Coronavirus affecting Ottawa scene
Juno-nominated Ottawa hitmakers Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine were scheduled to spend more than a week on the road this month, showcasing their music and networking with music industry executives in sunny Texas.
The novel coronavirus, however, has spoiled those plans.
The two 26-year-old musicians were expecting to fly directly from the Juno Awards in Saskatoon this weekend to Austin. They were among hundreds of acts thrilled to have been chosen as official showcase artists for the annual South By Southwest music festival and conference.
It would have been the first appearance in Texas for the pop duo and a valuable opportunity to rub shoulders with industry bigwigs from around the world in hopes of expanding their music career beyond Canada’s borders. They even dropped a punchy new single, Want You Back, for the occasion.
“We’ve had support from people in the States and Europe, but to go and meet these people and show that we’re real people, not just faces on the internet, it was a cool opportunity,” Woods said.
“There were so many people in Austin that we were looking forward to meeting.”
But fears of the spread of the coronavirus prompted the City of Austin to declare a local state of emergency, forcing organizers to pull the plug Friday on the long-running festival, considered one of the most important events on the music-industry calendar.
The ripple effect of the SXSW cancellation can be felt in every corner of the world’s entertainment business as travel plans are cancelled, venues step up cleaning procedures and festival organizers fret about their events.
Seattle rock band Pearl Jam was one of the first major acts to postpone a North American tour until the fall, including the Ottawa concert originally scheduled for March 20 at the Canadian Tire Centre.
Meanwhile, the summer’s biggest local music festival, RBC Bluesfest, is reassuring patrons that preparations are continuing as planned for the event, which is scheduled to run July 9-19 at LeB reton Flats Park and features Rage Against the Machine, Marshmello, Blink-182 and Alanis Morissette, to name a few of the headliners.
“The RBC Bluesfest team is currently reviewing its health and safety protocols to ensure it is adopting best practices. We are in contact with Ottawa Public Health and will continue to monitor their daily updates,” reads a statement issued Tuesday. It notes there are no reported cases in Ottawa.
The National Arts Centre is also taking a show-must-go-on approach, while also adding extra cleaning as it continues to monitor public-health information.
“All shows and events are going on as planned,” wrote the NAC’s Carl Martin, a senior communications adviser, in an email. “We’ve put out extra hand sanitizer throughout our public spaces. Our cleaning staff has also increased the wiping down of surfaces such as door handles, handrails, tables and elevator panels.
“If an outbreak is declared, any decision to cancel shows or events will be made based on verified information and directives issued by the appropriate public health authorities (such as the Public Health Agency of Canada).”
Other Ottawa venues have seen cancellations or postponements related to the outbreak. Comedian Maz Jobrani postponed his current tour until the fall, a decision that bumped his March 7 performance at Algonquin Commons Theatre to Oct. 9.
Another March 7 show that didn’t happen was the Mauskovic Dance Band, originally booked to play Queen Street Fare. The Amsterdam band had booked a North American tour leading up to their appearance at SXSW, and when that was cancelled, they were faced with a tough decision.
“We have looked over every option in order to bring this show to you and we are heartbroken that this is the decision that has to be made,” they wrote on social media, “... to cancel a whole tour is not something (we) take lightly.”
Ottawa-born classical pianist Angela Hewitt has been affected by the outbreak, too, with this month’s recitals in Milan and Florence called off under a government decree that cancelled all public events in Italy. She also runs the Trasimeno Music Festival in Italy, and is uncertain of its status this year.
But her concert Wednesday night at the Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre will go ahead, presented by Ottawa Chamberfest. It’s the second-to-last concert of a 12-part series dedicated to playing the entire Bach catalogue.
As for the Junos in Saskatoon, organizers at the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences said Monday the awards show scheduled for Sunday and the festivities leading up to it will proceed as planned. “We will continue to monitor developments and will act accordingly and advise if the situation changes,” CARAS said in a statement.
That’s good news for Woods and Fine, who are up for pop album of the year and group of the year, and are looking forward to appearing at the Juno Songwriters’ Circle and Fan Fair.
“We’re super fortunate just to be nominated,” Woods said. “Those are massive categories that we didn’t know we’d get nominated in. It feels like one of those moments: Damn, people are listening and paying attention, and getting excited about the music.”
And if it’s cancelled at the last minute, they’re happy to spend the time working on songs.
“Writing is really important to us right now,” says Fine, who’s unable to resist joking about the situation: “And writing we can do in isolation, with our stacks of toilet paper and hand soap.”