Look who’s back! After more than a month of downtime, your go-to source for local arts and entertainment is back in the publication saddle once again.
It’s definitely been a weird time for all of us, especially when with the snap of a finger, sports events, concerts, theater productions, and public events took a back seat in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
For Whatzup, there wasn’t much to write about throughout all of this, but I feel we’ve held our own on social media. Luckily, a number of local musicians had the same idea and created livestream performances, proving uncertain times call for innovative measures. While people were home self-quarantining, they had the pleasure of sitting in front of the screen and catching these artists performing from their living rooms and occasionally from local establishments.
Sure, you may have not gotten the full “club experience,” but you still got to take in the music, enjoy a cold beverage, and even dance on the couch if you chose to. Heck, you even had the luxury of adjusting your own volume.
Some of the performers that have taken part in the livestreams thus far include Kyle Haller, Left Lane Cruiser, Adam Baker, Jon Durnell, Pan Man Dan, Sunny Taylor, Love Hustler, Hubie Ashcraft, Dave Latchaw, The Band Brother, Overlook, Ross Kinsey, Debutants, and Grateful Groove. These livestreams are good for everyone involved; we get to enjoy music while the artists get to do what they love and make a little money as well with virtual tip jars.
With the chance to make a little dough, I’m not sure why more artists didn’t take part. Why not get a little reward for your talent?
In addition to these livestreams, a few others took the time to give back as well. The Downtown Improvement District kicked off “Lunch on Your Couch,” a weekly series of Facebook concerts during the lunch hour throughout the month of May. Performers for the series included Jon Durnell, Sunny Taylor, Mike Conley, and Joe Justice.
Then, there’s Riff of the Day, a Facebook page where local guitarists would play a riff from a well-known song that viewers had to guess. It’s a creative way to pass time and a great display of all the talented shredders the Fort has to offer.
In addition, 89.1 WBOI’s Meet the Music kept us in tune with the local talent as well as Alicia Pyle who set out to help raise money for local freelance musicians impacted by the shutdown.
Hats off to our local scene for stepping up and keeping us entertained. I think we can all agree that music serves as an incredible outlet in our lives and this is especially true during a time like this.
Going forward, I’m sure some artists will continue to do livestreams as we transition into venues hosting live music again. I’m already seeing bands and venues adding live music on their calendars. All I can suggest is to make sure to tune into Whatzup for all the latest.
