[♪♪♪] -Hey there, thanks so much for taking time out of your day to join us for another installation of Virginia Arts: Waiting in the Wings .

In previous episodes, we've featured arts and performance entities, and we discussed how COVID-19 has impacted their organizations.

Well, this time around, we wanted to speak to those in the performance field who've probably been affected the most-- the artists and performers themselves.

How has this pandemic affected their livelihoods, and what suggestions do they have for others in the same situation?

On the panel today, we have several locals that you may recognize-- Rachel Blankenship-Tucker, singer-songwriter and member of the all-female trio "After Jack"; Johnny Camacho, comedian, producer and founder of the Roanoke Comedy Lab; Bryan "Harvest Blaque" Hancock, writer, actor, musician and host of Soul Sessions Roanoke; Shaleen Powell, violinist with the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra; and JD Sutphin, singer-songwriter and front man of the Nashville recording group, "The Low Low Chariot".

Thanks to all of you for joining me.

I know that this year has been a tough one for all of you, not just personally, but professionally as well.

Gigs and shows canceled, venues closing down.

Rachel, let's start with you.

You and your band mates, Emily and Catherine, you've chosen to halt all performances until it's safe to tour again.

And you say that that's just a bit rough on all of you.

How's it been going?

-Well, wow, what a year.

You know, in March, we had just opened for the Indigo Girls at the Harvester Performance Center.

We had a ton of momentum going.

We were gonna be in the studio this year because we have a brand-new band mate.

And COVID hits.

And it was immediately clear to us that we had to stop.

Like, we didn't feel comfortable asking people to come out to our shows.

We didn't feel like it was safe to ask people to gather to hear our music.

And we'd never want to put any of our friends or fans in harm's way.

So we just decided to stop.

-Wow.

JD, let's go to you because you're also in a band-- a nice, very popular band.

How did things change for you guys?

-It was unbelievable.

You know, we were gearing up for the biggest year of our career.

We had two performances set with the CMA Fest in Nashville.

We didn't even get to announce that we were gonna be playing before it was canceled.

We were gonna be touring all the way to Texas and back, all of this stuff.

So, you know, when it was all shut down, it was really hard.

Um, but it was one of those things that I try to be as positive as possible, no matter what, you know, the situation.

So we've taken this time not only, you know, to personally, you know, grow, but we've never written more music either.

So we try to make the best out of the situation, regardless.

-Bryan, how about you?

I know you're part musician, actor, instructor, a little bit of everything going on.

How have things changed for you?

-It's definitely been about adaptability and just doing my part as far as trying to reflect the times that we live in, whether it be writing, whether it be just trying to do something inspiring and trying to still safely gather but just taking the time out to just like meeting people where they're at.

And, you know, just, you know, being brave enough to say, "Okay, this is where I'm at right now artistically."

And just spend time, you know, just writing and still sharing music, still sharing content and a lot of DoorDash, and a lot of [indistinct].

-Right, right.

Well, let's stay on the music track, and Shaleen, you're a violinist with the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra.

I know that a lot of those performances were canceled.

What about you?

-So, first of all, it's so fantastic to be on-- I'm humbled to be on the call and on this group.

There's so much talent here.

I hope some of it rubs off over here.

[laughter] Let's see, we.

everything pretty much hit a wall as far as performance for the Symphony goes because of the size of the group, and the number of performers on stage.

Everything has just been stopped.

And I think the last performance was back in February, and we played Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.

And I remember, fast forward to maybe towards the end of summer, I was listening to public radio and Beethoven's Fifth came on.

And I just started crying because I could-- I could remember rehearsing those sections with David Stewart Wiley and my stand, my partners, and it was-it was really.

kind of just hit me all at once, you know, that moment.

So yeah, everything's on pause.

There's another program that the Symphony has, which is Wellness Arts.

And it's a group of local musicians with the Symphony go to Richfield, and we go and we play and we do music therapy sessions at Brandon Oaks.

And I really miss playing with those residents.

I miss seeing them every month, I miss bringing that-- bringing out certain aspects of personalities and hearing about their week.

So-- For the Symphony, everything's really stopped.

I feel like in our community and our whole region, the RSO always brings a lot of holiday cheer.

So-- -Absolutely, absolutely.

Johnny, you are a comedian and also a producer.

