So, here we are at a time of madness. The world is in lockdown. We can’t go out (except for absolute essentials) and I don’t really want to anyway because I’m so worried about what compromised breathing would do to me anyway (I have breathing issues sometimes even when completely healthy – singing is good for that!). I manage a little gentle walk with my daughter occasionally, but only as far as my local park. I really should take up yoga again…
We went into isolation early as we thought our daughter had been exposed to the virus. Thankfully it turned out that her friend had only had a nasty cough, and she’s fine, but we’ve been dancing this isolation tango for quite a while already.
My first week or so was spent finally pulling my finger out and recording my first EP. If you’d like to have a listen and/or buy it, check it out here:
So I’m now sitting down in front of my computer and trying to think what the next step should be. In this time of isolation, I’m very firmly of the opinion that we need art to pull us through. I’ve been watching films, reading books, listening to music and connecting with other musicians. I’ve also been watching how other choir leaders move forward. If you sing with a choir, you know that the sense of connection it brings is a huge boost. Losing that connection is really hard. So we’re all trying to bring our networks into a virtual space. There’s been a lot of work done with the Zoom application, but lag issues mean that it is never going to be a solution to singing all at the same time. I’m trying a different route! If you check out my menu at the top of this page, you’ll note (once I’ve got it up there) a new menu heading – “DistanSING!” which is the name of my project. Check in there to get details and request an invite.
I’m also looking at getting other resources up as our time indoors is likely to stretch on for a bit. Keep an eye on this page, and “DistanSING!”.
A new addition to this page is also over there on the right hand side at the very top – it’s an online “Tip Jar”. If you find what I do of value, please consider contributing a little bit of something. I am a self-employed community musician, and CV-19 had wiped out my income stream (sadly I am not eligible for govt. help, either). A little help would be fab!
Let me know if there are virtual resources you would like to see, and I hope to get working on that!
Stay indoors and stay healthy, friends!
