Even though Raleigh, N.C.'s nightclubs, theaters and arenas are dark and empty due to the nationwide coronavirus quarantine shutdown, some musicians have stepped up to fill the live-music void with online streamed performances. A lot of these are catch-as-catch-can, often announced with little lead time—informal affairs in which the artists playing from their homes for an online audience, soliciting contributions with an online tip jar.
Raleigh radio station WCLY, 95.7-FM That Station, has also been doing a regular series of online live performances by local acts like Jason Adamo and Carrie Marshall, dubbed “Quaran-Tunes.” Those happen at noon Tuesdays and Thursdays, with evening shows on what the station calls the “Couch Tour” happening Saturdays at 7pm.
Some of these events have been genuinely moving, such as an April 13 John Prine tribute show organized by management of Raleigh nightspot The Pour House Music Hall & Record Shop. An A-list of the local Americana circuit performed in honor of Prine, who passed this month from COVID-19 at age 73. American Aquarium’s BJ Barham, Kate Rhudy, Lydia Loveless, Billie Feather, John Howie Jr. and Backsliders frontman Chip Robinson were among the acts to play. You can still watch it below (link if embedded video does not play for you):
If the lockdown drags on long enough, more centralized clearinghouses for listings and information about shows like this will probably emerge. Locally, there are already a few in the form of Facebook pages: The Virtual Listening Room and Triangle Venues, Music and Merch.
Check those out and you’ll see a few upcoming shows of local interest:
- Fri., April 17: Daniel and Danny Chavis, co-leaders of The Veldt, the venerable psychedelic-soul band | WATCH
- Fri., April 17: Don Dixon & Marti Jones, the husband-and-wife team of the legendary producer and longtime bassist in North Carolina heritage band Arrogance and singer/painter Jones | WATCH
- Sun., April 26: George Huntley, former lead guitarist in The Connells | WATCH
Both of these started out about the most organic way possible, from people just creating the pages and listing upcoming events as they pop up. In this case, it was Mike Allen, proprietor of Wake Forest’s Magnolia Roots Music Lounge (under the Sugar Magnolia Cafe & Emporium); and Rebecca Newton, CEO of Durham’s Carolina Theatre.
“I just started Triangle Venues, Music and Merch as a way to let musicians post their Bandcamp or Paypal links, and live streams if they had them,” says Allen. “Anytime I’m on Facebook and see an artist-stream announcement stream, I’ll share it to the page. It’s kind of a repository for anybody to post stuff to.”