So things a little bit different for you but I bet you also very similar, right?

-Oh, absolutely, absolutely.

And I'm sure every artist feels this way to some extent.

But stand-up comedy is so beholden to that classic in-person, immediate audience-performer dynamic.

If you don't have that, you can still produce art, you can still create content, but I hesitate to call it stand-up comedy.

So everything I know about the art form is impossible right now.

Everything I know about producing a show and putting 200 people in a room together to watch an act and share laughter has kind of been put on hold.

But the good news is that I am as optimistic about comedy and its future today than I was this time last year.

-Oh, wow.

So well, let me stay with you because now I'm curious as to what if anything-- where a lot of the musicians can still do virtual, you know, Facebook Live, that kind of thing and sort of get, you know, whether it's donations or whatever the case is.

-[Johnny] Certainly.

-Have you been able to sort of go down that road, considering that you don't have that live element?

-Um, you know, there are- there are definitely avenues.

The internet has democratized everyone's ability to sort of make their voice and their art heard and allow it to be seen by a lot of different people.

Again, like there are some great, like Zoom shows happening right now, people are live streaming comedy sets.

For me, it really is about that missing human element.

It's like I can stream my act into your living room.

But without that feedback, without that in-person real-time relationship, the game has changed to a point where I don't even recognize it.

So there are people out there adapting.

I've chosen for my own part to, you know, scale back live performances, let go of hosting the mic until I feel good about assembling people to watch it live because I do believe as artists right now, we have to be-we have to be representatives.

We have to show-- lead by example, through our own sacrifice.

And I-I personally don't want to be associated with an event that becomes a super spreader.

Um, you know, I-I am writing, I look forward to the day I can get a bunch of people in a room to see comedy again.

But I'm playing it safe until then.

-Rachel, you mentioned in some of the notes that I was reading that, you-you said it that- that this whole process and how things are going has completely removed the momentum of you as an artist, as a band.

And that's very detrimental to you in many ways.

How so?

-Well, momentum is everything.

It's everything.

It's like a snowball.

You know, you start out at the top of the hill with the tiny snowball and as you get momentum, it gets bigger and bigger and bigger.

And that's the way that it goes.

I mean, you get in front of more people, you know, your band name gets out there.

It's-it's everything.

And when that comes to a halt, you have to start over.

And, you know, we had just started over with taking a half of a year off with a new band mate, you know, to have her-to have her into rehearsals and getting things going, and we were just getting going again, and.

I don't know, it's sad.

It's hard.

-Um, JD, because I know you also, you-you started and you're the owner, I guess, founder of Big Lick Entertainment.

So, you and Johnny and I know Bryan, you also sort of produce these big events.

Um.

How has that, obviously, we know that that has stopped, but how does that affect your livelihood?

-It's-it's a big thing.

I mean, especially with-- when it comes to Big Lick Entertainment, all of our outdoor festivals that we do, all of the concerts at Elmwood Park, at Daleville Town Center, a minimum of 51 percent of every single one of those events goes to charity.

So it's not about my livelihood.

We're okay.

-[Lisa] Right.

-But we raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for local charities, for non-profits, for everything from kids that need coats, to homeless shelters, to drop-in centers, to food, and so much more.

And most of those non-profits are doing everything that they can to just stay afloat right now.

It is not about my company, you know, whatsoever.

We're-we're okay.

It is definitely hard when you have that kind of money loss, and it's really hard on my staff because, you know, all of my event staff, I've got 12, you know, 14 different people that work for us throughout the year on those events, and they've had no hours.

There hasn't been anything for me to give them to do.

And it's really hard on those folks.

-Bryan, I noticed that you have a lot of your content online.

You're one of those-- -Yeah.

[Lisa] --a lot of creatives, a lot of artists have moved to an online platform.

Ha-has that worked for you?

Is that still helping you kinda get yourself out there?

-Yeah, and the thing that we've been doing is partnerin' with places like The Spot on Kirk who has been very instrumental in teaming up with me in the Grandin Theatre as well, where we've done events that have been safe for people to come out.

Grandin Theatre uses checkerboard seating and it's for spoken word nights, and also just keeping in mind that like the last event we had was called My COVID Cope Mixtape.

