A musical travel diary from COVID times
We can’t change that the pandemic is happening, but we can decide how we react and respond. Many have taken the past 24 months to slow things down, reflect on life, focus on personal development, and do some self-care. We were forced to re-learn valuable lessons. Lead with compassion. Buy and support local. Explore your own backyard. Avoid the 24/7 news networks, which have monetized anxiety. Unplug technology, or at least use it for good, not evil.
Think back to the first days after the pandemic was declared in March 2020. In our shock and fear, as many of us experienced “shelter at home” orders for the first time in our lives, we sought out comfort and connection. Millions, maybe billions, turned to music in an unprecedented way. Social media erupted with online performances. From the biggest stars in popular music to complete novices, who were learning to play and sing, all offered up their talents.
I have been always drawn to disruptors. To me these are folks who hear “no” and their brains process, “just watch me”. I love when innovation springs forth and we wonder how something so seemingly obvious evaded us for so long. Inspired by the call to plan staycations, and travel closer to home, I made it a personal mission to seek out cultural disruptors and experience their events. This is a travel diary of sorts and a toast to awesome “creatives” that deserve a brighter spotlight.
Heather Cameron Thomson is a healthcare worker and aspiring musician. She loves to make music with her talented husband and sons. On a whim she captured a few performances on her smartphone and uploaded them to Facebook to share with friends. She hoped this would bring some comfort and a break from COVID-19 fueled anxiety. One tiny spark can unleash a forest fire, and that is just what happened. Friends responded, sharing their performances with friends, who shared theirs with more friends. Heather created a Facebook page, the Ultimate Online Nova Scotia Kitchen Party, which instantly went viral. In just a few months, the page’s fanbase grew to 275,000 fans.
More than 23 million engagements have been logged with the 260,000 videos. Award-winning professional musicians like Johnny Reid and Jimmy Rankin shared the channel with musical families, aspiring songwriters, and stranded seniors. They performed for a swelling fan base at a time when visiting with neighbors and family was prohibited. True friendships grew. Relationships were seeded. Individuals in varying degrees of personal crisis found a lifeline and much needed interaction. The kitchen party continues to this day.
Gordie MacKeeman and Rhythm Boys deliver a blazing show for more than 100 national and international talent buyers in autumn 2020.
Bruce Guthro, an award-winning Nova Scotia songwriter and musician, has developed a very successful songwriter circle series. First piloted at the ECMAs in 1988, it grew into a nationally televised series and subsequently has been a sold-out success at Casino Nova Scotia for more than a decade. In addition to constantly building Bruce’s fanbase, the series has been a career booster for many other artists. Like every gigging/touring musician worldwide, Bruce’s career, touring and songwriter circles ground to a screaming halt instantly as the world declared states of emergency to battle COVID-19.
Bruce pivoted quickly and created a livestreamed series called “The Circle Continues”, shot live from his basement music room. Proving the pundits wrong on their theory that people loved online performances, but wouldn’t step up to pay, he bundled six shows into a series and sold the package for $120. His wife Kim operated a camera, son Dylan produced, neighbor Blair did a feature each show facilitating questions to the artists from viewers. Over the next 18 months, Bruce broadcasted 25 public shows, expanding to corporate clients as well, employing more than 50 musicians and industry professionals unable to perform and tour. His online shows reached thousands. Proud of his foray into digital broadcasting, he is happily preparing to return to live songwriters circles.
Shelley Chase and Stacey Read are musicians, agents, teachers, promoters and event organizers, based in Sackville, New Brunswick. The performing arts workforce was among the first to be disrupted by the pandemic, and will be among the last to recover, as Shelley and Stacey quickly realized. In Atlantic Canada, New Brunswick has had the hardest struggles keeping COVID under control, perhaps because of proximity to Quebec and the United States. Gathering restrictions in Atlantic Canada have been most strict and persistent in that province. Unable to perform themselves, or book their artists at other events and festivals, they decided to create a new festival. Who starts a festival in the epicentre of a global pandemic? Shelley and Stacey do!
