Jonny Sterling (from his Facebook page)
Jonny Sterling on Facebook on 5/12/20: I think I just figured out why this is so hard on musicians (not just because of the lack of income from gigs…). “The show must go on”. It’s not just some cute saying.
I was on my way to a rehearsal when I got the news that my Sister had died. I almost didn’t go to an audition after my Mom died because I was depressed, but I went anyway, thinking they would just laugh me out of the theatre, and it turned out to be THE audition that made my career…
A drummer friend of mine was on his way to a gig when he found out his mother had passed. I did the rehearsal, I did the audition, and he did the gig.
And every musician has a story like this: I was so sick one time on my way to a gig that I got half way there (Aspen – so half way was a long way) and almost turned around and went home, but I was integral to the show, so I went and the band set up my gear for me and I sat shivering on the edge of the stage until I needed to play my parts and I feebly got up and struggled to the keyboard and played them and then went and shivered on the side of the stage until I was needed again… “The show must go on…”
But, the show has stopped, and it’s very strange. I know it will “go on” eventually, but for now it has stopped… And… it’s very strange. We are the ones who stand on the deck of the Titanic playing our instruments until the sinking ship engulfs us, dying in the midst of the show, just to keep it going.
Luckily, the Titanic is not sinking, just injured, but will limp into port and get fixed up. So we do what we can through a screen, but there is nothing like the symbiotic relationship between two or more musicians playing together in close proximity, and the audience that showers them with adoration. “The show will go on”, but it’s gonna be a while and… It’s very strange…
https://www.facebook.com/jonny.sterling.9
Jonny Sterling is a Guest Lecturer at CU Denver Music & Entertainment Industry Studies Department; Works at Musician, Keyboard Player, Singer