And, you know, they use a checkerboard seating pattern and, you know, right now, it's just been a place where we continue to just get people back in the human experience.

I feel like right now, it is an artist's duty to continue to like connect people.

And-and like I said before, we kind of reflect the times and have people just know who they are as artists or as just, you know, as people, you know, figuring out, you know, who we are, why we are and why now.

It's just a great, it is-it is a very tricky time and it is a very scary time.

But sometimes we have to really embrace our craft and push the needle forward still, even with the things that we see, not to be afraid that, you know, there's no such thing as comfortable.

There's never been such a thing as comfortable.

And it's-it's a thing where we have to take risks even when we ourselves don't know what to do.

It's to connect people and get people into a human experience of saying, "Hey, I feel this-- I feel this too.

I-I'm going through these feelings too.

I'm going through anxiety."

Myself personally, I deal with depression, I deal with the fact that I overeat.

And, you know, I've been going through this emotional rollercoaster of trying to strip off my anxiety to be a better performer, to be a better human.

Um, it's important to realize our gifts and continue to push those gifts forward.

You know, especially locally, I see people on this panel like JD and Johnny and everybody, and they're doing such great work and it's such instrument work that helps uplift this community and shows them that we can do it right here.

And that's a beautiful thing.

-Good answer.

I like that.

Very nice, very well said.

Shaleen, I know that you're a musician.

You're a violinist.

And I know that your husband is also a musician and local restauranteur.

So it sounds as though you have other sources of income, and you're probably doing okay.

But how are you and maybe even your husband, as musicians.

uh, using this time to sort of, you know, come out at the other end successfully?

-I'll speak for myself first.

You know, for me, I've used music because there aren't any gigs on my calendar.

I've really used music for more therapy, if anything.

If I'm having a day or there's something in the news or I'm just-- you know, I have two small kids.

If I'm just like at my wit's end, I will just go and I will play, and I'll just grab something and just play.

And that's been really helpful.

I think what I see too-- I have a lot of colleagues in the Symphony that are teachers and one thing that has translated really well through this COVID era is teaching.

You know, everybody's-- you know, you can literally take your phone out and just kinda have a little session with your students.

So I do know that that livelihood stream of income has been there.

Um, I don't have students right now because I do have another part-time job beyond the RSO, but I think there's a lot of creativity going on.

My husband's band is called My Radio and they've written a lot of music.

They haven't been able to perform it per se, you know, out in public, but it is something that there's gonna be a new album coming out, so that's exciting.

Also, maybe his former band mates have been getting together and kind of getting together and kind of doing some virtual stuff and pushing it out.

So some of our alma mater, we met at Berklee College of Music up in Boston and so, we've gotten together with some alum that way.

So I think it's been therapeutic, I think it's been creative.

And on the other end of this, I really-- I truly believe there's gonna be another Renaissance, if you will, where music is really gonna help heal and like allow the community to come together and people kind of propel forward.

-Amen.

-Yeah.

-I like that.

I like that thought.

Johnny, with you, I mean, you-you're kind of-- you're not in a band situation.

You don't really have to rely on other people.

You're sort of that solo stand-up comedian.

I would think that this "downtime" maybe gives you opportunity to write, you know, that the creative juices maybe start flowing.

Is that?

-Absolutely.

And it's like beyond just being a producer and a comedian, like I consider myself a student of comedy in the very academic sense.

Um, like, there have been major movements and eras of comedy, there have been high points and low points, and the brightest spots in comedy, and I think the world of art at large, the brightest spots throughout history have followed times of intense turmoil and strife.

And 2020 has been a sort of crucible of political strife, economic uncertainty, a global pandemic.

People are worn down to their most raw emotional selves and I think that when the healing commences, a by-product of it is gonna be some of the coolest, gnarliest art we've seen in decades.

-Amen.

[laughs] -I love--well, Rachel, that goes to you.

Are you using this time for song-writing, for your creative--?

How are you using this time?

-Well, to be honest with you, I am just trying to take care of myself.

My mom contracted COVID at the very beginning of this, and it was a big eye opener for us.

So what I'm doing is watching my son and taking care of him and focusing on him right now.

-Yay, Mama.

-Yeah.

-Take care of yourself and your family.

Absolutely, I get that.

Well, so, um, so how are we moving forward?

