Love Songs On Sale; Soul City TV Coming Soon

The local government announced yesterday that a mandatory closure of all bars and restaurants would be enforced as of midnight. Earlier in the day, I reached out to cancel my last two remaining gigs at Nola’s. In a way, it’s a relief to know that I can’t be faulted for opting out of my gigs this month, but it doesn’t do much to offset the anxiety about all the lost earnings. Like most musicians, I rely on public performances - and while my work is cancelled, my bills are not.

So! Mike and I have two ideas - one little, and one big - that, fingers crossed, might help us make ends meet in this incredibly strange time.

First, I’m making all my love songs 15% off. It’s something you can buy and receive without leaving your house, and it might be a nice distraction, filling out the questionnaire and recalling happy times with your loved one. I don’t know exactly when this sale will end, but I’ll keep it going at least until I can get back to playing gigs again (and who knows when that will be…?).

Secondly, the big idea: my husband has, coincidentally, been working for weeks on plans to live-stream concerts from our home. He’s been testing it out every night, and the audio is really, really good. He’ll be hosting his first broadcast on Saturday, March 21 at 9pm ET, at SoulCityMusicCoop.com. I’ll be taking over the following broadcast, which we have yet to schedule, but will most likely be the following weekend. Music has this brilliant power to temporarily stop time, push all other thoughts away, and give us relief from our unending trains of thought. We’re hoping that you’ll tune in to relax with us, and leave us a tip if you enjoy what you hear.

Other small things you can do to help us and musicians like us: stream our music. Watch our music videos. Call in to your local radio stations and request our songs (we get royalties for radio airplay; CBC spins can be as much as $27 per spin). Tune in to our live streams and purchase tickets to our future events, where possible. Let us entertain you while you’re stuck at home.

Personally, the last time I left the house was Friday, to finish filming my music video. I’m thinking it might be out very, very soon! I’m expecting to get a cut of it any day now. I’m so glad to have something exciting to look forward to.

Now, with all these practical things out of the way: I have been struggling to write this blog post for several days. I’m learning that I get a lot of my energy from outings, errands, being outside, walking around. I feel completely drained being stuck inside, and have no energy for even the most basic housekeeping. I’m also really struggling with the nature of this pandemic, because viruses have long been some of my deepest fears, and I’m afraid that this is just a taste of the future to come, especially as the impact of climate change begins to manifest. Like most of my fears, they are worse at night. I want to escape, and there is nowhere in the world I could possibly go. I want it to be over, and I have no idea when that will be.

In the light of the day, I try to comfort myself with the fact that this is a unique time in history, when every single place in the world is dealing with the same challenge, working together on the same problem. We are one great organism, and no matter where you take our pulse, our heart is beating the same blood. It’s lovely to be united, and I hope we can remember this when we feel hopeless about the big changes we need to make around the world in the coming years.