L.A. indie label Blue Élan Records – home for acts like Soul Asylum, KT Tunstall, Ozomatli, Chris Shiflett, Aaron Lee Tasjan and Jesse Dayton – is proud to support UCLA Health Operation Mend – a program dedicated to providing free specialized medical and psychological care for our nation’s post 9/11 warriors injured in the line of duty, and their caregivers. Label co-founders Kirk Pasich and Connor Pasich, and Dana Katz, Operation Mend’s Board Chair and founder of its Buddy Programs, jointly announced the separate release of two albums of both covers and originals featuring artists including America’s Gerry Beckley, GrammyⓇ-nominated blues artist Janiva Magness, the Outlaws/BlackHawk’s Henry Paul, and more. Operation Mend: Hope was released on April 26, while the second album, Operation Mend: Hope 2, is available tomorrow, November 8. To celebrate this newest installment, a special evening in New York will take place just after the Veteran’s Day holiday on Tuesday, November 12 at Café Wha? with labelmates, Red Wanting Blue, Morgan Myles, Bryan Stephens and Ginny Luke. The label’s proceeds will benefit Operation Mend.
For every purchase of the Operation Mend tribute CDs from April 5, 2024 through December 31, 2025 while supplies last, Blue Élan will donate $2 to the UCLA Health Operation Mend Patient Care Fund. Minimum donation $5000.
As a UCLA alum, Kirk Pasich became aware of Operation Mend several years ago via Dana Katz, who sat next to him at the school’s basketball games. Blue Élan has a history of supporting worthy causes, raising funds for the Alliance for Children’s Rights and the Chino Valley YMCA’s holiday drive, inspired by rock ‘n’ roll and roots music’s ‘60s pro-social roots.
“The idea came together very quickly,” explains Kirk Pasich, whose father was a World War II veteran. Recalling getting a draft card when he was a teenager, but not being called up to serve in Vietnam, a war that took the lives of several classmates, he adds “This isn’t about being pro or anti-war, it’s about helping people.”
Echoes Katz, "When Kirk came to me with the idea of Blue Élan putting together this beautiful project for UCLA Health Operation Mend, I almost had an out-of-body experience. It’s so rare to have someone say, in essence, “I see what you’re doing and I’m going to help you,” and to ask nothing in return.” Katz continues, “This music, and these artists, and Blue Élan will help warriors and caregivers across the nation learn about and access the free specialty medical and psychological care Operation Mend provides so they can heal and move forward with the lives they deserve to live. We can’t wait to see how it all plays out. (Pun intended!)"
“This is a very worthy cause,” says Connor Pasich. “We ask a great deal of our people who fight overseas. Operation Mend doesn’t just provide physical and surgical care, but psychological, too. And they work with the caretakers… spouses, family members, medical personnel, which gives them a broader scope than most of the organizations in this field. These people need our help. They shouldn’t have to suffer the consequences of serving their country.”
After hearing from those who attended USO shows by the late jazz clarinet player Woody Herman (Kirk Pasich served as chairman of the Woody Herman Foundation, an early donor to MusiCares), the Blue Élan co-founders realized the role music played therapeutically in helping veterans recover from their injuries and their trauma. As Kirk Pasich said, “Music is an important part of the healing process, and this project for Operation Mend allows us to bring all those elements together. It’s all about increasing Operation Mend’s visibility on a national level. Whatever spotlight we can shine on this important task.”
Operation Mend was established in 2007 by UCLA alums Ron and Maddie Katz as a partnership amongst UCLA Health, the military and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The pioneering program’s original focus was to utilize UCLA’s world class expertise in plastic and reconstructive surgery to restore the faces of service members who had suffered severe disfigurement in the line of duty during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Operation Mend’s care for physical injuries quickly broadened to include specialty injuries impacting the entire body, and since then the scope has widened to include intense treatment for the invisible wounds of war: PTSD and traumatic brain injury.
Operation Mend Tracklist:
1.Anchor– Resonance
2.I Will Always Love You– Morgan Myles
3.That’s Rock ‘n’ Roll– Bryan Stephens & Liz Brasher
4.The Road Goes on Forever– Daniel Allen
5.Under the Gun– Piper Hayes
6.Sweet Surrender– Kirk Pasich Project (feat. Colin Devlin)
7.This Love– Kirk Pasich Project (feat. Bob Gentry)
8.Diary– Bryan Stephens
9.I Shot the Sheriff– Bernie Barlow
10.Winter of Disguise– Kirk Pasich Project (feat. Taylor John WIlliams)
11.Doolin-Dalton– Mustangs Of The West
12.People Still Believing– Colin Devlin
13.Lawyers, Guns and Money– Red Wanting Blue
14.Janie’s Got a Gun– Mary Scholz
15.Pack It Up– Sam Morrow (feat. J.D. Simo)
16.Dead Flowers– Liz Brasher
17.(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace,Love & Understanding– Chris Berardo
18.Time Is Tight– Kirk Pasich Project