How--how do we, and, you know, it's so hard to plan because, you know, we may face more quarantining and things are still happening.

So it's-- I hate to ask you to sort of predict the future, if you will, but what would you like to maybe see happen on-on the other side?

Let's go with JD.

-Well, you know, we got to host our Comic-Con two-- now, it's been a few weeks ago, it was Halloween weekend.

And I was really on the fence about it because it was supposed to be in August and I knew that we'd only be about four weeks into Phase Three.

So we met with the city, we met with health officials, we talked to other event promoters, we looked at what Disney World was doing, because we figured if there is a place as giant as Disney with as much on the line as them, what were they doing?

And we knew that we had to not do what was being asked, we need to do about two and a half times that.

We weren't required to check temperatures, we needed to.

We needed to not just do the 50 percent capacity, let's go even lower than that.

Let's be as hardcore on mask as possible.

We got hospital grade disinfection throughout the event.

-[Lisa] Hmm.

-And I-I did not work and I worked the event the entire weekend, I did not have to ask one person to put a mask on.

But it was all about how you talk to your customer and it was because throughout those weeks, as we were getting into Phase Three, I kept getting people ask me, please put this event on, my kids want to go, I feel comfortable.

And we had to listen to our community.

And that's number one.

But the things that we said, instead of saying, "You have to do this, you have to do that," we said, "We are not producing this event.

We are.

You have to walk in tandem with us and be as responsible as us so that this can happen, or it won't ever happen again, because we only got one chance to try this the right way."

-Right.

-And it was-it was unbelievable.

I mean, I had people, vendors that come to this event that sell comics and sell toys and stuff like that, that were so emotional that they got to just be out, and make a living again.

-[Lisa] Right.

-I mean, I had vendors crying at me, that they said they didn't think they'd be able to afford a Christmas for their kids but they got to get one event in before the holiday season happened.

It was unbelievable.

I went into my office at the Berglund Center, probably three different times on Saturday and bawled my eyes out, 'cause it was just, it was amazing.

I forgot what that feeling was like, and I feel like the biggest thing that's drove me crazy about all this-- people saying "social distancing".

They should've said physical because we can't lose this.

We can still connect on a Zoom.

I can still get just as emotional and laugh and cry and get pumped up as I do when I-- every single time I watch, you know, a Marvel movie, I still get the same feeling Shawshank Redemption , whatever I'm doing.

But we have to be engaged with each other.

-[Lisa] Absolutely.

- Social.

-And I kind of-- -We can still be far enough apart to be okay.

[laughs] -Right, right, right, right.

And I kinda want to go back a little bit to what Shaleen said about the mental health aspect.

You know, it sounds like most of you are able to sort of use your craft to kind of get through those emotional when you're down, when you're depressed, whatever the case is.

And Bryan, I'll come to you because you were kind of the first to mention it, but mentally, mental health-- speaking about mental health.

how-- I know you're helping yourself but I know that music and art and comedy can also help others.

-Yeah.

-Talk about that.

-We're in a place where we have to realize that we're on a break.

And with that, we need to work on being our own breakthroughs, and self-discovery.

We're so used to this rush zipping around.

I know for myself, personally, I am always like going.

Sometimes I only average like four hours of sleep, and I'm always wanting to write, I'm always wanting to run.

This season has taught me that I have to sit still and investigate and pull some-- shed some skin and really figure out who I am.

And, you know, it's really an artist's job to find out who you are, why you are and why now?

And to find out, to unlock those gems that are just sitting inside of us, we really need to take the time to just like chill out and encourage each other and encourage our public, encourage the people that we serve, you know, to have a gift to give in as far as service and as far as creation, you know, and having these ideas transcend cultures.

Those are very important things and it's important to just enjoy the time that we are having, and not take this season for granted because it's very uncertain, but we're still the gatekeepers of the truth as far as being artists, musicians, motivators, movers and shakers.

We are the gatekeepers of the truth, and it's time to really investigate what it means to continue to be that torch, and pass that to people who really need it right now.

So if you make a joke, or if you sing a song, you know, this is definitely your time.

You know, it's definitely a time to be inspired by what you do, and also give that back because we need the scene right here locally fueled.

We need that.

So we can just be on, more to basically provide comfort and then also, it helps provide comfort as well.

