‘My livelihood has been taken away’

Gregory Page, 57, is a singer-songwriter whose 18th and most recent album, “One Hell of a Memory,” was released in November on Jason Mraz’s label, Interrabang Records. Page’s most recent poetry book, “Growing Smaller,” was published in April. gregorypage.

My last show before the world went to hell in a handbag was at the Ramona Library on March 10, 2020. It was a free midday concert in the library’s community room, and people knew you could get cookies and coffee, so some showed up for the free snacks and some for the concert. I opened with my song “Green Lights and Blues Skies.” It has a very hopeful and positive feel that takes on more meaning now than when I wrote it in 2018. That song, which Jason Mraz recorded with me, has had 250,000 streams on Spotify.

At that Ramona show, the librarian told the audience that all future shows at the library had been canceled due to the “new flu bug.” I had just gotten a “new” 1971 Martin guitar, and that was my first show I did with it, and — for now — my last. Somebody in the audience coughed, and I was a little worried. That same day, I got a call that all my upcoming concerts at assisted-living homes and memory-care facilities in San Diego had been canceled. Later that same week, the real blow came when my spring tour of Europe was suddenly canceled. Then, my fall tour of Europe was canceled.

It seems like the news during the pandemic has focused mostly on restaurants and gyms having a hard time, with little about the music and cultural communities that are also struggling to survive. When I am not on tour, I usually perform three

to five times a week in San Diego and around the county. Since the live-events lockdown, it’s been more than 11 months of canceled shows and tours.

What kept me going has been the idea that my 2021 spring tour of Europe will be happening, and now that looks like it’s on the chopping block. I haven’t bought a plane ticket yet, but there’s a 50-50 chance I’ll be going in April to do seven club shows, all with limited capacity. I won’t make any money from them, but I am so eager to get back out there.

I’m desperately afraid of catching COVID, but I’m equally afraid of catching “cancel-itis.” My livelihood has been taken away. If it wasn’t already a blow to independent musicians that their recorded music is available for free to stream online, the fact that — as a performing songwriter — all my live engagements have been taken away is about as scary as it comes.

I live month to month with government assistance. I have the emergency rental assistance helping me out with rent and EDD benefits as a gig worker. I am grateful for all this, but it’s not at all where I ever thought I would find myself. This is the first time in my life I have had a steady income, so I guess that is something good that has come out of the pandemic. Thanks for listening to me. I know my position seems so petty while others are fighting for their lives on ventilators.

“Since the live-events lockdown, it’s been more than 11 months of canceled shows and tours.”

JEFF WIANT