Singing for Change
February 16, 2026
ISBN-13: 9781950561193
When a mass shooting shatters the lives of a journalist, an NBA star, and an LGBTQ activist who cross paths at an airport, their bond—and their healing—take center stage at an anti-gun music festival organized by Dutch, a reclusive '60s musician determined to turn grief into a rallying cry for change.
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"...Chico writer Emily Gallo (emilygallo.com) has charted the lives of a group of unlikely friends. Many wind up at Dutch Bogart’s former pot farm in Garberville. The reclusive Dutch, a former Sixties musician, lives on song royalties.
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Among the “motley crew” is Buster Fingerpickin’ McCracken, a famed blues musician now in his eighties. When Dutch gets a call from “Playing for Change,” a charitable foundation “trying to spread music for social change around the world,” the opportunity to make a music video along the boardwalk ignites something deep in him, and he’s able to persuade Buster to join him. That’s when Dutch meets audio assistant, Vivienne, a reporter for the Haiti Liberté, and he is smitten.