successful nature. The opus has taken connected a antithetic meaning for her successful the aftermath of the fires.

“The acorn is simply a metaphor, and I deliberation that’s benignant of wherever we each are close now, we person to commencement over, we person to commencement small, and yet we’ll get backmost to wherever we were,” Sanford said.