Bay Area band Cake supports reforestation campaign
Cake is celebrating Earth Day and Arbor Day 2021 in highly appropriate fashion.
The Sacramento-born alt-rock act, known for such hits as “The Distance” and “Never There,” is teaming with the nonprofit environmental group One Tree Planted to launch a new reforestation campaign.
It’s called #CAKEforests initiative, and the goal is to “help raise much-needed funds to plant trees, sustain healthy communities and help to restore the environment in three U.S. regions devastated by last year’s wildfires,” according to a news release.
“Humans evolved alongside trees,” says Cake vocalist John McCrea. “What we are has to do with them, and we eliminate them only at our peril.”
The initiative will focus on areas impacted by the 2020 wildfires in the band’s native California as well as Oregon and Washington.
“Trees are beautiful and majestic,” says Cake multi-instrumentalist Vincent DiFiore. “Their regal stature undoubtedly gives them a monumentlike quality. Cake is pleased to be associated with the continuous efforts to help restore forests, communities and the work to support urban green spaces that disperse heat and filter pollution.”
The band is asking people to donate to the cause through a dedicated website (cake-forest.raisely.com/ donate) to help restore these precious forests and habitats. Each dollar donated will translate to a tree being planted in one of three reforestation projects — California’s Slater
Fire Restoration, Oregon’s Replanting Within Canyon Mountain Fire Complex and Rail Fire, and Washington’s Cougar Creek Wildfire Reforestation. All three projects are reportedly set to be completed by the end of the year.
“When you plant a tree, you are planting hope while also mitigating the effects of global climate change,” says Cake lead guitarist Xan McCurdy. “Replenishing existing forests and woodlands depleted by deforestation, clearcutting and wildfires is vital.”
One Tree Project has reserved 16,000 trees to be planted on behalf of the #CAKEforests initiative in 2021 in each of the three regions. Donations surpassing that total will be used for 2022 reforestation projects.
“Artists can have an incredible positive impact for the planet, and we’re honored to have the support of Cake, and their community of fans, contributing to reforestation efforts for forest fire recovery,” says Diana Chaplin, canopy director (marketing, communications) of One Tree Planted.
Besides helping out the environment, Cake is reportedly currently working on a new album — which would be its first full-length offering since 2011’s “Showroom of Compassion.” That previous outing, Cake’s sixth overall, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard album charts.
Fans got a taste of new material from the band in 2018, when Cake released its first new original song in seven years — “Sinking Ship” — with all streaming/ download proceeds from the track benefiting Doctors Without Borders.