The Music Will Not Be Muted, Part 1

By Bryon Knight, Special to the Neighb News

I happen to be a Musician, a Guitar Technician and I own a little music shop… which is, by Governor’s mandate, closed. I’m married to a Nurse (somebody had to make some money). She is my heroine. She leaves home and family every day to enter people’s homes to make sure that their new babies are healthy and doing well…. At some personal risk, I might add. As you might expect, she is quite familiar with disease protocol so our family is mandated from within as well… and… she is still working.

I played music for a living for many years and have always taken comfort in knowing that if I can’t get work anywhere else, I can always play music for a living.

A musician has been defined as: Someone who puts $10,000 worth of equipment into a $2,000 car and drives 100 miles to play gig for 50 Bucks!

While that may be cliché, It also points out that musicians LOVE to play. We need to play. It is a part of our very being. It’s the lucky ones who get to play for a living… that is… until now.

There have been cancellations of concerts, festivals, weddings and private parties. Add in the closings of every club, pub, bar and coffee shop, and you have out-of-work-musicians. 

No, they’re not gonna run rampant through the streets looting and pillaging. (They’re not that energetic)

But they have bills to pay and families to feed (and so many dogs and cats!). So do the music teachers who, due to social distancing, cannot hold classes or even one-to-one lessons. There are also innumerable “Garage Bands” who cannot assemble, therefore, possibly stifling the creation of the next BIG THING.

The current “Big Things,” the national and international recording artists and entertainers are home-bound and not working.

Even at a local level, there are full-time musicians who are solely dependent upon these venues to make a living. There are many more part-timers who usually have “day jobs,” and, thanks to COVID-19, some of these jobs are considered non-essential… you know… the barbers, department store clerks, salespeople and music store owners.

This compounds the impact for them as they suffer a “Double Whammy” to their financial stability.

In keeping with Social Distancing, I messaged a few of my musical customers and friends to see, specifically, how they are being impacted.

The youngest artist that I corresponded with was Giuliana Amaral. At age 17, she is the lead singer and Bassist for a Led Zepplin tribute group, “Band Inc.”. 

She had this to say: “This has impacted, immensely, musicians all over. Including myself… All booked shows were canceled due to this and…hopefully when things get under control and back to normal people will go out and support them by attending their shows.”

Dave Charnley is a friend and musician who performs with the band, “The True Neckers,” at several venues including the Bayside Lounge where he heads up the open-mic night on Sunday evenings. He offers the stage to professionals and novices alike and had this to say: “My main concern is the economic impact on the enter­tain­ment scene as a whole. This quarantine is probably going to go longer than we think. Yes we are losing gigs but the clubs and restaurants are taking a huge hit. Live local venues may be so financially strapped that gigs already booked may get canceled even after the quarantine is lifted.” Dave continued: “Even worse is the concern that some venues may go out of business as a result of loss of earnings.”

I texted Kenny Motta, a veteran musician: “The players that rely on the income are being hit hard right now and could really use that stimulus money as well the venues that support them.” The money that Kenny referred to is the $1200 per adult and $500 per child that the government will be sending in the next few weeks or months. This is provisional upon the amount of income that was filed last year. Many musicians get paid in cash.

Susan Sylvia has been a fea­tured perform­er for years. She’s played most venues along the South Coast and beyond. Her thoughts: “My piano duo with Dave Grew, “Somethin’ Else,” normally performs 6 to 8 times per month. Due to the Corona virus, our last gig was on March 13. Currently we have had four gigs canceled but anticipate that additional cancella­tions are likely. I have to say that both Dave and I intensely miss performing at local venues. We miss our loyal following and meeting new people who love live music!…Since performing supplements both of our incomes, we are mindful of the financial impact that the ban is having on all musicians, bar/club owners and their employees. While we fully support the need to curtail the spread of the virus, we just miss music!!”

Long time re­gional musician and band, Johnny Barnes and the NightCrawlers suffered the canc­ella­tion of 2 gigs with “Vanilla Fudge,” an inter­na­tional Rock group: “Those kind of opportu­ni­ties don’t come along very often”, says Barnes. “The Vault Music Hall (Show) has been moved to July 9th… The Reservation (Show) was canceled. We have dates still on for April 24th at The Jetty in Marshfield and May 8th at The Glen Cove Hotel at Onset Beach that haven’t been canceled… we have our fingers crossed.” 

Carolyn Wingate is a teacher, for over 30 years in public schools, and she teaches music to youngsters as well. Carolyn performs regionally and had this to say: “I think part of the difficulty of dealing with COVID-19 has been in fully acknowledging that this is not as temporary as I might have thought. As a teacher, my lessons have gone online but I worry about my students’ emotional struggles to deal with all the unknowns. Children can usually find comfort in the fact that adults at least appear to know what’s going on and how to proceed — but regardless of age — we are all struggling to do the best we can in unprecedented times.…it must be absolutely daunting for many of our children to be in a learning mode without their peers and teachers.”

Another staple of the local music scene is James Gagne: “Yeah all of my gigs have been canceled which sucks and weddings are starting to cancel too.” Gagne counts himself lucky that he plays music part-time while providing IT and marketing services to local businesses: “But even that is taking a hit due to working with a lot of restaurants and whatnot and seafood places.”

Most performers at the national and international level have a financial cushion… but the sound guys, the lighting folks, the numerous riggers and technicians, the ticket takers, the t-shirt hawkers and the concession workers are all at risk.

These folks are not the only ones experiencing difficulty throughout this crisis. There are countless members of our community and across the nation who are doing their best to make the ends of their finances, knowledge and sanity meet.

My ole’ Pop used to tell me: “When you get to feelin’ low… just look down. You’ll probably see somebody lookin’ back up.” And I’ll add: “Give ‘em a hand!”.

Yes, I’m southern… but what he was trying to say was: No matter how bad things get, there are others who may be dealing with worse.

With so many, world wide, who are sick and dying, we can say prayers, meditate or just show empathy for our fellow humans. We can do our best to not expose anyone to anyone else who might be in contact with someone who is vulnerable to this disease. Yea, it works like that!

We must, as a community, look for the good in this situation. It IS there…

• Citizens in China can see blue sky above their large cities because of less smog.

• The waterways in Venice are clearer than they have been in decades because the Gondolas are not stirring up the silt.

• A necessary trip to Boston is easier and faster due to much traffic.

• We are spending quality time with our family and pets.

• I get to spend time writing, practicing and even learning a new instrument.

Next week we’ll find out how these seven musicians are coping with the virus, the lack of work and quarantine. 

Until then…Stay safe and stay healthy.

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