MUSIC MUSIC TO HELP PETS

By matt king

If you enjoy live music and want to help animals in need, you really need to go to the A Cause for Paws benefit show in Wonder Valley.

Six local music acts are coming together at 6 p.m., Saturday, May 13, to benefit two local nonprofits that help animals, the Animal Authority Rescue Team (AART) and the Animal Action League (AAL); all of the profits will be evenly split between the two agencies. The event at the

Palms Restaurant is being organized by punkband Sticky Doll (Greg Gendron and Cynna Luchia).

This is not the first event Gendron and Luchia have put together to help animals.

“I’ve had rescues my whole life; I have a real soft spot for animals,” Gendron said during a phone interview. “I come from a farm in a small town in Washington state, so I grew up with animals, and I’ve always had rescues myself as an adult living out on my own. When we moved out to the desert, I saw what went on up here—and people dumping dogs. The animals-in-need thing was just so in my face.”

In 2019, Gendron organized his first animal benefit—solely for Champion, a dog that was shot in the face and abandoned in the desert.

“That was so insane and just angered me to no end,” he said. “Being on Facebook, I belong to all the pet groups, and I’d already seen so much bullshit up here, and when that happened, I was just like, ‘Oh my God.’ Doing that (benefit) was so awesome, and it was fun, and we raised a lot of money to really help this dog.”

The event, hosted at Gadi’s Bar (which became AWE Bar before closing), featured eight bands. The event flier featured a brutal image of Champion’s wounds.

“I used that really graphic picture of him, and I think that really made people go, ‘Whoa,’” Gendron said. “It really made people want to help. As opposed to going, ‘Oh, this is an event for the Morongo Basin Humane Society … this one was like, ‘Oh my God, this dog was shot in the face; he needs help.’ I think it really tugged on everybody’s strings a lot more than the other ones. That one raised a lot of money, around $1,500.”

In addition to Sticky Doll, A Cause for Paws will feature Van Graceland (an Elvis impersonator), Hot Patooties, The Sibleys, The Hawk Messengers and The Yes-Go’s. Every artist is donating their time and talents.

“In a perfect world, I could donate tons of money, and my girlfriend is always saying how she’d love to have a big sanctuary,” Gendron said. “Well, we live paycheck to paycheck like most do, and I’m not making any money playing in a band. It costs us money to play