More than a decade has passed since what's been dubbed the "Tucson Shooting" — the Jan. 8, 2011, mass shooting targeting U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in which 6 people were killed and Giffords and dozen of her constituents were injured. In the time since, such incidents have sadly not become more rare and the survivors of violence and homicide grow in number daily, here and across the country. And while music alone is not a lasting solutions to systemic problems, it's pretty damned good at helping us process feelings of rage and loss and helplessness and despair and overwhelm and the sorts of things survivors feel in at least some small way every average minute of every average day of the rest of their lives. If music can raise some money in the process, so much the better. That was the idea behind the first Luz de Vida compilation, organized in the wake of the Giffords tragedy and it's what fuels Luz de Vida II, a follow up compilation released by Fort Lowell Records late last year and formally celebrating its vinyl release this Saturday at a live show on the Hotel Congress Plaza. The event features a number of Fort Lowell Records recording artists including La Cerca, Naim AMor, Soda Sun, Tracy Shedd, Kitimoto, Young Mothers and JPW and benefits local nonprofit Homicide Survivors, Inc.
