Emily and I just completed our third live stream after having hung them up at the beginning of April. I hope to continue them through the winter, even though my schedule is looking pretty solid until February, with two separate month-long weekly residencies in January filling out my weekends.
I must admit, we were rusty with the streaming. The sound on the first, especially, was a big problem. Due to operator error, we ended up streaming the entire hour through the mic on Emily’s computer. It was so bad that I took it down, never to be seen again. The second and third attempts, while much better in the sound department, ended up freezing the system by the last song of the night, leaving everyone involved on both ends of the screen wondering what happened.
As far as I can tell, sometimes the connectivity on either end makes for drooped frames, some frozen screens, and choppy sound. I don’t know how to fix it, or even if it can be fixed. Live-streaming is imperfect in many ways, but in an arts economy like we are all facing today, every little bit helps.
So here is my plea: Be patient with streaming musicians. Check out their shows, leave comments, and send hearts. If you can, send them a tip. Streaming is imperfect in so many ways, but for some, it’s all they’ve got right now.
I just did a quick count for 2021 and realized that, not counting livestreams, I had 85 live gigs this year. I hope to double that in 2022, and we’ll see how that goes. While 85 shows is, I think, pretty respectable, it’s far fewer shows than I was playing before the pandemic. I’m always shooting for more performances, and I’ll get there.
But for now, like so many others, you can always catch me online over at my Facebook page on Thursdays from 7-8. I can’t guarantee that the show won’t have it's technical issues, but I promise we (Em and I) will always do our best to entertain!