SYDNEY MINES, N.S. — April and May were looking to be among the busiest in years for some local musicians and entertainers who make their living performing across Canada and around the globe.
But that all changed when COVID-19 emerged.
“I’ve been cancelled out,” says Boularderie-based entertainer Buddy MacDonald, one of Cape Breton’s busiest performers who is normally on the road most of the year. “It’s quieter at this time of year anyway but this March, April and May were looking pretty good. And now everything has gone.”
MacDonald tours most of the year throughout the United States, Canada and Europe, bringing his Celtic-tinged singer-songwriting skills and friendly demeanour to stages big and small. In the summers, he can often be found performing throughout Nova Scotia but now, all that is up in the air. So when he heard about what two other performers were doing to cope, he was happy to take part in their “Concert In Quarantine” series.
Like MacDonald, Aaron C. Lewis, a well-known country singer and musician and Kimberley Fraser, an acclaimed Cape Breton fiddler and pianist and music teacher, suddenly found themselves in a similar situation, seeing all their booked gigs cancelled and having to cancel in-person lessons. Fraser, who already conducted some online lessons, moved as many lessons as possible online so her students could maintain their playing skills.
But the lack of paying gigs was another matter so the two turned to technology to get that back on track. Fraser and Lewis have set up a series of online concerts, the Concert In Quarantine series, that allow anyone at home to see a performance, just by checking into their Facebook accounts. For Lewis, it was a modern solution to what has become a pressing issue for performers everywhere.
“When people are in need and they need benefit concerts, they look to musicians who are more than willing to help out for free,” says Lewis. “Now, the entire entertainment industry is in need — we never thought that would happen. So we’re looking for help and we’re offering our services still but online instead.”
“This allows people in quarantine to see shows at home,” he explains. “We’ll be holding them every Tuesday night.”
The most recent concert was a free event held on St. Patrick’s Day and thousands of viewers were on hand to hear the music. All you had to do was go to the Facebook pages of Buddy MacDonald, Kimberley Fraser or Aaron Lewis to link into the event, being held at Fraser’s Sydney Mines home. Although free, people watching the show were invited to donate to a virtual tip jar by either donating via an email transfer or through PayPal. A previous gig by Lewis at a local restaurant was shown last weekend to a good response and he will do another this Sunday at 4 p.m., but this time from his living room. He's even accepting requests.
“It gives people a little bit of hope in a scary time,” says MacDonald. “There’s so much response to this because it covers the whole world.”
Twenty five per cent of any proceeds from these and future concerts will go into a fund to help people behind the scenes who have also lost work because of COVID-19. This Tuesday’s event will feature respected Celtic pianist Mac Morin.
Lewis says he’s been working around the clock organizing the events and helping other musicians who may be planning on their own online events. He and Fraser hope there will eventually be a schedule of events available so the public can go online and see who’s playing that evening.
“It’s all evolving very quickly,” says Lewis and Fraser concurs.
“It’s a way for us to keep our incomes going and we’re trying to help others,” says Fraser.
“We’re all affected by this.”
