University of Pacific record label releases benefit album for Sonoma County fire relief

Students from the University of the Pacific created a new album dedicated to fire relief for their collegiate neighbors, students at Santa Rosa Junior College.

Pac Ave Records, the student-run record label, released the album "Rose Gold: Songs for Sonoma" on April 13 with proceeds from the sale of the $10 CD to be donated directly to benefit students affected by the October fires through the Santa Rosa Junior College Fire Relief Fund.

The compilation album

features student artists singing Grammy songs of the year from the past decade, including Lorde's "Royals" and Adele's "Hello."

"The devastation of the fires in Sonoma County hit very close to home for us [as] two students from our Conservatory lost their homes," Joe DeMars, a UOP senior who worked on the album, wrote in an e-mail. "From that moment, we decided pretty quickly to pledge all the proceeds to some non-profit that would be helping with relief efforts."

One of the students who lost his home in the fires was Connor Devlin, who recorded the Lorde hit for the album.

An 11-member band alongside three faculty members were joined by more than 30 students to help put out the nine-song CD, the sixth album released by the student-run label.

The album was so well received, venues in the San Joaquin County area are booking the singers for shows.

"In a lot of ways, 'Rose Gold: Songs for Sonoma' became our way of showing solidarity for fellow Northern California college students in a difficult position," wrote DeMars.

To help crowdfund the effort, visit http://go.pacific.edu/SongsForSonoma with all proceeds going towards the SRJC Fire Relief Fund. The album can be found on Amazon, iTunes and CDBaby.

Read more about the album here.