Gig aims to raise funds for record label devastated by California wildfires

WHEN a local musician traded Shetland for the bright lights of Los Angeles late last year to record new music in the States it was something of a trip of a lifetime.

But the tunes were recorded to tape and subsequently lost in January’s devastating California fires – meaning Isaac Webb has little to show from his sessions apart from photos and memories.

However, much more was lost than just recordings.

The family home of owner of Webb’s record label Wild, Reb Kennedy, was lost in the flames, and the entire studio too.

Webb, known for his original brand of rock n’ roll music, is set to take part in an international suite of fundraising events for Wild Records by hosting a gig in Scalloway this weekend.

The event is being held at the Scalloway Legion tomorrow night (Saturday), with the Isaac Webb Trio plus Sauerkraut Seth, No Half and DJ Yetti on the diverse line-up.

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Tickets can be bought online in advance with donations welcome too. People will also be able to pay upon entry on the night, with doors open at 7.30pm.

Webb said: “I can only imagine how devastating this has been, but it’s gonna take more than a wildfire to bring down Wild Records.

“That’s a train that will keep rolling for a long time yet.”

The musician, who performs in Shetland in his Isaac Webb Trio band alongside Tim Matthew and Gary Smith, was in Los Angeles for 11 days in total, although the rehearsing and recording was over two days.

He said he was pleasantly surprised by Los Angeles – “everyone was super nice and very welcoming”.

“I felt right at home. Everyone was in high spirits as the Dodgers won the World Series in the first couple days of me being there which was very cool being a baseball fan myself.

“There is a buzz in the air, maybe it’s the neon signs, or maybe it’s the feeling that really anything can happen in a place like LA. The place really is electric.”

But just a few months later wildfires decimated parts of California, including the studio which Webb recorded in.

This included every tape from the lifespan of Wild Records – which has been on the go for more than 20 years.

Webb said Kennedy and Wild Records “has and continues to support us, a trio of musicians from our small island in the middle of the North Sea to share our music with the wider world”.

Through the Wild connection the trio have played across Europe on a number of occasions.

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