‘This is the first time I have ever busked in my life’

The coronavirus pandemic has led to many firsts for the many musicians who have had no venues to perform in since the lockdown for live events began in mid-march. For blues-rocking guitarist Laura Chavez, the pandemic has led her from those shuttered venues to the streets — at least when it comes to performing.

“I’ve been busking in Little Italy every weekend with Chickenbone Slim and his bassist and drummer, and this is the first time I have ever busked in my life,” said Chavez, who usually does at least 250 concerts a year on the road.

“Busking was never something I thought I would do,” she continued. “People in Little Italy have been respectful. They keep their distance, wear masks and enjoy the music safely. And we’ve actually come out fairly well, money-wise (from tips), about the same as we would if we played a weekend club or restaurant gig here in town. We all kind of look at it the same way. Busking is fun. It gives us a chance to play. And we’re doing more than if we were sitting at home not doing it.”

Sitting at home is something Chavez was happily unaccustomed to before the pandemic struck.

As the guitarist in two bands — one led by North Carolina singer Nikki Hill, the other by Philadelphia saxophonist/singer Vanessa Collier — she is constantly traveling. Chavez is also the fleet six-string ace in the house band for the annual Blues Caravan tours, which are produced by Germany’s Ruf Records and crisscross the European continent. This year’s edition, which was curtailed after its February leg because of the pandemic, also featured San Diego singer Whitney Shay. She and Chavez did a separate one-week tour of Russia in January.

“I’m usually out of town 300 days a year,” the devoted guitarist said, speaking from her Hillcrest apartment. “Everything was set up for me to be here two to three days at a time, then go back on tour, which is what I’ve done since I moved to San Diego from the Bay Area two years ago.

“So, it’s weird to have been here since March, and I’ve started to rearrange things to make it a more permanent living space. It was a big adjustment, especially at the beginning of the pandemic. I didn’t touch a guitar for so long that my callouses pretty much wore off. I don’t have a car, and I’ve never had a driver’s license, so I’m walking everywhere.”

Chavez grew up in the San Jose/mountain View area, took up guitar in grade school, and has been a professional musician since 18. She became a favorite with audiences here, and beyond, after joining the band of San Diego vocal favorite Candye Kane in 2008. Chavez subsequently became Kane’s musical director and was featured on three of her albums, as well as in the charismatic singer’s autobiographical musical “The Toughest Girl Alive,” which debuted in 2013 at Moxie Theatre.

Kane died of cancer in 2016. Chavez, one of her closest friends, was devastated. Six months later, in early 2017, she accepted an invitation to join the band of blues, rock and soul singer Hill. All of the guitarist’s tour dates with Hill since March have been canceled, as have all her shows with saxophonist/singer Collier.

“Lots of dates from this year are rescheduled, hopefully, for next year,” Chavez said. “A lot of the big festivals we were booked for are planning to recycle their 2020 lineups in 2021. But it’s so hard to plan, because I feel a lot of them will start canceling again since there’s no real for-sure time that this pandemic will end.”

Chavez played a midaugust drive-in concert at the Del Mar Fairgrounds with Shay, whose most recent album features the guitarist. Apart from a private party, some informal front-porch concerts and busking on weekends in Little Italy, Chavez has had few non-online performance options. She commutes by train to give socially distanced guitar lessons to three students in Oceanside.

With her career on hold, Chavez has been able to pay her bills while trying not to dip into her savings too much. Without a second government stimulus bill, she is understandably concerned about the long-term impact of the pandemic.

“Financially, it’s rather bleak, but everybody is dealing with one thing or another,” she said. “The music industry has been hit so hard, and it will take so long to recover, that I’m thinking way more about the future than I ever have. I’ve been a professional musician since I was 18, and I don’t think I’ve ever made a dollar doing anything else. So, I don’t know what I would do. I think about it. I wonder. But I’ve made it through half my life doing music, so it’s hard to imagine what it would be.

“This has definitely been a blow to my livelihood and psychological outlook. I was used to being constantly busy performing music. It’s an emotional outlet, and it’s more than just an occupation or career. With all that’s going on in the world right now, it’s really hard to have that ripped away so suddenly.”

“Financially, it’s rather bleak, but everybody is dealing with one thing or another.” Laura Chavez