I feel like it’s a challenge, like, ‘OK, let’s see if we can still pay these bills and some people with this situation.’ ”. Cobb counts himself lucky that he has access to financial experts through his bank and elsewhere. Even with the extra dough, she has worries. “What I learned over the course of 10 days was that it was going to be better for not only most of them,” Cobb says, “but also for the hope that Exit/In wouldn’t have to permanently close … to lay all of them off.”. COVID-19: 'The Bitter End' for Nation's Live Music Venues? By: Eric Hilt Posted at 6:17 AM, Dec 17, 2020 Here, we examine the bleak outlook for the music industry amidst the ongoing COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic that has decimated financial markets. A staffer checks guests’ temperatures at City WineryPhoto: Daniel MeigsAt the end of August, the venue opened a new tented outdoor area called the Music City Wine Garden. “The business is basically OK, but I feel morally obligated to be able to pay the rent and the bills, and some staff members and myself,” says Sherwood. There are even some who think it might come back stronger. They’re asking fans to contact their representatives in Congress; to donate money, if they have it, to keep the lights on; to wear masks when they go out in public with the hope that sooner than later, it’ll be safe to gather in groups again. As of October 1, 2020, Nashville is in “Phase 3.” Phase 3 was extended on November 2, 2020. With the addition of heat lamps, Simon expects the Wine Garden to remain in operation until December. It doesn't help that she can't find hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes. In the meantime, independent venues are looking for any viable revenue source. “I can’t just not do that. Downtown's silent, barren streets give bartender Carolyn Lethgo an "eerie feeling," said the lifelong resident who has been working in the service industry since she was 15. While they’re in this rough spot, there’s little for the folks who run Nashville’s independent music venues to do that they aren’t already doing. A staffer checks guests’ temperatures at City Winery, That means additional competition to cope with, including Nashville’s Douglas Corner Cafe, contributor Marissa R. Moss reported via NPR, at the top of Historic Nashville Inc.’s 2019 Nashville Nine list of endangered historic properties, which was unveiled outside Exit/In on Aug. 12, the National Independent Venue Association, an imperfect solution to an unprecedented problem, Billy Strings’ wildly popular Streaming Strings Tour in July, and it’s been a huge help to the club this year. The 31-year-old is a businesswoman as well. “Because all it really takes is one venue doing it poorly, and it could ruin it for everyone else.”. Looking into the future, he sees a way that a proliferation of streams could spruce up the city’s image. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) The main obstacle is a very New Nashville problem that, ironically, feels almost quaint during the pandemic. "I just don't have the tools I need to stay safe," the Columbus, Ohio, native said. Recipients would be able to cover things like rent and utilities, as well as costs of personal protective equipment and other expenditures to comply with local health guidelines once they are able to reopen. Cobb hopes that success bodes well for getting help from both the state and the federal government. There are safeguards to prevent large corporate entities from taking advantage of the program, and there’s an opportunity to apply for supplemental grants if conditions force venues to remain closed. "My situation is one that I'm so grateful for,". In a non-pandemic year, City Winery might serve from 600 to 2,000 guests on a busy weekend night via the restaurant, the upstairs lounge and the main venue. The wheels are already turning at the federal level. Music performance industry still shuttered as city opens Covid recovery phase 3.3 Monday evening headlines - 11/9/20 By Amanda Roberts | November 9, 2020 at 8:39 PM CST - Updated November 9 at 9:30 PM They have also set up a resource page on their website with various other informational resources. “I think all parts of the music industry are realizing that venues need to all work together to make sure that we’re all doing this the right way,” says Simon. Instead of a live music festival, there will be a virtual livestream event the weekend of July 30-Aug. 2, with the full schedule to come. This sort of perseverance is what makes Nashville one of the most exciting cities in the world, said Posey, the fiddle player. The couple handed the business off to Todd Sherwood and Travis Collinsworth a few years later. Cobb has been using his experience in organizing: He’s a charter member of a trade group called the National Independent Venue Association, launched in April. Live music is a … The international network of venues that our city’s clubs are part of employs thousands of people and allows local scenes to grow and evolve across an array of genres and traditions. We feel lucky in Nashville that we have this beautiful, huge parking lot, which is now completely tented with the Wine Garden. New 24/7 Live stream ... NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — New COVID-19 restrictions went into place at midnight in Metro Nashville. The Nashville Musicians AFM Local 257 has set up a relief fund for musicians in Nashville who have been impacted by COVID-19. One bright spot is that Verheide is their landlord, and he made a public pledge to waive rent until the venue could get back in business, a very rare circumstance in commercial real estate. Cobb and Exit/In have also banded together as part of a group of 15 of those local NIVA members, from tiny all-ages spot Drkmttr to the three-venue Cannery Row complex, as Music Venue Alliance Nashville. Legislation that could help venues has been introduced in Congress, and on Sept. 1, the Metro Council passed a resolution offering grants, allocated from federal CARES Act funding, meant to help independent venues pay bills for two months, delaying the worst outcome. Music clubs all over the nation — pop culture icons like the Troubadour in West Hollywood, the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, The Bitter End in New York's Greenwich Village — are shuttered due to the coronavirus. Cobb is already very experienced with organizing support on behalf of the