{"id":6885,"date":"2020-04-07T19:33:27","date_gmt":"2020-04-08T02:33:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/venturarocks.com\/blog\/?p=6885"},"modified":"2020-04-08T19:13:23","modified_gmt":"2020-04-09T02:13:23","slug":"ventura-rocks-in-the-ventura-breeze-4-8-20-4-21-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/venturarocks.com\/blog\/ventura-rocks-in-the-ventura-breeze-4-8-20-4-21-20\/","title":{"rendered":"Ventura Rocks in the Ventura Breeze 4\/8\/20 – 4\/21\/20"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ventura Mus\"Venturaic Scene<\/strong>
\nby Pam Baumgardner
\nVenturaRocks.com
\n<\/span>Pam@VenturaRocks.com
\n<\/span>
\n\"Breeze<\/a>As incredible as it may be, Ventura\u2019s music scene is keeping its preverbal blood flowing. I\u2019ve been watching so many live streaming events, where you can purchase to view and some where you can make a donation to the \u201ctip\u201d jar. Our artists and musicians are doing what they can to keep our scene alive. For this column, I reached out to a number of musicians and asked how they\u2019ve been dealing with the Stay Home order.<\/p>\n

Shawn Jones Singer\/Songwriter<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

How is the Covid-19 Stay Home order affecting you as a working musician?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>Shawn:\u00a0 Well, for the next half of the year all my work is gone. Everybody is in lockdown mode and all of the clubs all over the world are closed as well as outdoor events so there you have it. I had four international trips booked in Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Costa Rica, Ireland, Hawaii, Seattle, and local gigs that are all gone. It\u2019s impacting me pretty severely.<\/p>\n

Is there an upside to this?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shawn: There is an upside to it in regard to things slowing down, having a chance to reflect, a little bit of writing here and there, inventing new ways to create and to share your music, getting things done around the house, etc.<\/p>\n

But the downtime is also filled with chasing down new ways to make money in the music industry and looking into COVID-19 bills that have passed and grants that are possibly available for musicians and freelance gig economy people. Before we were never counted in and now, we are because of this horrible pandemic we are finally being recognized as a working class of people that have rights as well.<\/p>\n

You have a new record ready to release, right?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shawn: Well I was supposed to be doing a release in Liechtenstein for the new vinyl that we did that included Sam Bolle on bass and Gerry Morgan from Ireland on drums. It\u2019s a live album from our studio live session at Little Big Beach Studios in Liechtenstein. That will have to come out in the fall at this point if everything goes well.<\/p>\n

Additional thoughts you\u2019d like to add?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shawn:\u00a0 My heart goes out to all of those that are suffering right now so that\u2019s kind of more the important thing on my mind and being responsible in my actions and staying self-quarantined.<\/p>\n

I am also doing a lot of writing and trying to cut it close to the heart as possible and get to some very thought-provoking topics and issues for the next project which will come out when I am ready and since I am independent it\u2019s when I\u2019m ready instead of when the record company tells me I need to release it, so all I can say is it will be sooner than later!<\/p>\n

ShawnJonesMusic.com<\/a>
\nFacebook.com\/OfficialShawnJones<\/a>
\nInstagram.com\/ShawnJonesMusic<\/a>
\nTwitter.com\/ShawnJonesMusic<\/a>
\nYouTube.com\/User\/ShawnDJones<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Kelly Zirbes, singer\/songwriter of Kelly\u2019s Lot<\/span><\/h1>\n


\nAre you and Perry (Kelly\u2019s Husband and Guitarist for Kelly\u2019s Lot) still working a day job?<\/strong><\/h1>\n

\"photo<\/a>Kelly: Perry is still working. He is finishing up a post-production sound on the new Ghostbusters movie. He can do that from home and meets with the team on Zoom for updates.<\/p>\n

How\u2019s the Covid-19 Stay Home order affecting you as a working musician?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kelly:\u00a0 We have switched gears and started planning, arranging and writing a new record featuring songs from the Facebook Word Challenge that I have been doing for a couple years. Fans give me a word and I write a song in 2 hours. I miss playing with my band but a new CD is nothing to complain about. I am blessed.<\/p>\n

