Laurence Jones live from a rehearsal room in Leamington Spa. No ticket, no pre/post-gig travelling, beer from the fridge. This is the future of live music (the near future anyway)
The ban on live music is going to cut deep into the hearts and pockets of musicians. There are already some great ideas coming out though. Laurence is using streaming to give his new band some practice – although judging by the show they don’t need it, a very palatable version of Rory’s Bullfrog Blues just went down as I write. Is there a way that musicians themselves can get people to pay up front for a live stream concert? Pay via by PayPal to access a Youtube Livestream for example? This could be the way to go for a while.
Mike Zito flew back in from the UK after cancelling a barely started European Tour that would have brought im to Bonn on Sunday. He had an automatic 14 day quarantine to look forward to in the USA and immediately decided to make a ‘Quarantine Blues’ CD. Mike has been blogging putting down his backing tracks and will send them to the band members to put their tracks on seperately. Cleverly, Mike has set up a site to donate to the disc (and help pay his band and crew) on gofundme
Mike Zito has already raised enough on ‘gofundme’ to finish his disc
Closer to home progressive jazzers Jin Jim have followed the lead of Laurence Jones and will be streaming a concert from the Blue in Green Recording studio in Kessenich on Saturday, March 28, at 8 PM.
Local Record Store Mr Music has also closed its doors for a while (I know, it shouldn’t be so, music is the best medicine and the chemists are open!). How can you help make sure that the shop which re-opened not so long ago stays open after Corona is gone? There’s sadly no online store BUT you can order music by emailing info@mrmusic.com. Bernie will send you an invoice and send out your order on payment. You can also order gift vouchers via the email address – and maybe help even more by not redeeming them (I’m sure Mr Music will sign them for your wall as a thank you!)
Hopefully, the big stars who have to cancel shows will waive their fees for them, but for Mr and Mrs ‘talented but not playing arenas yet’ that lost income can be critical. My suggestion here is that If you bought tickets for a show then hold on to them instead of asking for a refund.Well, not just my idea, check out #Aktion TicketBehalten for more information (in German). You can also show your support by purchasing some music online – preferably via the artists’ own website. Order a T-shirt while you’re on their website too. Every little helps.
Finally, if you are planning a Livestream or have a wonderful idea how to get live music to the people in the coming weeks then drop 3songsbonn a line at 3songsbonnATgmx.de and the information will go online here.
Stay Happy, Stay Healthy, and keep enjoying music while you do it!