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LA Supes honor local band The Bricks
L.A. supervisors honored Angeleno music troupe The Bricks with a proclamation Tuesday. The group was formed by L.A. County's Human Relations Commission a couple years ago, and includes eight young adults who sing about the issues affecting Los Angeles' youth.
Other bands might focus on club dates and music festivals – but not this one, said Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas as he presented a proclamation with the band’s name emblazoned in an ornate scrollwork.
The band has toured campuses and probation facilities throughout L.A. County, performing their tracks and engaging in discussions with other youth about social issues including race, sexual orientation, gender.
High-profile music producers and songwriters are helping the group polish its songs for a CD it plans to release next month.
Outside the board chambers, band members couldn’t take their eyes off the scroll.
"It’s great to be able to get a presentation like this," said singer and lead guitarist Anthony Gutierrez. "[We] never would have thought this would happen but it’s happening. It’s so awesome."
Gutierrez added it’s hugely rewarding to be part of a band whose only goal isn’t to get on the latest TV talent show.
"What we do as a band is we raise that little hope that’s out there for the homeless, the neglected, the child that doesn’t have his father at home," he said. "And we give that little hope and we make it something big so they can feed off of that."
He and other band members are busy rehearsing for a high-profile show on Saturday. They’re scheduled to join dozens of performers for the L.A. County Holiday Celebration at the Music Center in downtown Los Angeles.