Do you find an upside to this?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kelly: No, not with all the fear, sadness and suffering. I don’t mean to be negative, but live music helps so many and creates a community that is missing right now.<\/p>\n

What are you doing to fill the time?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kelly:\u00a0 Just writing more songs and checking in with people. We feel blessed that Perry is still working so we have reached out to those who are not working now and have helped in different ways. We all need to look to the left or look to the right and see who beside us who is hurting and do something to help.<\/p>\n

Add anything else you’d like to share.<\/strong><\/p>\n


\n<\/strong>Kelly:\u00a0 If you’d like to help a local musician, just think about who you loved going out to see in your local pubs and reach out to them. Maybe they are doing an online concert or selling CDs on their websites. Maybe they need to hear from their fans, maybe they need financial help. If you are working and okay, maybe help someone who is not. \u00a0I’m sure they would really appreciate it!<\/p>\n

www.facebook.com\/KellysLotMusic\/\u00a0<\/a>
\nwww.Kellyslot.com\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Dan Grimm, Singer\/Songwriter & owner Carbonite Sound<\/span><\/h1>\n

Are you still working your day job?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>Dan:\u00a0 Hell yeah I am, and I’m surprised! When I took the job at Lynda.com<\/a> to start the tech support team for online learning, I didn’t think I would be there long \u2013\u2013 I thought I would sign a new artist contract and be writing for an artist or touring within the year. Amazingly, 14 years later, my love for the technological evolution of human learning has never been stronger. I’m having some Deja vu these days because when the economic bubble burst in 08′, Lynda.com<\/a> skyrocketed with people needing to learn new skills to survive.\u00a0 Linkedin acquiring Lynda.com<\/a> was unexpectedly awesome, and I am proud of how many people’s lives we have helped improve with the\u00a0massive platform for learning.<\/p>\n

But sadly, the music industry as a trade has been demolished over that same time frame. Streaming services have become disastrous, live venues pay 1\/10th the money they used to, and while people still value music so greatly \u2013\u2013 there isn’t the same class of fair pay for work you see in trades like plumbing, electricians, and carpentry. I’m actively working to try to change that using every platform at my disposal, and I think every musician and industry person should be too.<\/p>\n

How’s the Covid-19 Stay Home order affecting you as a working musician?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dan: I miss my band and playing in\u00a0front of a live\u00a0audience so\u00a0much.\u00a0 At the same time, it’s good for me because I have to focus on\u00a0writing and getting solo\u00a0demos\u00a0for license instead of taking gigs. On the bright side, there is<\/em> still a growing need for music behind all that streaming content most folks are binge watching. Plus, if you can’t find material to write about in these interesting times, you shouldn’t ever complain that Bob Dylan, Crosby Stills and Nash, Neil Young, or anyone in the 60’s had more things to address in their music. I’m hopeful songwriters are taking advantage of a powerful moment in history to channel powerful concepts into song.<\/p>\n

Tell me how this all is affecting the studio.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dan: It’s a mixed bag, the part of our revenue at Carbonite Sound<\/a> (formerly Brotheryn) that comes from recording live bands is paused, fortunately, we have been so busy over the last 6 months with TV, movies, bands, and various sound\u00a0projects that there is a lot of mixing, mastering, and cleanup work that can be done in isolation. This could go on for longer than we can guess, and we think it’s time we look at ways we can pivot with the post pandemic shifts that may occur. On that\u00a0note, we\u00a0think we have a few good ideas in the works and I’m really excited to see what we can do to improve the things we offer artists, industry, and audience.<\/p>\n

www.facebook.com\/dansgrimm<\/a>
\nwww.facebook.com\/carbonitesound<\/a>
\nwww.carbonitesound.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Karen Parkhouse, Singer\/Songwriter of The Barrelhouse Wailers<\/span><\/h1>\n

Do you work a day job?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>Karen: I don’t work a day job, but I volunteer teach choir at Balboa middle school, so that\u2019s obviously not happening at the\u00a0moment. My husband is still employed and works from home.<\/p>\n

How’s the Covid-19 Stay Home order affecting you as a working musician?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Karen: Covid has affected us by performances being cancelled through June resulting in income loss for the band.\u00a0 Also, band cannot rehearse with remote communication only.\u00a0 We are working on some new stuff though,\u00a0and setting up recording stations at each of our houses.<\/p>\n

