Vérité-style music video tells the human story of LA wildfire survivors, turning music into a movement for recovery.
Seven months after wildfires ravaged Los Angeles County – including the devastating Eaton Fire – families are still without homes, and a vital community food bank remains in ashes. Now, a $250,000 grassroots campaign is combining art, activism, and urgency to rebuild the Lifeline Fellowship food bank in Altadena, a lifeline that for more than two decades provided groceries and essentials to hundreds of families weekly. To date, the GoFundMe campaign has already raised $55,000 towards it's $250,000 goal.
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At the center of the campaign is City of Angels, a vérité-style music video from Los Angeles-based artist Bon' Chance that has critics and fans calling it “a documentary in disguise.” Shot on location in Altadena, Pacific Palisades, and Topanga Canyon, the video is a haunting blend of survivor testimony, striking cinematography, and emotionally charged Americana storytelling.
A Song That Feels Like a Dispatch From the Ashes
Anchored by Bon' Chance's gravelly baritone and the weeping lines of a pedal steel guitar, City of Angels delivers what one early listener called “a dispatch from the ashes – equal parts elegy and anthem.” The song evokes the timeless storytelling of Gordon Lightfoot's The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald and Robbie Robertson's Somewhere Down the Crazy River, with a modern sensibility that feels at once raw and cinematic.
The track features the Lifeline Christian Fellowship choir, the Alta Dena church from whom many lost their homes in January, creating a layered chorus that feels deeply personal. “They're not just background vocals,” Bon' Chance says. “Those voices belong to people who lived through this. Every note carries their story. I was so honored that actual victims of this fire wanted to participate.
The Video: Storytelling Without a Script
Directed by acclaimed cinematographer Jac Cheairs, the City of Angels video strips away artifice to let the survivors and landscapes tell the story. The film follows residents fleeing the devasting fires. In one striking moment, Altadena resident James Fowler stands in the blackened remains of his home, in another he is seen returning to his home during the fire to retrieve the urn containing his father's ashes.
“What hooked me was the chance to tell authentic stories from real people who lived through the fires,” Cheairs said. “Every frame is grounded in their reality. This isn't a music video with a disaster as a backdrop – it's their story, told their way.”
A Community in Crisis
The fires leveled more than 12,000 homes and displaced thousands. In Altadena – where nearly 20% of the population is Black and many families have called the community home for generations – the loss of the Lifeline Fellowship food bank has left a devastating gap.
“For 21 years, our food bank served the Altadena community with free food and essential items until it was interrupted when our church burned to the ground,” said Bishop Charles Dorsey, Sr. “We are truly excited to be partnering with Bon' Chance as he helps us rebuild. The need in the Altadena and even the Pacific Palisades communities has never been greater, and we are eager to relaunch this vital program to serve our local neighbors.”
Bon' Chance has pledged to personally cover all administrative costs so that 100% of donations support survivors and rebuilding efforts. All contributions are tax-deductible.
In recent months, Lifeline distributed grants to 50 displaced families, but without a permanent facility, the need continues to outpace resources. Rebuilding the food bank will restore not just a place to access food, but a sense of community and dignity during a long and difficult recovery.
Art as Activism
Bon' Chance views City of Angels not just as a song, but as a mission. “Music has always been a way to tell the truth when other platforms look away,” he said. “We hope this song and it's haunting music video bring attention to the ongoing need of so many displaced by the fires”.
About Bon' Chance: Bon' Chance is the musical moniker of a longtime Los Angeles artist and industry veteran. A singer/songwriter, producer, and engineer, he cut his teeth in the Nashville and New York music scenes before settling in LA two decades ago. Known for his emotionally raw songwriting and cinematic Americana sound, Bon' Chance blends grit, heart, and a storyteller's eye.
Watch, Share, and Support
Watch “City of Angels” Official Music Video HEREStream “City of Angels” on SpotifyHERESupport the GoFundMe HERE
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Alex AshleyEminence Creative Group+1 (360) 527-6902alex@eminencecreative.org
Henry EshelmanPMG+1 (323) 337-9042heshelman@platformgrp.com
Bon Chance-Direct1+(646)-220-2462contact@bonchancemusic.com
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