Musicians are scrambling to find ways to replace lost gig revenue. Most of us are focused on live streaming as the new Mecca. There’s so much to learn regarding turning that into a viable replacement for live shows. For International Jazz Day, Herbie Hancock and friends made a valiant effort to put together a show that would rival their past celebrations, but it lacked the synergy created with an audience in the room. The Global One World: Together At Home concert hosted by Lady Gaga fell, in places, similarly a bit flat for me. I’m a storyteller. I’m in love with words and communication. I love to perform. I love to commune with an audience. I love the feeling of creating a beautiful moment outside of time and place, outside of all of our daily worries and struggles. A place where we can meld and that joy, that commune, doesn’t always translate via the screen. All of these lockdown videos we are currently inundated with, featuring the musicians in separate spaces, often lack pathos. If the possibility of performing live continues to evade us we will have to be innovative in our approach and find new ways of connecting through that screen.

But as regards paying the rent, we’ve got options.

Writing songs on commission.

Since lockdown, I’ve been approached by several supportive fans who want to commission a song or a poem for a friend or family member. I’ve written on demand before but it has no way been a huge focus for me to pursue as a source of income; suddenly it has become a reliable resource. Currently, people are looking for a way to celebrate or commiserate with their circles. Graduations, birthdays, anniversaries and the like cannot, obviously, be celebrated in the former fashion with a gathering of all your people cheering you on, so hiring someone to fete your favorite person seems to have become a thing. Downwrite is one site that connects songwriters and clients, and SoundBetter is another. Let your fans know through your social media that you are available. It’s a fantastic way to maintain that personal connection with the people who love your music. While researching for this article I came across these musicians at cool wave session.com have gone the distance and set up their own platform to advertise their services.

Online Session Work

Marco, pianist and co/composer, collaborates with me on both Hippie Tendencies as well as NoteSpeak. Maestro Cremaschini is doing really well for himself as an online session musician. His favorite is Airgigs where he established himself before lockdown and where he has seen a marked increase in requests since we’ve been holed up. Currently, he’s trying to amp up his presence on SoundBetter as well. As long as you have a home studio and put it the time pimping your profile with all of your best work there are gigs to be had. You can also involve, as Marco does, your band family when requests require more than just your instrument. Everyone wins!

Music Educator

Marco and I were lucky enough to have two regular resident gigs every week before the seismic shift, I realize how rare that is, it allowed us to tour less frequently and have a steady paycheck which our original music does not always provide. Like so many musicians we also occasionally teach, we’ve raised our game here and taken our students online. Marco’s got a sweet set up with a camera over his baby grand and his computer to the side with an app that connects them both so students can see his hands as well as his face during Zoom or Skype lessons. I would again suggest reaching out via your social media letting people know that you’re available for lessons as well as posting on your website. Everyone’s got time on their hands and learning or improving one’s musical skills has been popular here in Italy and apparently in America as well. If you don’t have a student base not to worry. Maestro Match, a brand new platform created by bassist Steve Whipple, (Toshiko Akiyoshi, Lady Gaga), has popped up to fill this demand that matches teachers to students.

LisaMarieSimmons.com