The gift of music

The band that bakes together, breaks together?

Costa Mesa band The New Limb are as well-known for their music as for their tradition of baking cookies for audience members at each of their gigs.

They’ve taken that benevolent spirit to the next level for their December residency at the Gypsy Lounge in Lake Forest, where they will be collecting toys for the Orangewood Children’s Foundation.

Attendees at shows tonight, and on Dec. 17, will be able to bring toys for kids; the toys will be dropped off by the band on Dec. 22, when they will perform a holiday acoustic set for kids in need of homes.

The New Limb’s members also will dress in holiday attire, sing Christmas songs and invite Santa over to play.

The band is composed of two brothers and their close friends, who all share a Costa Mesa home together — where they live, eat, rehearse and even record together.

Their name came from what could have been a tragic accident. Some of the members went camping with family in Joshua Tree and a cousin’s fingertip was severed in an accident.

One of the bandmates, the oldest in the group, took charge by telling the others to put the fingertip in a cup of milk while they went to the nearest emergency room; the “new limb” was successfully sewn back on.

The band got their big break as finalists at the Orange County Music Awards, and are currently recording their new album, which they hope to release by the end of the year.