Loving from afar only needs wifi

Well, this is a brand-new world we are all living in. No gigs in any venues – even in private buildings or gardens – as public gatherings are now banned to help minimise coronavirus infection and “flatten the curve”. Musicians the world over are isolated in their own homes and have started to broadcast performances to the internet via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other digital outlets.

Musicians – as well as folks from many other walks of life – now have absolutely no previously recognised means of making money, so these internet performances are presently their only income.

Broadcasts are linked to a Paypal account in the artist’s name and online donations can be made by viewers. Some have a Patreon page where donations are made for content, while some have been generously doing home broadcasts for charity.

I’d encourage people to go online to websites or directly to artists to buy CDs, T-shirts and other merchandise to support their favourite musicians.

So this week, and in columns to come, I am on the lookout for artists to recommend to you. Davy Cowan played and filmed himself and his son Sam playing a house concert in aid of local Inverness/Highlands charity Mikey’s Line on Friday March 27.

The concert attracted 400 viewers and raised £475 for the charity.

Davy and Sam plan to do more of these Facebook live concerts and I’d fully recommend keeping an eye out for the next ones.

Another local artist putting out home concerts is Andy Murray.

He can be found on Facebook and will take your requests for songs including “cheesy covers” – his words, not mine.

Andy will be familiar to those who frequented the music pubs of Inverness in pre-lockdown days.

A little further afield, my friend Boo Hewerdine has had a long career in music from his time with band The Bible, along with his solo work and being part of Eddi Reader’s band.

He has a Facebook presence and a Patreon page, and has been putting up interesting snippets and films from throughout his career which the fans can virtually pay to view.

He’s also been posting some live performances which are free on Facebook.

Even further afield, in the US of A, Charlie Roth is filming and putting out live performances from his home in Minnesota, in a show called “Four songs at 3pm” every day. That is Minnesota time, so here in Scotland you can see him at 9pm – join him and let him know I sent you!

Don’t miss next week’s your life for columnist Marie Q’s take on the north-east music scene.

Andy Murray will be taking requests