Gigs move from the road to the information highway

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This article was published 16/04/2020 (2331 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Rayannah’s spring wasn’t supposed to look like this.

“I was meant to be on the road since March 15 up until the end of May,” says the Franco-Manitoban electro-soul artist, who released her full-length debut, Nos repaires, in March 2019.

But as concerts started being cancelled in Europe amid COVID-19 worries, she knew it was only a matter of time before she’d have to make the same difficult, but necessary, call.

At first, the heartbreak was blunted by the adrenaline of logistics and problem-solving involved in cancelling multiple dates. 

“Now that we’re seeing the dates fly by on the calendar, I definitely have a little moment every time a date passes,” she says.

Tonight, however, she has a date she can keep. Rayannah is kicking off MB Live Sessions, a 12-week virtual concert series spotlighting local artists, created in partnership between Manitoba Music and Manitoba Film and Music. The virtual concerts will take place every Thursday evening at 7 p.m. at facebook.com/manitobamusic.

The musicians, who will be performing from their homes, span genres, from Americana singer-songwriter Noah Derksen (who performs April 23) and Latin/jazz singer-songwriter Amber Epp (April 30) to rapper Hellnback (May 7). More artists will be announced in the coming weeks.

“Musicians aren’t on the road, they aren’t playing shows, and they’re not touring,” says Manitoba Music executive director Sean McManus. “From our perspective, working with musicians day in and day out, we know that it’s in their DNA to perform. We knew that artists were looking for ways to do this online, opportunities to do it online and connect with audiences.”

“It’s truly a gift to get to connect with people in that way right now,” Rayannah says. “I’m constantly reminded of how lucky I am personally and how lucky we are, those of us who have access to those mediums right now.”

Still, migrating online hasn’t been without its challenges — such as getting accustomed to performing in an empty room. 

“Touring musicians, we’re all in a pretty aggressive learning curve right now to figure out how to adapt our setups to translate in a way that works on these platforms,” she says with a laugh. This is especially true for an artist such as Rayannah, who performs with a intricate loop-pedal setup. 

That’s precisely why Manitoba Music will be producing the virtual concerts with support from local production team the Village Idiots. 

“They’re going to be able to coach the artists on how to get a great sound, what they can use out of the gear they have at home, to set up so they can stay safe but create something that really sounds good and looks good, how to light themselves,” McManus says, adding that each concert will be presented by alternating hosts, composer/bassist/arranger Ashley Au and the Lytics’ Anthony Sannie.

“We wanted to do something that was a bit more special than a musician sitting on a couch,” McManus says.

Because these will be virtual concerts with some production value, Rayannah will still be able to work with some of her regular collaborators — including Saskatoon visual artist Stephanie Kuse, whose projections are part of Rayannah’s live show. Adapting the live experience for Facebook has allowed her to flex different creative muscles.

The singer-songwriter has also noticed some unexpected positives to the mass pivot to livestreaming, especially with respect to the accessibility of live music. 

“There are some people who have watched my shows that have never been able to make it to a live show, for whatever reason,” she says. “I think there’s something around accessibility that’s really important and something that maybe we can carry on further, not just when we’re in a pandemic.”

Rayannah also predicts this new reality will open a larger, longer conversation about the sustainability of online content creation.

“What this series does and what other series are attempting to do as well, is find a way for content creators to do that and also still earn a wage,” she says. “I think it’s amazing that Manitoba Film and Music and Manitoba Music and are doing that.

“We have no choice but to have the conversation around online content and how we can make that work.”

jen.zoratti@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @JenZoratti