For Artists, Coronavirus Hits Bottom Line

Performances in the immediate future are disappearing left and right. The prospects of other performances weeks or even months away are uncertain. For musicians and other artists who count on these events for income, the coronavirus outbreak has already taken a toll.

Cancellations

“I just lost 14 out of 31 gigs for March, so far [at] health care centers courtesy of COVID-19,” wrote area musician Shawn Taylor. ​“I lost another 2 days being sick myself (not CV). That’s a mortgage payment, two car payments, a student loan payment, and a week of groceries. April will likely follow suit and potentially May too. (So many unknowns.) As a contractor there is no unemployment. I guess I picked the wrong week to break my MacBook!

“Have music, will travel and looking for gigs,” he continued. ​“Also looking for temp day work, for the first time since becoming a full time musician 12 years ago. Available Monday through Friday (for a limited time only … I hope). I have a degree in creative writing, have been booking myself and doing PR for 12 years. I’m also a carpenter, I’m good with a brush, I’m a hard worker and a fast learner.”

Taylor was far from alone. Cancellations and disruptions from the coronavirus outbreak have had a near-instantaneous effect on performing musicians.

“Just lost the parade after party at Christopher Martin’s,” wrote Jeff Blaney; his group, the Blaney Brothers, was supposed to play traditional Irish music at the New Haven steakhouse after this weekend’s parade, which has been postponed. New Haven-based musician Isabella Mendes ​“had a gig cancelled this week, private party.”

“I was supposed to record … at different universities this weekend,” wrote musician Logan Sidle. ​“Now they have all been closing, and two of my projects are now delayed.”

Fran Block often plays music in nursing homes in the area, but not right now. ​“All nursing homes are in lockdown until further notice,” she wrote. ​“No visitors. No music programs. No work.”

Performances that were supposed to happen a few weeks from now are also disappearing. ​“We lost a gig in the end of March and I am waiting for the next shoe to drop on a gig at the end of April,” wrote Norman Plankey, who plays in New Haven and across the Northeast regularly.

The cancellations extend to regional and national festivals that affect area musicians. South by Southwest, an enormous music festival and conference in Austin, Tex. isn’t happening this year. The New England Folk Festival, which was to happen at the end of April, has been cancelled. Balkan Music Night, which draws New Haven musicians to play at it nearly every year, ​“just cancelled,” wrote musician Melinda Fields. ​“They have run a festival continuously for 35 years — until COVID-19.”

The Northeast Dungeon Siege, a festival of synth music in Worcester, Mass. in which New Haven musician Adam Matlock is a participant, ​“used to have an Italian headliner, and that’s no longer the case,” Matlock wrote.

Uncertainty

Matthew Peddle’s band Private Language ​“wanted to support our new EP this spring/summer, but it looks like we’ll be back in the studio until things clear up,” Peddle wrote. ​“The likelihood of not going to shows is going to be a bummer too.”

The possibility that more events will be cancelled into the spring has artists, promoters, and concert organizers in limbo. Photographer Leigh Busby was scheduled to take pictures in April of wrestling trials for the Olympics. ​“Just wondering … if they are canceled,” he wrote. ​“No word yet.”

Charlie Shafer organizes a series of concerts called Fire in the Kitchen in Madison. ​“On the edge about cancelling a show March 21,” he wrote. ​“Don’t want to jump and cancel too soon, especially if it’s not necessary. Lost revenue for the band and for whatever charity we pick to benefit. But, we need to make up our minds before the band hits the road. Almost wish the state would tell us to cancel so I’m not stuck with the responsibility of over or underreacting. Even if we run the show, how many will show up?”

Jennifer Hill, who organizes the state-level, multi-genre art festival SWAN (Support Women Artists Now) Day Connecticut in Hartford, wrote that ​“I have not gotten any disruptions but I’m trying to decide if whether or not I’m still going to put on SWAN Day Connecticut. Usually we have quite a bunch of tickets sold by now and so far we have none sold. It’s not worth it for me to pay all the money for the event if no one will come because of fear.”

Anthony Braxton, a leading light in the experimental music scene in New Haven and internationally, is scheduled for a performance at Big Ears, a national-level weekend-long festival in Knoxville, Tenn., in April. That performance involves several New Haven-based musicians who regularly play with Braxton. The festival organizers so far have not cancelled the festival, but as they’ve written in their official statement, ​“the safety of festival attendees is our top priority and we will make prudent and thoughtful decisions as the situation develops. We will, of course, follow the guidance of health professionals and public officials. We believe that all decisions related to producing the festival should be rooted in facts, not fear…. We will of course be continuing to watch the situation as it develops and will certainly keep you informed of any significant changes that may occur.”

New Haven musician Seth Adam so far hasn’t had any gigs cancelled. ​“I am terrified if I do experience any because that’s how I make a living,” he wrote. But reading the news also has made him take a step back. ​“I just read about Pearl Jam canceling their tour. I’m not worried about them. I am thinking about and feel concern for … the road crew, the truck drivers, the refreshment stand workers at the venues, etc. Those are the lower wage folks affected the most.”

What To Do About It

Musicians facing certain and uncertain loss of income are figuring out ways to adjust, even as they know some income can’t be recovered. ​“I am moving my lessons to online, but not much to do about gigs,” wrote Isabella Mendes, who also discussed the possibility of live-streaming a performance and asking viewers to send them money through PayPal or Venmo.

Norman Plankey echoed that sentiment. ​“I’m thinking about taking/giving Skype lessons — maybe there will be a big boom in that field?” he wrote.

“Tough times for artists!” Mendes concluded.

In a deeper sense, the disruptions from the coronavirus outbreak just underline the persistently precarious nature of trying to make a living through the arts, which some musicians are meeting with a sardonic sense of humor. ​“I had a gig cancelled yesterday, 12 minutes before I was set to start. But it was because of a painting class, and not a dangerous virus,” wrote musician Christopher Bousquet. ​“The general public has been avoiding my gigs for years thanks to this darn virus,” wrote musician Conor Perrault, tongue firmly in cheek.

Shawn Taylor, who lost half his scheduled gigs this month, was also able to take a longer view. ​“They are doing the right thing in listening to the science,” he wrote about the various organizations cancelling performances. ​“I just hope Congress will do the right thing to help everyone affected, and not just their friends or cherry-picked industries.”

“And, on a positive note,” he continued, ​“my family and I are healthy, we’re together, we’re not locked in cages, we have health care, our house is standing, my wife’s job is safe, our drinking water is clean, our surviving kale is regrowing, I’m on a writing spree, and we will weather the storm.”

New Haven-based musician Istvan B’Racz echoed this sentiment. ​“Even if the outside world is crap,” he wrote, ​“cocooning in one’s creative space is always good.”