The t-shirts sell for $35 (USD) here and all the proceeds go to MusiCares, a charity that provides the music community with a support system of services, including physical and mental health, COVID-19 relief, addiction recovery, unforeseen personal emergencies, and disaster relief. MusiCares also focuses the resources and attention of the music industry on human service issues that directly influence the health and welfare of the music community.
The Rock and Roll Project blog will highlight an artist or member of the music community every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Among the participanets to date are David Ellefson of Megadeth, Andy Rourke of The Smiths and actor/musician Fred Armisen.
Distortion Unplugged was launched in 2018 by Brooklyn, N.Y.-based concert photographer Dana Distortion and is operated with Berlin, Germany-based tour and production manager Nora Shazlin.
"When Dana reached out to me with the idea of The Rock and Roll Project, I knew I wanted to jump on board,” Shazlin said in a press statement. “I have been a great supporter of Dana’s work and brand and I was excited about the prospect of working together with her on this charity effort to help a community that is so close to home. Our aim is to reach out to as many people who are able to help contribute to the project and in turn touch as many souls to make a difference, no matter how small. Saying that, over here we only strive for big things, always!"
Distortion and Shazlin see The Rock and Roll Project as an opportunity to build an infrastructure and database for the music community to connect and raise awareness of issues that affects its health. Further plans are in the works.
“This pandemic has hit all of us hard, and in different ways,” Distortion said in the release. “But sitting around and waiting it out was just not an option for me. So I came up with an idea to bring a smile and some hope to help us get through all this. And my idea was not only to share stories of some amazing people in the music community, but also to do something that may help some people out financially in this strange time.”