Is there an upside?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Karen: The upside is learning to slow down; unfortunately, so many musicians rely on gig income,\u00a0so it’s rough for some. Upside is also taking time to work on writing. I’ve set myself a daily music challenge to be creative and practice\/ produce something every day and to document this time in life.<\/p>\n

Anything else you\u2019d like to add?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Karen: It’s tough for performers to not perform.\u00a0 It’s like our outlet has been taken away.\u00a0 Thankfully we live in a period that we can still express ourselves and reach an audience through social media where even tips can be sent remotely.\u00a0The energy level has gone down,\u00a0but support for each other has skyrocketed.<\/p>\n

www.facebook.com\/TheBarrelHouseWailers\/<\/a>
\nwww.thebarrelhousewailers.com\u00a0<\/a>
\nwww.Youtube.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Jeff Donovan, Guitarist from The Guitar and Whiskey Club<\/span><\/h1>\n

Do you work a day job? If so, are you still working?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>Jeff: I used to spend my days working Monday through Friday from home, so now I spend 24 hours a day at home (except for the occasional store run). My heart goes out to the many people not in a good situation right now.<\/p>\n

How’s the Covid-19 Stay Home order affecting you as a working musician?
\n<\/strong>Jeff: I am trapped at home with the singer of my band as a roommate \u2013 how fortunate is that? On the other hand, the rest of the band members are not able to be with us right now, so we have had to develop new material \u2013 and do live streaming as the Guitar & Whiskey Club \u201cLite\u201d in place of shows with the full band.<\/p>\n

Is there any upside to it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jeff:\u00a0 Yes, there is extra time to create music, but on the downside, I have to spend some of that time sanitizing my groceries and mail, and just about everything else in sight!<\/p>\n

www.facebook.com\/Guitarandwhiskeyclub\/<\/a>
\nGuitarandWhiskeyClub.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Robert Ramirez from Medicine Hat<\/span><\/h1>\n

I know you injured yourself and have been rehabilitating but how has this Stay Home Order been affecting you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>Robert: COVID19 and its impact on myself and Medicine Hat has been quite a journey. This has all happened while simultaneously recovering from broken clavicle surgery. With a brand-new album, corresponding release parties and a trip to play SXSW all being cancelled, we pretty much watched all the hard work and planning slip away, like a carpet being pulled out from under us.<\/p>\n

As is for many artists, the Stay Home order has caused us to rethink how we share our music. We\u2019d like to do some live streaming as soon as I\u2019m able. In the meantime, we\u2019re coming up with different ways to get the new songs out there. Medicine Hat plans to post a song a day from the new album, on our Facebook page. We\u2019ll include lyrics, photos and interesting notes pertaining to each track, kind of a virtual Story Tellers.\u00a0 We\u2019re trying to take advantage of this time to work on promoting, submitting the record for reviews and maybe start writing the next one!<\/p>\n

www.Facebook.com\/MedicineHatBand<\/i><\/a>
\nwww.MedicineHatMusic.net<\/a><\/p>\n

Next issue I\u2019ll be checking in with more musicians including Guy Martin, Tommy Marsh and Jon Gindick.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ventura Music Scene by Pam Baumgardner VenturaRocks.com Pam@VenturaRocks.com As incredible as it may be, Ventura\u2019s music scene is keeping its preverbal blood flowing. I\u2019ve been watching so many live streaming events, where you can purchase to view and some where … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[636,3],"tags":[482,1496,28,1497,1213,1346,340,579,976,170,1431],"class_list":["post-6885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music-scene-article","category-ventura-rocks","tag-barrelhouse-wailers","tag-covid-19","tag-dan-grimm","tag-jeff-donovan","tag-karen-parkhouse","tag-kelly-z","tag-kellys-lot","tag-medicine-hat","tag-robert-ramirez","tag-shawn-jones","tag-the-guitar-and-whiskey-club"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/venturarocks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/venturarocks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/venturarocks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/venturarocks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/venturarocks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6885"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"http:\/\/venturarocks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6885\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6909,"href":"http:\/\/venturarocks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6885\/revisions\/6909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/venturarocks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/venturarocks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/venturarocks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}