Pitchfork

In an effort to raise funds for a friend, Fiona Apple will join Jon Brion on stage at his favorite Los Angeles venue, Largo, on March 5 and 9.

Apple's production manager, Gordon "Gungi" Paterson, was diagnosed with cancer last summer, and to lend a hand with the financial burden associated with his treatment, Fiona, Brion, Dave Palmer, David Garza, Nickel Creek's Sean and Sara Watkins, and more will perform at the pair of benefits. Proceeds will go to Gungi and his family.

"Gungi is one of those people that you just love, really actually LOVE, within five minutes of meeting him," Apple wrote on her official website. "As you may know, I am a girl prone to low days. I don't know how many times I got to soundcheck in a grumpy, nasty, teary rut, and when I saw Gungi, all nearly seven feet of him, across the empty theatre, and we waved to each other and he asked me how I was, I immediately got a jolt of life...His face is a pep-talk!...His eyes are HUGS!...

"He's my friend. I love him. He's helped me a lot when I have been in trouble. Now, he is in trouble, and I want to help him...If you can come to either of the shows at Largo, they should be pretty fun...and if you don't come, then maybe you'd like to donate 5 bucks or something...whatever you decide, I thank you, for being there for me, for giving a damn, and for making noise and for listening."

In related news, Jon Brion will play a one-off show at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago on March 9.

As previously reported, Apple will join Common and the Shins' James Mercer on mtvU's Fulbright-mtvU Fellowships committee. The Fulbright is a Department of State-sponsored program which allows college students to study abroad for a year while doing research on a project of their own design.

The aforementioned artists will lend a hand in awarding this year's batch of Fulbrights to four students who wish to "study how music can serve as a global force for mutual understanding."