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Musicians make other plans without gigs

After Gov. Mike DeWine ordered bars and sit-down restaurants to close to lessen the spread of the coronavirus, some area musicians were asked about how the shutdown would affect them, what they would do during the break and what the crowds were like at their final gigs before the shutdown.

Here are some of the responses (edited for space):

l Denny Davis, who performs in the acoustic duos David & McKay and Davis & Henner — “We (Davis & Henner) were very fortunate to play last Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The turnout was good! Everybody we talked to was enthusiastic but concerned about the unknown.

“As we placed the last piece of equipment into our vehicles, we both felt a sense of emptiness. We are both retired and perform for the joy and love of music and the interaction with the individuals who come out to hear us. No, it won’t hurt us financially, but emotionally is certainly a concern.

“Our hearts go out to the many who do this as their only source of income and of course all the venues that support live music. In the meantime, we hope to add to our repertoire and hopefully have a chance to record some of our originals. We hope and pray this is over soon.”

l Bridget Reckless and Ann Rock of The SuperBabes — “This has obviously been quite a trying time for all of us in music, performance and the service industries.

“Although we do not rely solely on our music for personal income, we are still heartbroken over these cancellations. This most certainly knocks us down financially in regards to our needs as a band. We understand it is for a safer bigger picture; however, we have put so much work into new music and our stage performance.

“We were so excited to share this with our friends and fans at upcoming shows. We had planned to release a brand new song for The Summit’s 330 Day Concert, which was to be held in Youngstown this year.

“Another show we were to be a part of this month was a benefit concert hosted by YSU’s Ads Club. It was to raise money for Potential Development, school for children with autism.

“We are hopeful shows like the benefit will be able to be rescheduled in the future.

“The uncertainty and on-going changes are very unsettling. Things have been changing what seems like by the hour. Our hearts are broken for our local and regional venues, restaurants and bars. We hope to offer our friends and fans some online / video content while we experience this time at home. We want our community to be safe and healthy.

“Though extreme, it’s out of our control. Please tune in to the musicians doing online shows, donate if you’re able to, order carry out and try to help each other and show compassion. We wish everyone the best. Stay healthy and keep positive.”

l Ky’Lyntae, hip hop artist — “My manager and I received a call (that) all but two of the 11 concert / festival dates (scheduled) were likely going to be postponed or canceled. However, I am excited to slow down, have some time to create and not worry about the business end as much.

“I am currently working on a summer album titled ‘KyLyFest’ as well as a fall-release album, ‘Penrose 2.’ Depending on how long the ‘entertainment lockout’ is, I plan to jump start a video podcast as a way to connect with current fans and build up my fan base.”

l Doug Thomas, who sings with several area bands — “Like everyone else, I have lost a great number of opportunities for creative output, so I plan to use the time for collecting creative input. I’ll be working on new original material, practicing and recording projects. My heart goes out to everyone involved in the live music scene that is experiencing hard times and I sincerely hope the entire music and entertainment community will bounce back as strong and vibrant as ever.”

l Damian Knapp, singer and guitar player — “I have been thinking about doing live video shows from my living room. Also thinking that right now is a good time to finally release both of my albums through CDBaby and work digital music sites like Spotify.

“I do have a video coming out shortly of me performing in Clarksdale, Miss., at the Ground Zero Blues Club with clips of my travels to historic blues sites like Robert Johnson’s grave and Dockery so, yes, I am still being creative.”

l Neil Hogue, singer and guitar player — “Over the weekend, I did play the Wagon Wheel in Leavittsburg. It wasn’t a stellar crowd, but it wasn’t empty, either.

“I have a few solo and band gigs lined up in April and May. Nothing has been canceled at the moment. All we can do is play the waiting game and figure those dates are tentative until then.

“Luckily, I do work a day job, but with everything going on, who knows with that. Anything is possible. It’s unfortunate for my friends in the music community (that) either play music full time or may rely on that extra money to make ends meet.”

l Ellie Kovell of the duo Take II — “We have had five cancellations this month so far. I also worry about my health, but we keep our distance from patrons and we are always washing our hands and using sanitizer. Patrons usually come up to talk, and we bump elbows or give peace signs and always keep a fair distance between us. It seems they are not so worried but still cautious.

“This is a side business for Take II since we both work at the present time. Take II will work on new songs and have more practice time if possible. We hope and pray everyone stays healthy and well and that we can get the band up and running full time soon.”

l Todd Shay of Mortisha’s Secret — “We had a rather long break for the past year as Missy (Shay) had surgery. She has worked really hard to get her voice back up and sounds great. We just started up again in January. We had a gig booked for this Saturday at The Whistle & Keg in Youngstown. Of course, it is canceled.

“We have been using a lot of time to start recording again and it’s been pretty exciting as we have moved on to a computer-based system with ‘all the keys to the kingdom.’ It is nice to get the extra income from performing, but we are happy to at least be able to work on recording. We might even start doing some Facebook Live sets, who knows?”

l Fred Whitacre Jr., drummer for Kitchen Knife Conspiracy — “It’s just a hobby for everyone involved in my band, but anyone relying on music for income is likely to be heavily impacted. I’m a high school teacher, so that’s on hold right now, too.

“However, I feel society is doing what we have to do to keep this from spreading and causing high casualties. We don’t want what’s happening in Italy to happen here. It’s absolutely tragic.

“Truth be told, KKC was already writing new stuff and I had planned on working on more solo music starting in April. Perhaps now, with time, we can accelerate these plans.”

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