Pitchfork

Most of those of us outside Seattle never heard of John Spalding, but the former Raft of Dead Monkeys frontman made an impact on the people who knew him. Spalding died of cancer last November, and now Seattle's indie rock scene has come together to mourn him and to raise money for his wife, who's been stuck with his chemo bills.

Over the next couple of weeks, local musicians will play three different benefit shows in Seattle. Tonight, January 21, Damien Jurado, former Pedro the Lion frontman David Bazan, and See Me River will be at Chop Suey. On Sunday night, January 25, These Arms Are Snakes, Elephant Rider, and Weekend will be at the Cha Cha Lounge. And January 31 will bring MXPX, Amber Pacific, and On the Last Day to El Corazon.

As this story tells, Spalding spent the last years of his life working on a project called LoveLand with Minus the Bear keyboardist Matt Bayles. The Beautiful Truth, the first and only LoveLand album, is out now. It includes guest appearances from former Pretty Girls Make Graves frontwoman Andrea Zollo, Minus the Bear singer Jake Snider, and members of These Arms Are Snakes, Blood Brothers, and Botch. All the proceeds on sales of the album go to Spalding's widow.