Published July 10, 2020
Part 3 in our series called The Day the Music Died, featuring tales from people across the music industry sharing how the pandemic has affected them, their art and their life’s work.
In this week’s edition, Ben Morrison — singer-songwriter and founding member of The Brothers Comatose and Terrier — is our teller of tales of music and pandemia. Here, Ben delivers the hellish and the healthy of being a touring musician when something not so much unlike a plague of locusts calls a booming TIME OUT! in the known worlds.
~ NWM
Ben Morrison. Photos courtesy of Ben Morrison.
Awesome to Tiresome
The quarantine, for me, has actually been pretty great.
Normally, my daily schedule consists of waking up in a motel bed, taking a minute to remember what city I’m in, packing up the van and then driving hours down the road to the next club to do it all over again … which is awesome. …
But that life can get tiresome and this stay-at-home order has been such a great reset button for me. I get to spend time with my wife and cook and take neighborhood walks. I get to practice a lot and do lots of live streaming. I do a lot of things I normally have no time for.
“This stay-at-home order has been such a great reset button for me.”
The Long and Winding …
Don’t get me wrong; I’m itching to get back out on the road and play some dirty clubs as soon as I possibly can. But this quarantine has made me hit the pause button and take a long look at the industry and what music means to me.
Unfortunately, I don’t make money by not playing live shows — my main source of income. I have been live streaming a couple times a week to keep me sane and to connect with folks all around the world. It’s definitely no substitute for playing in a packed room to people singing along to your songs, but it’s a great way to connect with fans from all over the world in the meantime.
On the Web Again
Each week, I get people tuning in from Germany, Australia, Brazil and all over the U.S. It’s amazing to be able to have some sort of connection while I’m sitting with my guitar in my room at home. Blows me away every time. I don’t think we’ll be back to playing actual clubs indoors for a good while, so I’m trying to make the best of it.
“I don’t think we’ll be back to playing actual clubs indoors for a good while…”
I’ve got big plans to turn my streams into more of a variety show with guests and all that — that’s been keeping me busy these days. I’m still awaiting that phone call from our manager telling us shows are back on, but in the meantime I’ll stay hunkered down, write some new songs and do what I can to entertain the masses virtually until we can get back out there and feel what it’s like to play music face to face again.
When live music lived. The Brothers Comatose cover “Eleanor Rigby” by The Beatles … in an elevator.
Ben Morrison and Erika Tietjen on their wedding day.
Ben Morrison is a native San Franciscan singer-songwriter and performing and recording artist. He is a founding member of The Brothers Comatose with his brother Alex and of Terrier with his bride, Erika Tietjen, of Oakland’s T Sisters.
To learn more and to buy stuff go to: http://www.thebrotherscomatose.com/
And here: https://tsisters.com/
Read more about Ben Morrison in our The Brothers Comatose: Harmony and Strings.
You may also like our previous entries in The Day the Music Died.
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