These are the best of times for Echosmith as the upstart band will have one more great memory to store away this May when they take part in the inaugural Rock in Rio USA Festival. The band was on hand Thursday (March 26) in Los Angeles to help add to the promotion for the event by joining Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda as the first two acts to sign guitars as part of a Rock in Rio / Music for Relief charitable partnership.

At the event, it was revealed that the eco-friendly festival -- which has done much over the years to aid social and environmental projects -- had decided to partner up with the Linkin Park charitable organization Music for Relief. The combined goal of the partnership is to raise funds for reforestation of more that 350 acres in California's Shasta-Trinity and Angeles National Forests that have been damaged by major forest fires over the last few years.

"One hundred percent of the proceeds are going to tree planting throughout California. And the tree planting is happening in wildfire burn areas. So it's a really fun project for us [be]cause it solves both of our goals. It's tree planting in areas that have been struck by a natural disaster and then it's also improving the environment," revealed Music for Relief's Whitney Showler.

Rock in Rio CEO Luis Justo added, "We are very, very proud of the relationship that Rock in Rio is doing with Music for Relief, a really serious and important non-profit organization … and we are really proud to be launching an action initiative. And we are really proud to have found the perfect partner to start our social activism here in the U.S."

To kick off the initiative, Echosmith joined Shinoda in a photo opportunity as they all signed guitars that will eventually be auctioned off to raise funds for Music for Relief. Showler revealed during the press conference that the guitars will be auctioned at charitybuzz.com/RockInRio and on site at the Rock in Rio USA VIP Area with all the money going to the reforestation project.

Shinoda told Diffuser afterward, "This event and this collaboration for Rock in Rio is really a product of having met these guys and done some shows with them and hit it off to a certain degree. I wanna say they're the first music festival to approach Music for Relief as a charity partner so we're very grateful for that."

As for Echosmith, guitarist Jamie Sierota spoke about the importance of giving back and what it means for the band. "I think it's important for bands, and really anyone with a platform to do. Not so much that it feels cool to do it, but more that I feel if you're able to share things that you're passionate about you're kind of obligated to do so," he says. "And for us, we've always wanted to do that. Any missions or things that we feel are important that we want to share, it's always been a big thing. So it's really cool to be involved with Music for Relief. We're learning more and more about it and we're really honored that Mike asked us to come and be a part of this press conference."

Rock In Rio USA will take place over two weekends, with Echosmith playing the Pop weekend May 15 and 16 that also includes Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, Sam Smith, Empire of the Sun and John Legend among others. Linkin Park will be part of the Rock weekend with Metallica, No Doubt, the Pretty Reckless, Foster the People, Gary Clark Jr., Bleachers, Smallpools, Deftones and more.

For more information on Rock in Rio USA ticketing and lineup information, click here, and to learn about Music for Relief's efforts, check out their official website. If you want to bid on any of the signed guitars, be sure to visit charitybuzz.com/RockInRio.

Music for Relief / Rock in Rio USA Press Conference

Whitney Showler Echosmith Mike Shinoda Luis Justo
Chad Childers, Diffuser
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Echosmith
Chad Childers, Diffuser
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Echosmith
Chad Childers, Diffuser
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Echosmith
Chad Childers, Diffuser
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Mike Shinoda
Chad Childers, Diffuser
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Mike Shinoda
Chad Childers, Diffuser
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Mike Shinoda
Chad Childers, Diffuser
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Luis Justo
Chad Childers, Diffuser
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Whitney Showler
Chad Childers, Diffuser
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