longstanding 500-capacity room on Elliston Place. The next day, seeing the rising tide of COVID-related cancellations, Sherwood and Collinsworth made the call to close until further notice. It has her worried, as does the drop in demand for temp receptionists, another way she pays bills. But there’s a lot of competition out there for the little rectangles that people are looking at. Experience Music City through livestreamed home concerts, virtual attractions and events, cooking classes, local restaurants offering dine-in service as well as takeout & delivery, two Music City documentaries, and even a trip idea to Visit Nashville from Home. The Nashville location is one of two City Wineries that’s been able to cautiously make a return to live music since the pandemic began. Chris Cobb started booking shows at Exit/In in the Aughts, and he became the sole owner of the venue last fall after an amicable split with business partner Josh Billue (with whom he co-founded 1,800-capacity venue Marathon Music Works). 68,704 people have been tested for coronavirus in Davidson County. Musicians saw their livelihoods disrupted. Rascal Flatts has canceled shows, as has. Mike Hicks wonders if we'll see 20,000 people at a concert again, he says. The Small Business Administration’s Payroll Protection Program — an imperfect solution to an unprecedented problem — has benefited a lot of businesses. It's like something on TV," Jones said. Some gigs were rescheduled to this week -- but then came Mayor John Cooper's, "Everything just came to a standstill," Posey said. Playing at church gatherings, weddings and funerals can also be lucrative, he said, but those are canceled as well. She and her friends, mostly musicians and bartenders, don't know how long their lives will be disrupted. Over the past two decades, live performance has increasingly become what musicians rely on to make a living. He'd already taken on the loan, and unless Congress changes the rules for PPP, about 60 percent of it will become a debt. Holmes is one of many musicians who rely on church gigs, she said. In addition to the 47 self-employed workers he’d already cut loose, he let go of seven full-time staffers. Venues, badly damaged if not destroyed, canceled and postponed shows. As the bands play, viewers share photos as they dance in their living rooms, with the bar's staples -- cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon and fried bologna sandwiches -- in hand, she said. Holmes had shows canceled after the tornado, which spared the road where she lives but wrecked houses two streets over. Construction on the proposed hotel project may continue anyway, but the area was recognized at the top of Historic Nashville Inc.’s 2019 Nashville Nine list of endangered historic properties. Our lives depend on being around a bunch of people, being at a bar, being at a venue, being in close quarters," she said. It's spring, one of the best times to be working downtown -- or it was before the SEC Basketball Tournament and dozens of conventions were canceled earlier this month. In March, the COVID-19 pandemic began to creep across the U.S. As public spaces closed in an effort to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, the live-music economy — from dive bars to major festivals — ground to a halt, putting musicians, audio and lighting techs, stagehands, bar staff and most other people who make live music possible out of work. They offer a glimpse of what a cautious return to live audiences might look like, and it’s hopeful. He's spent his life defying expectations. “It’s two months — we asked for six, and we need, probably, 12,” Cobb says. JesseLee Jones, frontman for. Updated 1944 GMT (0344 HKT) March 22, 2020. “The economy of scale just isn’t what it used to be,” he says. Legends Corner on Broadway sits dark Wednesday. Venues, though, have had precious few ways to generate revenue beyond selling T-shirts and masks and launching crowdfunding campaigns. "It's a devastating, helpless feeling, and trying to find the hope -- trying to find the lighthouse in the storm -- it's hard to keep up," Cousins said. As of late August, the September calendar was nearly booked, but the number of people that the current iteration of The 5 Spot can pay is small. “We were hearing that from people who watched it from home, saying, ‘That was the best livestream I’ve seen this entire quarantine experience.’ And part of it has to be because Molly was feeding off of the crowd. Following the coronavirus closures, Holmes has had a half dozen shows nixed this month, including her 40th birthday gig at Rudy's Jazz Room, which was expected to draw a crowd. Sure, the wedding parties are postponed, he said, but spring is a time of rebirth. ... they’re working to see if there’s some sort of grants for musicians to create and play … Exit/In’s own house video rig is almost dialed-in, and they’ll produce more streams coming up. A full house of 100 guests came to the debut show in the Wine Garden with blues ace Keb’ Mo’. It's everybody's bread and butter," said. Definitely harder work mentally and emotionally. Most of the shows have been free streams on Facebook with a virtual tip jar for the artists, but the next step is to experiment with ticketed shows via the StageIt platform. Two techs help Sherwood produce the streams, and he’s been paying them out of his own pocket. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) - There is some positive news in the state's response to COVID-19. At 22, he left Sao Paulo with nothing, learned English listening to Marty Robbins and "Sesame Street," moved to Nashville to join the "hillbilly heaven" scene in 1994 and five years later bought one of the city's most famous honky tonks. We plan to proceed carefully to ensure we do not create a surge in COVID-19 cases that … “We love it because it uses the stage,” Cobb says of streaming. Residents are required to make an appointment to receive the vaccine. The current conditions are a vast improvement over the venue’s lowest point during the pandemic, when all but five salaried employees were furloughed, but it’s still a skeleton crew. So we’re about to learn in September if it is possible to even make a living at all doing this.”. (The bill also shares its name with NIVA’s call to action, featuring a form email that makes it easy for music fans to contact their representatives in Congress.) 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