Throughout the next few weeks, we will be sharing personal perspectives on the past year and a half throughout the COVID-19 pandemic from artists and those who work in the music industry.
The past year and a half during COVID certainly has been a roller coaster for me as a musician! The very last show I had was on March 13th 2020. My friends’ shows had already started cancelling but my shows seemed to still be on! We were playing in Florida and our show got cancelled halfway through sound check. We all went back to our hotels that night and email after email started coming in and all the shows I had booked for the year cancelled one after another…It was terrifying! I was so stressed and frantic about not being able to work and feeling like everything I had worked for was gone that I ended up getting really sick to the point where I couldn’t get through a full day without a nap and was so weak. Turns out I had developed severe allergies to EVERYTHING. Gluten, all preservatives, and pretty much any artificial food. A major diet change, tons of guitar and daily cuddles with my guinea pig (Gucci) got me through this time and I have even more energy than I did before COVID. Even with no shows, 2020 was the most musical year of my life. I had never played so much guitar or had the time to learn about music theory! I was attending Musicians Institute College online to learn as much about guitar as possible while working on my career as a solo artist as well and released my first single, “Elastic.” The music video for it featured wild stunts while playing guitar. The second that video came out, it was like a major switch was flipped and I saw myself as a total artist. I started writing more, released a second single “Diamonds Or Coal” and am excited to record more original music! The biggest take away I got from this time is that the most difficult situations can lead you to focus on yourself, help you grow and find your voice.