Local musicians throw benefit concert for Gilroy shooting families

It has been nearly two months since a shooting at the Garlic Festival rocked the City of Gilroy and the Central Coast.

On Friday, a local musician in Salinas put on a benefit concert for the families of the shooting victims, and he is doing it partly because he also experienced tragedy in his own life three years ago.

Salinas musician John Turri unexpectedly lost his mother three years ago partly to ALS, and he says that experience has made him more sensitive to his own emotions and to the grief others are experiencing.

“I think we’re all kind of aware that grief is a part of life and we’ll lose loved ones, but until you go through it, it doesn’t really resonate the same,” said Turri.

For Turri, music plays a big part in how he expresses his grief to others and to himself. Ever since the shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival at the end of July, Turri has been trying to keep the thoughts of the victims and their families alive.

He organized a benefit concert at the Beerded Bean in Oldtown Salinas on Friday night, where he and a few other local musicians played for a crowd.

“Just because we may not be impacted by it anymore, there are still people who have lost loved ones, three people passed, and they’re suffering every day,” said Turri.

Turri says a portion of the money raised, from coffee sales to concert tickets, is going directly to the families of the victims. The people who came Friday night also gathered for a moment of silence and a candlelight vigil.

The names of the victims – Stephen Romero, Trevor Irby and Keyla Salazar – were read aloud.

“The fact that it happened so close definitely made me feel more vested in it,” said Marisa Christensen, a Monterey musician. “I think it’s important to read the details about that, and just hearing how young the victims were really hit home.”

“Reminding the community that, hey, I know that we’re hurting. We can still have togetherness like this,” said Turri. “Music is a very universal thing, everyone can connect with a song.”

And for the music that is played, bringing people together over a lost loved one or a tragedy affecting an entire community, just goes to show that grief can be overcome, but never forgotten.

Turri also tells KION he wanted to show Gilroy that there is still a community outside of town that still cares.