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Published May 30, 2026 5:00 AM
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Altadena Musicians
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New free record shop opens for survivors of the Eaton and Palisades fires
Robert Garrova reports.
A new free record shop for survivors of last year’s Eaton and Palisades fires is celebrating with a grand opening party Saturday night.
After losing his home in the Eaton Fire, Brandon Jay founded Altadena Musicians to get instruments back into the hands of musicians who lost their gear in fires.
Now he’s doing that with vinyl records, too.
Record Shop grand opening
Altadena Music Center
1260 Lincoln Ave., Suite 1300, Pasadena
Saturday, May 30
Record donations starting at 1 p.m. Grand opening party is 6 - 9 p.m.
For more info and to register a free ticket, check out the Altadena Music Center event page.
LAist is a media sponsor for the event.
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“We want to be here to help replace those items and support music in people’s lives that can’t necessarily afford it right now because they’re saving all their pennies just to live and also just to rebuild their homes,” Jay told LAist.
Jay says they’ve seen roughly 3,000 records donated so far. Now they have a dedicated space on Lincoln Avenue where fire survivors can sign up for time slots and shop for up to 10 records a month.
“It’s a really lovely distraction but it kind of keeps me going as well just to know that we’re trying to build something great for the community and keep us all moving forward,” Jay said.
The store will carry copies of the benefit album, Gimme Shelter: Songs for LA Fire Relief. The compilation features cover art by Shepard Fairey and L.A. specific tracks from artists like Elliott Smith ("Angeles" of course), Norah Jones, The Flaming Lips, as well as a cover of "Burning Down the House" by Talking Heads performed by Jay and about 50 other fire-impacted musicians.
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