Benicia Man Organizes San Francisico Benefit

The destruction of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan on March 11  has left more than 26,000 dead or missing. Two weeks later, the toll kept rising. A town disappeared. Homes flattened. Ships sunk. The people of the Rising Sun were struggling to make sense of the catastrophe.

The following Monday, Benicia resident Paul Valmassey of  Fog City Swampers woke up and knew he had to do something. There are two Japanese-Americans in the band. The images on the news were tragic and the people needed help. 

Valmassey made some calls. By March 30, the bands for  were set. Maggie McGarrys, in North Beach, agreed to donate space for the event on April 17.

There’s a Japanese, or Japanese-American, musician in each of the five bands on the bill. Seven Japanese cities are represented: Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Misawa, Nagoya, Tokyo, Yamaguchi and Yokohama. The music ranges from acoustic J-Pop and classic rock to  jazz-rock fusion, blues and southern rock.