Since the pandemic, people have been ordering all kinds of things online to be delivered to their doorstep — from groceries and garden tools to restaurant meals and must-have items like LED lightsaber chopsticks (really). So, why not live music?
That’s a question music promoter KC Turner (kcturnermusic.com) and singer-songwriter Megan Slankard were asking themselves as COVID-19 kept musicians out of work and their agents searching for creative outlets to reach their fans.
“This is something that’s been on my mind and we finally found a way to do it,” Turner says.
He and Slankard came up with a Driveway Concert series for people starved for live music to buy an hour-long performance in their driveway or backyard. If fans can’t go see their favorite performers, then their favorite performers would come to them.
“It’s curbside delivery, like DoorDash,” Turner says. “We’re bringing the show to you.”
The deal comes with COVID-19 protocols. Audiences are limited to 10 to 15 people, and everyone must wear masks and be at least 6 feet apart. Performers are unmasked when they’re singing, but stay 15 feet or more from their fans.
‘This is amazing’
Slankard, accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, kicked off the series, playing four shows a day over two days at different homes in the Bay Area. It was the first time she’d performed for a live audience since February.
“I was really nervous about being in front of people and wanting obviously to be safe for myself, but also feeling responsible for the attendees,” she says. “But after the first one, I was like, OK, this is amazing. It couldn’t have been safer.”
For her, the shows not only helped her pocketbook, they also gave her long-quarantined spirit a lift.
“My heart needed this,” she says. “It was so fulfilling to share my energy with people again.”
In addition to Slankard, Turner’s stable of Driveway artists includes singer-songwriters Steve Poltz and Tim Bluhm, as well as members of the progressive bluegrass band Poor Man’s Whiskey performing as an acoustic trio. Shows cost between $500 and $2,000, depending on the artist and travel time.
Sold out quickly
Turner, who booked shows at HopMonk Tavern in Novato before the pandemic, announced the series through social media and emails to performers’ fan bases. Available shows for some of the more popular artists sold out quickly.
“As soon as I put the word out it started to snowball,” he says. “People clearly miss live music.”
I tagged along last Sunday evening for a Poor Man’s Whiskey show at a home in the hills above Terra Linda in San Rafael. Turner and the three musicians — lead singer and banjo player Josh Brough, guitarist Jason Beard and bassist Skylar Stover — pulled up in the driveway, piled out of their car with their instruments and quickly set up a small PA on an elevated deck in the backyard that made for a perfect stage.
“This is amazing,” an excited Vanessa Phillips, who was there with her husband, Shannon, enthused.
She thought back to the last time she’d heard live music at the beginning of March, saying, “It feels like so long ago.”
This was the band’s third and final show of the day. The day before, the trio had played at homes in San Anselmo and Mill Valley. Turner, an up-and-coming impresario who describes himself as “talent buyer, promoter and rock star,” apologized for running 15 minutes late, explaining that they’d hit unexpected traffic driving from an afternoon gig at a remote farm in Sebastopol. Before the Driveway series, Poor Man’s Whiskey had last performed at the Fillmore in San Francisco 11 months ago.
“From the Fillmore to your backyard,” said Turner, introducing the band to about a dozen family members and friends of the co-hosts.
Happy fans
The small crowd was spread out on the expansive, multi-level deck with an oak tree studded hillside as a scenic backdrop. Most of the folks who were there were already fans of the band and stood clapping and singing along as the trio played a set of original songs and covers for more than an hour. They appropriately included an original tune called “Hard Times.”
“Normally, we’d have a big group hug right now,” Brough, co-founder of the band, joked after he and his fellow musicians played their final encore.
The little gathering was still buzzing as the musicians hawked some of their merchandise and packed up to go.
“It’s a privilege to miss live music more than anything else, but it’s nevertheless the thing I miss the most. I crave it,” says co-host David Benin, a communications professor at St. Mary’s College. “Supporting all the artists I like via livestream is something I do, but it’s not quite the same. So, it’s amazing to have the opportunity get to do this with my friends.”
Contact Paul Liberatore at p.liberatore@comcast.net
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Can’t go hear live music because of COVID? Have it come to you - Marin Independent Journal
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