This ‘matchmaker’ helps people recoup music instruments lost to LA fires

As Seen on USA Today | March 11, 2026

Article and Photos By Paris Barraza

Read the full article and watch the video on USA Today

Excerpt:

When Michelle Bellamy evacuated her residence due to the Palisades Fire, she thought about grabbing Gretchyn, the acoustic Martin guitar gifted by a neighbor years ago and one that she wrote all her songs on.

Yet there was the voice in her head telling her she would return.

That didn’t happen. Instead, the place she’d called home with her three children was taken by the fire in January 2025.

Several months later, however, Bellamy was gifted a guitar from Abby Sher, a Pacific Palisades resident who’d long stopped playing one of her “prized possessions.” It was a donation facilitated through the efforts of nonprofit organization Altadena Musicians, the brainchild of music composer Brandon Jay.

Read the full article and watch the video on USA Today