Hey socials! There were whispers of coronavirus before we headed out on tour, but who could have predicted this!? Got a few weeks in, and then, as you know, things started to get crazy fast! We shifted gears, and just yesterday I was granted a temporary Visa to stay here in New Zealand whilst the world rides out this storm.
Here’s what happened. Got to New Zealand mid February and had our first gig a few days later – it was a laugh! First time seeing the NZ musicians again. We jammed whatever we wanted to a bar full of happy-go-lucky beach goers 😎🎶🙌 Spent a couple days catching up with friends and feeling the jet lag, then headed into the studio to work on the new collaborative project with Kenny MacDonald. For three weeks we were in the studio during the week and gigging on the weekends. What we’ve come away with is something wholly new to me, and I’m very excited to share it with you when it’s ready!!!! Kenny’s music is a sort of alternative pop-rock, and Kenny is writing the music while I write melody and lyrics. We’re 4 songs into the collaborative project, and since we’re on a forced break from further production, we’re going to continue writing more new music in this vein. I smell and album 👏 Stay tuned for progress reports on that!
Three weeks later, the pandemic was on, and we were tracking its progress across the globe, deciding what our plan of action would be. The tour would have to end early of course, but stay here in NZ where there were not yet any confirmed cases (there are now about 1000 confirmed cases in NZ), or fly back to the US? And if back to the US, to San Francisco or Detroit? What would the options cost? Visa? Etc Etc. I had already been offered a couple opportunities, Visa permitting, to stay in NZ for longer than prescribed to A) further the project with Kenny B) live with my new friend and lover (yes, it’s the Irishman from before!) while I work on this music project. If I wanted to pursue these things I would have to decide now and make it happen post haste!
Luck was with us, and though we are in complete lockdown here just as you all back in the states are, I was able to jump through all the necessary hoops in time to be granted a Visa for the next 6 months! By then we should have a better idea of what the impacts of this coronavirus will be, and I will have had 6 months to work on my New Zealand projects! My apologies for not posting sooner, but it really has been a crazy couple months working around this pandemic!
I don’t have much to show for the three weekends of gigs we did manage to play before everything stopped. We put out the call for people present to take and share videos, and some did – all covers, and poor recording quality, but hey! Beggars can’t be choosers. I’ll send what video we got to interested patrons in a private post #behindthescenes style! Just comment below or send a PM!
Hope everyone is well! I know these are difficult times for people. Let me know if there are any songs I can cover, or anything else I can do to help you through this. I managed to get a simple setup together where I’m at before we went into lockdown, and I’m ready to get it up and running! Times like these are when words often fail, and as they say, “where words fail, music speaks”
It’s great to be back!
Musically yours,
Maggie