How the BellRays, Chris Thayer and other musicians are adapting to the Covid-19 crisis

photo by Carlos Puma

Over the past few years, many music consumers have gravitated toward listening via streaming services instead of buying physical products. So recording artists have had to rely more on touring income than ever before.

But after non-essential businesses, including concert venues, were ordered closed due to the pandemic, musicians had to suddenly find additional ways to reach their fans.

The rise of social media already saw artists interact with their followers to a varying degree. Now they have been ramping up activities on their socials - ranging from chats, acoustic performances (Niall Horan, Melissa Etheridge, Rufus Wainwright), and karaoke-by-request (Robbie Williams) to full-on chat styled shows (The Alarm’s Mike Peters) and livestream events on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitch and StageIt.

San Clemente, Calif. pop/rocker Andrew McMahon read his young daughter’s favorite bedtime stories on Instagram, did a performance, some drink mixology and spun some of his rare songs on YouTube. Rick Springfield presented a Guide to Songwriting Collaboration, created several humorous short clips and hosted a Happy Hour on his socials. Meanwhile, another SoCal act, Riverside’s Alien Ant Farm, did a Zoom hangout.

Superstar musicians who can weather the lack of touring income are often doing social media events for free or charity organizations, while independent artists might request some type of fee (Rhett Miller, Robyn Hitchcock).

Riverside soul/punk group The BellRays (pictured above), which just celebrated their 30th Anniversary, had a scheduled tour in Spain booked. The cancellation was “a huge hit for a band my size,” said singer Lisa Kekaula, who performs with guitarist husband Bob Vennum and two other members.

“None of us make money for shows we had booked in advance for months. This is how we pay rent, eat, etc. and it hurts,” Kekaula admitted. The band’s American tour, slated for May-June, is likely affected too. “It will be hard on a lot of musicians.”

Bob and Lisa have done spirited live performances on Facebook and Instagram.

“Since we (originally) started out as a duo, we figured we would take the stance that ‘the show must go on’ - especially now,” said Kekaula. “We found that this really helps the fans’ morale and anyone else that might need a pick-me-up. We have a virtual tip jar to help cover some of our expenses. We want to help fans and (they) want to help us. We are very fortunate.”

The pair plans to continue the informal online performances.

“These live shows are our new normal, I think. It felt weird at first, but once you see that the people are glad to see you and grateful for us and we for them…it seems like we have been doing it forever. I don’t know if I will ever stop now. It is a whole new way to have a show.”

BellRays enthusiasts have been willing to contribute to the band’s virtual tip jar.

“Our fans have been the best. I never would have thought we meant as much as we do to them. It makes me emotional thinking about it. We keep the show very upbeat and take requests...I am floored by the amount of comments and shares we get. Our fans are having ‘watch parties’ with friends that may not know us as well. This is a great time to be on social media for this. I feel needed.”

With any luck, the BellRays’ Summer European tour will be able to continue.

“We plan on staying the course with our online shows,” said Kekaula. Right now, I might need it more than my fans as I have a purpose everyday to entertain, even if it means distracting a few people from this new reality. I do not take what we are doing lightly.”

courtesy of Chris Thayer

For Redlands’ Chris Thayer, who leads long-running blues band Chris Thayer & the TCB (pictured left), the pandemic “pretty much brought us to a grinding halt. We were finishing up our new record, which was going to be released on vinyl and digital. That's now on hold.”

“All gigs have been cancelled or postponed, including the Temecula Blues Festival,” he said.

“Even filming music videos for the new album has been shut down. It's been particularly frustrating (and) feels like one step forward, two steps back.”

Thayer has done solo Facebook Live performances from his studio. The response to the first one was “so great that I felt obligated to continue doing them. I think people genuinely look forward to them. It helps them get through this in some small way...It doesn't seem like I'll be stopping anytime soon.”

The singer/guitarist doesn’t charge anything. “I'm not really doing it for any sort of financial benefit,” he said. “I'm incredibly fortunate (to be) in a position that I don't necessarily need to. There are countless musicians that need that revenue just to get by. I don't want to take potential dollars away from them.”

Since January, Thayer has been preparing a new podcast, Fix It In the Mix, which “looks at the realities for folks trying to work in the music business. We recorded a majority of the episodes before the outbreak. We hoped to give people a better understanding of just how difficult it is for many of their friends who work in the industry. Now those difficulties have grown exponentially. Many of them are just trying to survive at this point.

“If you've ever thought about supporting one of your artist/musician friends, now is the time,” Thayer urged. “Buy their CD. Send them a tip during their online performance. Subscribe to their Patreon account. You might be, in a very real sense, the lifeline that helps them keep afloat.”

A version of my feature ran in the spring issue of Balance, a SCNG custom publication and various SCNG newspaper websites.