Epidemic just moves live music into different space

Groove Tube with Cian O’Connell

Along with every other sector of the city’s workforce, Galway’s community of artists is enduring a difficult period of confusion and frustration.  Isolation has impacted everyone in different ways and, as is the case for many, musicians will struggle to continue working in the coming months. With no operating venues, live music has had to find a way to adapt in the short term.

With one of the brightest and most important voices on the Galway music scene, Tracy Bruen is someone that a lot of local acts may look to for guidance in the near future.

Through the success of her inventive folk-pop (most recently January single Dream Away) as well as her role with Róisín Dubh’s acclaimed Open Mic night, Tracy has been a trailblazer in Irish music for a number of years and her advice in the current climate extends to supporters of local artists as well as the acts themselves.

“I think it’s impacted everybody in different but similar ways,” she says. “When it first happened, I kind of went into overdrive and decided to be as productive as possible so as not to waste a minute.

“I went at it like a lunatic trying to be productive and trying to learn new things and all of that.

“I wasn’t sleeping at night so it wasn’t really a healthy response either. As time passes on, I feel like we’re all finding a way.

“We’re all finding that we need connection and we’re all finding that we need to be either playing or performing in some way.”

One of the early responses to isolation has been livestreaming across social media sites.

Artists have performed live gigs from bedrooms and kitchens in an attempt to engage with audiences and, with a lot of people looking to fill more time than usual, the reception has been encouraging.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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