-Well, I have about three minutes left, and I want to give you each a chance to sort of close us out.

But Rachel, I wanted to come to you 'cause I've known you for a long time now.

And I know that it was tough when your mother did, you know, contract COVID and dealt through that.

Did you use your music at all to help you get through all of that?

-Yes, and no.

Because of the loss of the-- our music in general, you know, traveling and playing onstage and stuff, it sort of felt like another jab, you know, to think about picking up the fiddle or the banjo and stuff like that.

So, yes and no, you know, later down the line, you know, I've picked it up here.

We've done a couple of little live streaming things, a song here, a song there, but, you know, it's tough.

It's emotional for me.

-Yeah, I would imagine.

So I'll just start with you, since we're with you and we'll go around, but what do you.

what do you see in the future?

What does the-- well, again, we don't know what the future holds.

But what are you hoping to sort of accomplish in say the next six months or so?

Without knowing-- -Well, I just want people to hold on and support artists that they care about and they know, and support each other.

You know, like I wanna be friends with everyone on this Zoom call, I wanna support your work, I wanna go to your shows, I wanna hear your comedy, I wanna do it all.

And I want us to all imagine what it's going to be like when we get back on stage in front of an audience for the first time.

Like, I have chills thinking about it already and I'm hoping that it'll unite us all, it'll push us all forward and we can all come out of this on the other side.

-I love it.

I love your enthusiasm.

Shaleen, what about you?

-Well, Lisa, thank you.

'Cause you've actually helped connect artists here across our little Zoom platform.

And I agree with you, Rachel, on wanting to follow one another even if we don't, at this point already.

I. I will not take anything for granted when I'm performing, and that's not to say that I have in the past.

I always loved just diving into rehearsals and concerts and, oh, got to turn the page or, you know, performing in the pit with Opera Roanoke.

This is just gonna make it that much sweeter once everything opens up, and, you know, when I first-- when the orchestra tunes to A440 in the very beginning of the performance that's about to take place, you know, to me, that's very-- Everyone's already tuned behind stage, by the way.

So everybody's pretty much all keyed in to like we're on tune, but there's something ceremonial about it with that 60-plus member group.

And I'm-- like I'm looking forward to that so much.

-Wow.

Okay, Bryan?

-Sorry, what's the question again?

-What's the short future look for you, look like for you?

-Right now, I'm in this, writin' a solo album, me and my band, we're actually prepping to start writing new music to perform.

Soul Sessions is gearing up right now to basically do more virtual programming, doing some virtual Zeens through our website.

And we're right now-- it's just a season of creating, and I'm also writing my personal poetry book called A Blue Collar Love.

And I'm just having.

-[Lisa] Perfect.

-Just having fun right now and just working hard.

-Taking time to be creative, I absolutely love it.

JD, real quick?

-Yeah.

-I've never had more Saturdays with my son and my wife.

It's been incredible.

'Cause I mean, normally I was either putting on an event or playing a show or being out of town, and this past Saturday, I actually had to have my first show, or got to have my first show back in Nashville.

It was socially distanced, and everybody wore masks.

The promoter did it right, and everyone was spaced out.

And it was such a high, within the second that last note hit, and I walked off the stage, I didn't know how long it was going to be until the next time.

And I made sure that I stayed up as late as I possibly could that night, and I just kept writing 'cause it was still just resonating in my head.

And I can just tell that there are songs there that I haven't even had the time yet to get in front of my guitar or whatever it is I'm going to use, instrument-wise.

It's just time to reflect, time to write, time to grow.

It's nothing but up from here.

It's nothing but up.

-Yes.

Johnny?

-Well, you know, this year, I had a whole multi-day Comedy Festival lined up with sponsors, venues, you know, to whatever extent next fall we can make any part of that happen, I'm looking forward to it.

So in my short term, I think it's gonna be gauging interest from out-of-town headliners and seeing if venues are still onboard.

Hopefully we have a vaccine, hopefully we can be safe about it.

But I'm bullish on the future of comedy and comedy production.

-All right, sounds good.

Well, listen, thanks to all of you for being here and talking with me today.

All of us here at Blue Ridge PBS wish you the best of luck, and can't wait to see you in your various stages.

So, thank you again.

And thank all of you for watching as well.

We'll see you next time.

[♪♪♪]