After school tutoring program 826LA asked its students to write songs and then brought in local bands to sing and record them. On March 6th, 826LA is hosting a release party at the Echo for the Chickens in Love album written by its students and performed by She & Him, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Crystal Antlers, among others. The release party starts at 1PM, with live performances by The Submarines, Summer Darling, The Happy Hollows, The Growlers and other special guests. Echo Park salon The Hive and the Grill ‘Em All Food Truck will be on hand during the party to provide punk rock hair do’s and amazing food. Vote on the 826LA website for your favorite song by making a pledge. The pledge-a-thon will continue through April 30th.

In December, we put together a songwriting workshop with local band The Submarines and students wrote their own songs under the guidance of the band and local volunteers. A group of some really amazing bands (including She & Him, Fiona Apple, Crystal Antlers, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, and Dum Dum Girls) got involved with the project and recorded covers of the songs the kids wrote, keeping them as close lyrically to the original version as possible. The end result is an unbelievably fun record with tracks like “Mexican Food”, “Boring”, “Am I Going Crazy?”, and “Jerk Anthem”. All of the profits from the release will go to 826LA, which keep our workshops and after school tutoring programs free for the community.”

For more information, visit 826LA Chickens in Love website.