Help guitarist Brian Hughes and his family rebuild

My parents, Brian and Pamela Hughes lost their home early Wednesday morning in Altadena, CA in the Eaton fire. They left quickly thinking that they would return in a few days.

A home is just a home in many ways, and we are blessed that they are both safe. But a home also has a heart. A home is filled with precious artifacts of your life — the items that make you who you are and tell your story, and your family history.

My dad, Brian Hughes, is a guitarist, composer, and producer, and so 'home' was also where he created his music. It housed a music studio he has spent his entire career building, tinkering, and improving on as he moved from Edmonton to Toronto and then to Altadena. My dad’s music is an evolving homage to the places and the artists he has worked with – using guitars, the Middle Eastern Oud, and the Celtic Bouzouki. The fire claimed all his instruments except for his beloved 1973 Gibson ES-175, which he took with him in their hurried evacuation.

Pamela has worked for 20 years at Trader Joe's and has become deeply woven into the local community. I know her heart breaks at the devastating loss her friends and neighbors are also experiencing.

To us, the home was a place of music, flipping through a family heirloom recipe book for dinners, walls filled with photo albums, and so many laughs. Stepping outside onto the patio and hearing my dad play Spanish guitar….Altadena was magical. Altadena was also home to many creatives who make our lives so rich via the sounds we hear, paintings we see, and things we experience.

Asking music lovers, fans, friends, family, and kind individuals to help our family and the community rebuild. Every dollar will go directly toward helping our family recover, rebuild, and extend a helping hand to others in our community who are suffering, especially artists.

This fund raised will go towards…

1. Purchase necessities and begin the process of replacing essential items lost especially for work

2. Assist our neighbors and friends with the same necessities

3. Support local artists in Altadena who have suffered a loss - specifically music and art equipment essential to making a living, recording, rendering, etc

This GoFundMe is a continuing funding space. Please note that the goal number will be updated as we learn more news to assist my family and neighborhood with their immediate and long-term needs.

We deeply appreciate your support and kindness. Any donation is helpful and appreciated from the bottom of our hearts.