In my previous blogs I have written about attending the Derry Jazz festival. It is a major event that happens in Northern Ireland and we have always been invited to perform. In my last blog, I talk about how a good positive outlook can get us through this pandemic. A few people said that I did not mention my life playing in my band Wild, but I wanted to keep my feelings on live music within a separate blog such as this.
I have been very lucky with the opportunities that I have had with Wild. Music keeps us all going in some kind of form, wether it is playing our favourite album, listening to the radio or hearing it on our favourite tv program. We also get excited about tickets to see our favourite artist, so I do not buy into that the music industry is falling apart. It is true that we no longer get the pub gig, but there is a reason for that. Most of the local pubs were struggling before this pandemic and having a band is another expense they could possibly do without. My point being, we get our music from other places.
Change we must if we are going to have the chance to perform as musicians. Since the pandemic, facebook has been a wash with live performances. It has been incredible, from Bruce Springsteen tributes, singer song writers trying new tracks and solo rock n roll shows. These musician are now performing to bigger audiences than they were in the local pubs and more people are interested. Only last night, I was listening to a friend perform a whole set of Elvis tracks from his living room. I really enjoyed the show and so did fifty other people. With all that said, has Wild changed the way we now perform? We still have shows booked in the diary for this year, but who knows whether they will happen.
I was really disappointed to find out that we wouldn’t be going to the Derry Jazz festival this year, but I was then really excited to be asked to perform virtually. This of course presented itself with a few problems, but we were up for the challenge. Zoom has become the new trendy way of talking in groups, but playing music is impossible because of the delay and lag that the internet has. We managed to record our parts separately and then with a little magic editing, it all came together. The performance is due to be shown on the 10th May 2020 at 11pm. You can access this through the Derry Jazz festival website on the day, but I will make it available at the end of this blog once the day has passed.
Like everybody, I have no idea what will happen, but if we do not welcome change, we will deprive the arts of some very talented musicians.
Thank you for reading, Keep safe!
“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore”