SEATTLE — The Black Tones have been called Seattle's most exciting up-and-coming band. They were all set to play SXSW and other festivals, but now front woman and guitarist Eva Walker can't even get a gig in her hometown.
"Live performance is everything to me," she said. "Being onstage is just glorious and the fact that I don't know when that's going to happen next is a nightmare."
King County bars, dance halls and clubs are all closed until the end of the month. It's a good way to fight the outbreak of coronavirus, but it's not good for local musicians who rely on gigs to pay their bills.
That's why concert organizers Artist Home have started a virtual concert series called "Songs of Hope and Healing," the brainchild of Kevin Sur.
"I think we're talking about a total shutdown," Sur said. "And for musicians, the biggest risk for them is they're living almost month to month, working every gig they can to make ends meet."
The Artist Home website links to live performances. Audiences can watch the performances, give the musicians a tip via PayPal or Venmo and buy merchandise.
Most musicians are playing from their homes.
Not Jason McCue. The alternative folk musician performed Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released" from the front seat of his Toyota Corolla somewhere in Wyoming.
"Yesterday I had to make the decision to cancel the second half of the tour I'm on so I'm currently driving back home to Seattle from Denver," he said. "It just sucks. It really sucks."
When he gets home McCue could add his name to Artist Home's Virtual Music Teacher database for students who want to spend this social distancing period learning an instrument.
The idea, says Sur, is to help keep musicians afloat. The hope, he says, is that there will be venues around when the music starts up again.
"I don't know a single venue that isn't the risk of closing right now," he said. "They're just really having an incredibly hard time."
Eva Walker says her KEXP DJ job will help her get though the shutdown, but she worries about her musician friends.
"I don't know when the light at the end of the tunnel is going to shine through," she said. " And that scares me the most. I don't know when it's going to be over."