Disruptors to the core, they innovated around mandates that said festivals were prohibited, when they realized boating was not. Erecting a 46-foot stage on a private shoreline meant that an audience socially distanced in boats on a lake was allowed. For the past two years they have staged an exciting and successful new festival at a time when many thousands of festivals across the globe have been cancelled. In year two, with more relaxed gathering restrictions, Levee on the Lake added a second, land-based stage, multiple venues around the community, more artists and even a small-plates-dinner concert, supporting local food producers. Attendance grew by 95 per cent in just one year, a sector-defying achievement, even if we weren’t still immersed in a global pandemic. The event has been recognized with nominations and event of the year awards by the East Coast Music Awards and Music New Brunswick.
Kitchenfest, now in its ninth year, is produced annually by a talented team at the Gaelic College in Cape Breton. Over the past 20 years, the distributed festival model has become quite common in Atlantic Canada, with the PEI Festival of Small Halls and the Celtic Colours International Festival being the gold standard. The pandemic changed the game. Small and nimble events became the most powerful and resilient. When thousands of large festivals were stalled by gathering restrictions, Kitchenfest was able to go ahead in both 2020 and 2021, because the shows happen in small venues across the island. Rodney MacDonald, Margie Beaton and their team staged a thriving summer festival, employing dozens of artists and technicians and thrilling thousands of music-starved audience members.
My wife Jennie and I booked off 5 days and headed to Cape Breton for concerts in St Annes, Louisburg, Margaree and Saint Peters. I have been going to Cape Breton my entire life, but never have I experienced it with such excitement and appreciation. I was travelling to a show again. Each venue was full, and the communities were buzzing with activity. For these few days, we were able to forget about the pandemic, and just enjoy performances and all that the island offers. The gratitude and adoration for the music in each of those shows was palpable. Each started with the emcee teaching the audience some Gaelic and performing a song or two, a powerful reminder of the rich heritage that has shaped Cape Breton music for centuries.
Music PEI was perhaps the first provincial music industry association in Canada to go “back to business”, hosting a music conference in-person in 2021. For 14 years, Music PEI has been hosting upwards of 30 regional, national and international talent buyers for their annual showcase event. The buyers represent festivals, theatres, record labels, talent agencies and similar layers of the music industry. Since 2008, it is estimated $4 million in deals have been struck at this annual gathering. A successful showcase can launch an artist’s career or take it to the next level. Executive Director, Rob Oakie and his amazing team defied travel restrictions and brought delegates from the other Atlantic provinces, as well as Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia.
It has been heartbreaking to see our venues shuttered, festivals cancelled, artists out of work, technicians laid off and communities impacted by the lost economic influx these events create. It was inspiring to see Music PEI step-up and ensure their artists were prominent on the mines of venues and festivals as they began to plan their post-pandemic shows and events. At any of these events, the opportunity for networking with colleagues is often as valuable as the discovery of new artists. The courage of Rob and his team to go ahead with their conference inspired Jennie and I to jump in our car and cross a provincial border for the first time in over a year.
Brookes and Fiona Diamond are two of Nova Scotia’s most experienced promoters, having presented hundreds of concerts, but none during a pandemic, until now. Working with Nova Scotia urban artist Luke Boyd (Classified), Brookes and Fiona gathered 5,000 grateful music fans at Halifax’s Scotiabank Centre on October, 1 2021. One can only imagine the complexities of producing a concert on this scale with constantly evolving and changing restrictions. Brookes shares the inspiration, “It seemed fitting to celebrate the job the people and government were doing to battle the pandemic. The lineup was fantastic and practically all of them know Classified in one way or another. The lineup came together very quickly.”
Spacing and masks aside, the energy in the arena that night was like no other concert I’ve ever attended. The evening started with a dazzling and emotional performance by Mi’kmaq singers and drummers Eastern Eagle. Seven brilliant sets by the east Coast’s finest lead to a blistering finale performance by Classified, with guest appearances by New Brunswick’s David Myles and Antigonish-born rockers The Trews. Artist Matt Andersen summed it up, “It’s been a really, really long break for all of us, and I’m excited to play in the Scotiabank Centre there for the first time.”
It seems so cliché to speak of “silver linings” and adventuring in one’s own backyard, but we did plenty of both and had experiences we will remember for a lifetime. Adversity is nothing new on the East Coast and we are innovators by nature.