I’m a full-time, professional musician of 25 years, based out of Central New York. For approximately 20 of those years, I was a side man for the band Los Blancos, then later for Jess Novak Band and Dark Hollow, and throughout, I led my own trio, The Intention, simmering on the back burner.
Fortunately, around five years ago, I began curating my solo show in earnest. This show features an extremely wide range of genres, including original music, accompanied by alternating piano, accordion and guitar. No loops, just live playing.
I say fortunately because, unknowingly, I became uniquely positioned to weather at least the first phases of the ravaging of the live music industry by governmental policies related to Covid-19. I’ve been blessed to be one of the lucky ones. From the very first week of the lockdown, I began streaming live, eight shows per week from home, as the demand was robust. Over the next several weeks, I slowly tapered the number of shows to meet the decline in demand until, finally, the Pandemic Assistance kicked in for me.
By May, I started playing outdoor, live shows as permitted, growing my schedule from two or three times per week, to four, five, or even six times per week for all of August and September. However, while I would rotate regularly between playing 35 venues for a total of over 225 shows per year before the advent of C-19, I am now down to five or six venues that I play regularly. Some venues refuse to hire me because I play “too much” in my home community. But what am I to do? I have a 10-year-old daughter and an 87-year-old father. True touring went out the window for me years ago, and at this point, it’s a matter of survival in order to support my family (and my mortgage).
However, soon it will become too cold to play outdoor shows, and I face real uncertainty now that Pandemic Assistance has been shut off. I could try to stream from home again, but this time it feels so different, and I don’t believe that I’ll have the success that I had the first time around.
Further, I stand with my many, many fellow music industry professionals who have not been as fortunate as I, (other musicians not positioned to perform solo shows, including orchestral players, rhythm section players [bassists and percussionists], educators, etc.), not to mention stage crews, production managers, and venue owners. The list goes on and on.
Society tells us that a career in the arts and especially live music is unlikely, and therefore there is a perception that there are very few of us who are full-timers. This clearly is not true. I’m astounded by the number of arts professionals who have been left alone in the dark, unable to ply their craft, affectively not allowed to work, and with no further assistance from state or federal levels.
This latest blow to our industry, (“incidental only” live music which cannot be “the draw”, [a degrading slap in the face], no ticketed or even advertised shows [complete lack of understanding of the industry and in direct contradiction to the need to control audience volume], with the consequence being that venues will get their liquor licenses revoked), have become the final nail in the coffin for some, and a call to action as activists for others.
From the beginning, Governor Cuomo said that cautious reopening would be guided by science and the numbers (of active Covid cases). Since we have reopened, the state-wide active cases have fallen to and remain below 1%. Outdoor activities of any kind have proven to have extremely low infection rates, especially with masking and distancing, while schools and movie theaters are about to reopen, gyms have reopened (where people breathe heavily and sweat in close quarters), and places like Wal-Mart and Lowe’s have never closed. These are all indoor locations, and all are many multiples of times more dangerous than any outdoor event could ever be.
It’s impossible to not feel that our industry has been unfairly and irrationally singled out and punished.
Further, it seems that the governor’s actions are very decidedly aimed toward conditions in NYC. There is SO much more to NYS than the city. I perform at working barns and other beautiful outdoor venues with not a neighbor in sight, with plenty of fresh air and space to spread out.
We have all done our job as proven by the science and the “numbers”. Please, let us work, let us safely reopen, and #Let The Music Play.
Mark Nanni, Syracuse, NY