Live music has really suffered during the current pandemic with lockdowns and physical distancing making a lot of it non-viable. I have been lucky to have been able to get together with friend to jam outside and do some busking for fun. There have also been on-line 'open mic' sessions for our local set of musicians. Although I have been playing music for a long time I have not done many actual gigs. In my duo 
We were booked as the support act for a singer, so we were on fairly early. As we set up around 6pm people were already arriving to get a drink. We were offered drinks by the staff too.
I do not have any pictures from tonight. This was a year ago, but I did wear the same shirt.
We were playing outside the bar, but they set up some plastic screens to make it cosy and even have heaters. It is sited in an arcade and there is plenty of space for people to spread out. We started playing an more people rolled in. I was surprised how busy it was, but then I have not been out many evenings. Bars have to close by 10pm, so people may get out earlier.
We did a selection of songs we have done many times. These are mostly from the 1920s to 1950s, but we have some more modern tunes such as the Cantina Band from Star Wars that go down well. I was playing my Taylor acoustic and Tanglewood ukulele as well as singing. My partner Danielle plays the clarinet. She has a little battery powered PA system that is good for busking and small gigs like this.
People seemed to appreciate the music and we got a few nice comments. The bar owner said he would have us back any time. We even got paid, but I will not be giving up the day job. We would have stayed to hear the main act, but we had our online open mic and had to get back for that. I had recorded a couple of songs for that this afternoon, so it has been a busy day music-wise.
It would have been good to get a recording of our set, but nobody was available to do this. You can hear some of our tunes on Soundcloud.
I would like to do more gigs, but my medical issues with my right hand make it hard for me to play for very long. I also need to work on my singing as my voice struggled a bit in the later songs. It is a good thing we do plenty of instrumentals. I need to learn to sing more efficiently or something.
Please support musicians where you can. There are a fair few on Hive and they will appreciate your votes. We need to encourage more to join up so they can share the benefits. I am sure they would like the extra income.
Have a great weekend.
