MUSIC THERAPY
100 DAYS OF MUSIC GETS A COUPLE THROUGH PANDEMIC
HAVERFORD » Like a lot musicians, Dave Cinaglia, 42, a lead singer with the Media party band The Whitewalls, faced the loss of a musical outlet after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down area music venues.
Then his wife Cia came to the rescue with an idea - a daily 7 p.m. Facebook concert that would both give him some practice and could remind their Facebook friends to wash their hands as the region looked to the get through the pandemic safely.
“We started as the Quarenteers. It’s purposefully misspelled, so we could give people a 20-second song to sing besides happy birthday twice,” said Cia. “It’s evolved to a song and COVID hygiene daily remainders.”
Each day would feature a new cover song borrowed from his 18-month time with the Whitewalls and 15 years with another band, The Dead Poets. Cia joined in to sing and play on tambourine. What the couple thought would be just a couple weeks of entertainment actually turned out to be months of good practice for when things would finally return to normal and Dave’s band would return to the circuit.
“It became clear that if I didn’t have the Quarenteers each night, I would have gone a little stir crazy,” said Dave. “Being able to think of a song and have to learn it, have to remember how to play it together, was nice.”
In addition to raising three sons and tutoring them at home during the pandemic, both have worked throughout the crisis. Cia is a nurse and Dave works in billing at a medical practice.
“I feel it’s important to make some kind of art that brings people joy when there is so much fear in the world,” said Cia. “It’s been a real commitment. It has been great to put it out there even when we didn’t “want to” because we didn’t want to let down the folks who watch, either live or later. “
They’ve had hundreds of followers each day and have had mostly good feedback. “We are loving making music and spreading a little bit of joy during this time.” said Cia. “It’s really about keeping morale up and reminding people daily of the recommendation for preventing the contraction and spread of COVID-19.”
The activity has also brought the two of them closer together. “I would suggest every husband and wife to they find something they can do together each day,” said Dave. “It’s been really nice working as a team.”
Being a professional, Dave has wanted to put out the best performance possible. He says one never knows if the song one picks is going to be the favorite of a listener or a couple’s wedding song bringing back special memories.
“Oh, I’m loving doing The Quarenteers every night,” said Dave, who sings and plays his guitar for most of the performances. “It can be difficult sometimes to pick a new song each day, but most of our ideas have come to us on the same day you hear us perform them. As a musician, it has been incredibly enjoyable to learn or even re-learn a song each day. Just being able to play all kinds of different songs from so many different eras every day has been quite satisfying. Plus, it gives people out there a chance to wonder what we might play next. And that’s one of the many reasons we are doing this each night. It’s our small contribution to everyone who is suffering through this pandemic.”
“Dave’s guitar playing has developed incredibly over this time,” Cia said. “He has always been a great singer and really carries the band. We have each chosen different songs over this time. It’s interesting to learn bands I love that he doesn’t and vice versa.”
The first song they performed was “All I Want to Do is Make Love to You” by Heart. That was 100 songs ago and the couple is still at it. On Monday evening, they performed Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” in honor of those returning to work. “We had this one planned for tonight and I thought for sure I was going to take lead vocals on it, but Cia pulled it out. I’m really impressed.”
“I’ve been singing that song since the movie came out,” joked Cia. “We can be a two-man karaoke jam band.”
The couple aren’t the only ones who have turned to social media for their music outlet. Drexel Hill resident John Taylor created the Delco Quarantine Open Mic Facebook Group which now has over 14,000
“I feel it’s important to make some kind of art that brings people joy when there is so much fear in the world.”
— Cia Cinaglia on making music
members and features live shows daily. Musicians can sign up daily for a 30-minute time slot, between noon all the way to 2 a.m. to perform live on Facebook.
Taylor said the feedback from the grateful homebound masses has been abundant and overwhelmingly positive.
“I have to go through my messages every hour at this point because people are saying, ‘Thanks for doing this; this is a great idea,’” he said. “People are telling me this has kept their sanity these last few days. One guy said, ‘I don’t know where I’d be without this open mic.’ It kind of took me back. I’m kind of helping lives and helping people get through this rough time just by making a simple (Facebook) group. When I first did this, I thought it was just going to be me, my friends, and kind of run an open mic that way. Then literally overnight it blew up, so it’s really cool to know the effect you’re having on people in the community.”
As closures from the pandemic wind down, Dave Cinaglia is finally back in front of a live crowd for the first time in months. The Whitewalls played the Laguna Rum Bar on the beach in Brigantine this past weekend and will be there for much of the summer.