I scream, you scream, we all scream for live streams. It's the age of COVID-19 and this is our new normal. OK, it's not so very normal, but at least there's music.
Musicians all over the country jumped on live streams as social distancing became society's new mantra in the last couple of weeks. Most of these were D.I.Y. efforts to start. A few attempts to create live stream concert series at a couple of Central Oregon studios fizzled after Oregon's ban on public events went from 250 people to 50 people to 10 people to just stay home already.
But Central Oregon's music scene is organizing, as it so often does. Two key players on the scene -- Worthy Brewing and the Bend Roots Revival -- teamed up to create the Worthy Roots Relief Fund Livestream Concert Series, which kicks off at 6 tonight with a stripped-down version of Guardian of the Underdog. The streams continue every Wednesday and Saturday through ... well, whenever this is over, one could assume (the series has artists booked through April; see the poster above for details).
Artists will still broadcast from their homes straight to yours, so no flaunting social-distancing protocol here. Folks can tip the artists for each performance through Venmo, Paypal or whatever their preferred virtual tip jar might be.
As the series' name suggests (and as the involvement of Roots might have tipped you off), the streams will kick off fundraising efforts to help musicians and behind-the-scenes folks such as sound engineers and stage crew who have lost their livelihoods due to the pandemic. For every six-pack purchased on streaming days, Worthy will donate $3 to the Worthy Roots Relief Fund. Roots and Worthy are still working through the logistics of how the funds will be distributed, but the priority is the musicians playing the streams as well as "cast and crew," according to Roots founder Mark Ransom. Roots has a long history of supporting musical education in Central Oregon through the annual Bend Roots Revival festival and its other events and programs, so this is a natural extension of the organization's mission.
To mark the start of the series, I'm unveiling what I hope will become a recurring feature in this blog. Each week (or each time I do this), an artist will answer five set questions about how they got into performing and some of their favorite musical things.
Jeshua Marshall is the lead vocalist and guitarist for Bend punk/roots/world/folk band Guardian of the Underdog. He also plays with numerous other bands around town, including The Woodsmen, The Hot Club of Bend and Larry and His Flask, and books live music at The Brown Owl in Bend.
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| Photo by Adam Wood |
What was the first album you purchased?
The first album I remember buying was a used copy of Michael Jackson’s "Thriller" on vinyl at a yard sale. I was 7.
What was the first concert you attended?
Outside of church music, the first concert I saw was the pop-punk band MxPx when I was 12.
Who was the first musician who made you want to be a musician?
I think it was my grandma and my dad, who neither of them ever played music professionally, but both had a huge influence on instilling a love for music in me.
Who is the last musician you listened to?
We were listening to U2's "Joshua Tree" and Peter Gabriel early tonight.
What are your desert-island quarantine top five albums?
Quarantine top 5 albums in no particular order -
John Prine - "The Tree of Forgiveness"
Macy Gray - "Ruby"
MOsley WOtta - "This is (Not) All There Is
Dubioza Kolektiv - "#fakenews"
Inaiah Lujan - "Do What You Want"
Another stream to scream over: The Kronk Men
After getting down with Guardian, slam-dance the rest of your evening away with The Kronk Men. The Bend instrumental sludge/noise/punk trio enters the streaming realm in style with a live broadcast from Crawlspace at 8 tonight (Facebook event page here). Local photographer James Applewhite Gilchrist mans the camera, while Prismatic Prophet (AKA Ranch Records clerk Phillip Sinclair) will provide light projection.
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