Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Streaming Concerts

HARTLYSS IS THINKING about having a livestream show this weekend. Everything is shut down, and other local artists are doing it. Why not? Sheryl set something up called Venmo, which means people can send in tips if they are so inclined. It's a great idea so we'll see if we can put something together.

A livestream show done on Facebook doesn't come remotely close to an actual live show. You can't replace the energy and the vibe. But it's still a good idea since the world is ending and we still want to play.

We have shows scheduled April 11 at Bricks in Hannibal and April 25 at the Tap Room in Quincy. Who knows if they will actually take place? I have a feeling the COVID-19 pandemic will last a lot longer than the end of this month, but we'll keep our fingers crossed and hope we can get back to a semblance of normal.

If you think this a liberal hoax and you don't think we should be inconvenienced and all the shut downs are unnecessary, fine. I'm not going to argue with you, especially since you know you might be wrong. But don't be like the older woman who came into the store Monday, didn't step one foot past the door, and asked if we had CD players. She then went on a rant about how it was all dumb and we didn't have to do it and nobody believes anything the World Health Organization says, blah blah blah. I stopped talking to her but she wouldn't be quiet - "I've had to cancel all the church activities and only 3 percent of the population will get this so why should we all suffer."

Finally Sheryl said, "Well, if you die from the virus consider it God's will." Two seconds later, Miss Inconvenienced was out the door. God wins again. That Baptist upbringing comes in handy sometimes.

Then there was the guitar student who had two free lessons. He missed his lesson last week and called two days later, saying he had to go out of town. Then he showed up for his lesson yesterday and said he wanted to cancel because of the virus thing. Wait. You are telling us this in person? You don't want to get infected and are "scared" of what's happening, yet you showed up IN PERSON and risked getting infected from us anyway? Please call and cancel if you feel this way.

Sigh ....

I've had several students decide to take the next few weeks off, and we not only understand but support the decision. We will credit them for the lessons and hopefully get back on schedule when this is over. But the majority of my lessons are still coming in. We are taking precautions, like staying back 6 feet, washing hands before and after lessons, and keeping the lesson room clean. Yes, I am actually cleaning it.

So we will make it through the COVID-19 pandemic. I may take weeks or months but in the end we will survive. We are here and we are safe and healthy, and what won't kill us will make us stronger. Literally.

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