In response to the record breaking flood that forced its way through the homes and lives of nearly 17 counties in Colorado in early September, a group of industrious music industry folks have joined forces to put together what may be one of the best independent music compilations of 2013. Featuring such legionary names as Furthur, Widespread Panic, Umphrey’s McGee, Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers, Slightly Stoopid, The Original Meters and Railroad Earth as well as locally based acts Big Head Todd and the Monsters, The String Cheese Incident, Leftover Salmon and Yonder Mountain String Band — organizers hope that music fans around the country will join fundraising efforts for the cost of a $15 download. 

Aptly named the River’s Rising: Front Range Flood Relief, the three-hour download will feature art by Scramble Campbell along with 28 live tracks donated by the artists to help aid the enormous fundraising efforts needed to help get Colorado back on solid ground. While the damage is still being accessed, catastrophe modeling firm Eqecat has already projected losses for residential property at about $900 million alone, with most of the overall losses affecting the uninsured. With communities scattered throughout Colorado still needing assistance, the project aims to help bolster fundraising efforts, and national awareness, to what has been named one of the largest catastrophes in Colorado history. 

Co-produced by music industry leaders Tony Hume and Annabel Lukins, the team swiftly joined forces and their respective rolodexes to call the music community to action to help bring assistance to their neighbor’s far and wide. “I’m doing this for our state, for our people” explained Hume.