by Elisa Brown-Zuckerberg, Founder of HearItThere.com
Don’t get me wrong I love hanging out at my local venues and hearing my favorite musicians perform live in-person, but this pandemic forced me and all of us to seek our entertainment in other ways. For me it’s predominantly through live-streams; Facebook, YouTube Live, Zoom, and so many others media sources.
It’s been a blast on so many levels! The listening audience has been able to get a glimpse of creative people admitting to getting stir crazy, needing an audience and seeking an outlet to share their music. It’s clearly noted when they continuously look at who is watching, reading our comments (which we like!), and taking our song requests.
Thanks to social media and the various streaming sites I was able to “attend” a house concert in Georgia (thank you @ConnArtists and @Pamnation), weekly shows at a live music venue called Tim’s Tavern in Seattle, a weekly “visit” to Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, even a live show in Israel!
ConnArtist & Pamnation “House Concert”
Humor and the unexpected!
Thanks to live-streaming I’ve watched Tommy Shaw from STYX sing “Fooling Yourself” to his doggie, Bela Fleck and Abigail play their banjos and sing with their children wearing silly hats, have gotten up-close and personal with the Indigo Girls! I’ve seen Rufus Wainwright’s daily streams on Instagram sitting at the piano wearing a robe. Other musical treats included projecting Jorma Kaukonen’s livestream on our big screen and watching his magical craft close up! (Watch a clip below.)
I’ve cooked up a whole host of meals while enjoying concerts and also been serenaded by jazz pianists while drinking wine and dining thanks to the Jazz Forum!
Fred Gillen Jr. singing and some super yummy tacos.
Others I’ve really enjoyed watching LIVE include: Angélique Kidjo, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Finn (Crowded House), Bonnie Raitt, Shawn Colvin, Elyza Gilkyson, Jesse Terry, David Broza, David Wax Museum, and the list goes on! Heather Pierson’s very special Monday piano performances and musical meditations are also such a welcomed pleasure. Aside from all these recognizable artists, I’ve been thrilled to see many of my favorite local musicians share their livestreams too on our sister page/group @Stream It There! I miss so many of them!
JORMA KAUKONEN on YouTube ~ April 4
Live-streaming has provided so much music discovery!
I would have never heard of Reggie Garrett (& the Snakeoil Peddlers – one of my favorites) from Seattle and a whole gamut of mind-blowing world music from the Silkroad Project (YoYo Ma co-created), nor enjoyed the continuous flow of awesome Dustbowl Revival videos from live from Los Angeles.
Obviously, these experiences are missing something. It’s short of interaction, missing the satisfaction of humans gathering and sharing the joy of music alongside other music-loving souls, however, it’s ok as long as it’s temporary. And it IS temporary!
In my opinion, there’s also positives. We can get up close and personal, in real-time, and in some ways, the live-streams are more interactive.
Of course, there are areas of improvement when one cannot be in the same room! In some cases the sound isn’t quite right, the video transmissions can be glitchy. But I’ll live with it for now and hope you are all taking advantage of what all these hard-working artists are offering us!
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Thank you musicians for continuing to entertain us!
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With this in mind, when all these musicians ask for support, I try to, and if you’re in a position to do so, please do too!
Want to see what I’m seeing?! Go to our page HiT Blog for links to a bunch of upcom
ing live-streaming events and music resources!
Any thoughts or great stories to tell about your live-streams, please email: elisa@HearItThere.com I’d love to share! Photos, video and/or your story!
