Double Bass Buckle up, It's going to be a bumpy ride

[rickwolff]

Yeah, I know that's a misquote, but perhaps more accurate and apropos to our current coronavirus pandemic.

The end of gigs for the duration. Any and all of you who 'play for a living' have my sincere sympathy. It's going to be a tough ride for quite some time, I think. I have subbed or canceled all of my upcoming gigs that weren't already canceled. I will not be accepting any new gigs until well after we can see the light at the end of the tunnel (god willing).

My wife and I are both 69 years old, so well within the 'higher risk group' for experiencing greater problems IF we were to contract the virus. We're taking this social distancing thing VERY seriously. Only going out to get groceries when necessary and even then going to the store at times that are less busy/crowded and keeping a physical distance as much as possible.

We're counting our blessings as being among the 'lucky ones' who have the luxury of not having to go to work. I'm very well aware that most people are not that fortunate.

If there is a silver lining here, it may be that we can rekindle a sense of community that seems to have been largely lost. We have decided to make substantial ongoing donations to the food bank locally and to look for ways we can have at least some immediate impact on helping those who need some help. I'm open to any additional suggestions.

For now, do what you can to stay healthy (wash your hands, avoid crowds). If you're in any position to help another please do so. If you have nothing else to share, share a smile or an encouraging word, if you are able to.

My best wishes for health and happiness to all Talkbass members and their friends and families.

Peace

 

[Don Hergert]

Thank you Rick. I think many of us here are in pretty similar circumstances regarding age. I'm recently retired, my wife still working as an RN in a hospital cardiology department. We're both 65. We are pretty comfortable at home, having sufficient supplies for a couple of weeks, so we're similarly avoiding large groups for the time being.

Our big concern is for people who can't work and have no benefits. Our oldest son is a part-time bartender, and with our Gov's newest "suggestion" to close all bars and restaurants, he may end up out of work with no income. He's also without health insurance, just barely disqualified for government programs by his normal income. He could move back in with us, but that's got its own emotional baggage for him. We may end up subsidizing his rent and expenses for a bit, hoping he stays healthy. I'm sure there are thousands of young people affected like this.

This week we were supposed to be jam hosting on a cruise which of course has been cancelled. So we're both around the house as much as possible, surrounded by wonderful instruments that we've been "hoarding" for the last 50 years, as well as our cats and little dog, getting lots of musical practice in together.

We do still have a musical engagement this Friday, a small church memorial for a friend who passed away. We intend to be there, but given the current situation it wouldn't surprise me if the church cancels.

Our music communities are probably among the most affected by cancellations, closings and quarantines. Many, many people who work music full time are experiencing immediate concern, living gig-to-gig, paycheck-to-paycheck, wondering about housing, food, utility and general bill expenses, most without health insurance, vacation pay or a retirement plan. I hope there is some relief coming for these people, very, very shortly.

Stay well, friends!

 

[Jay Corwin]

Here in NY State we are at DEFCON 5. All bars and restaurants have been closed down. Every gig is canceled. Local musicians are about to start losing their asses if that's their only source of income.

The whole service industry just lost their jobs in a day. This feels like it's going to get bad real fast now. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[unbrokenchain]

 

[210superair]

Here in NY State we are at DEFCON 5. All bars and restaurants have been closed down. Every gig is canceled. Local musicians are about to start losing their asses if that's their only source of income.

The whole service industry just lost their jobs in a day. This feels like it's going to get bad real fast now. I hope I'm wrong.

Michigan too closed all the restaurants, etc, today. Obviously it's getting bad, but I'm not worried for some reason. We're all in it together globally, and for some reason that's a comforting thought for me. There are other reasons I'm probably feeling that way though. Still, when it all shakes out, it'll be OK I think.

But for the short term, yeah, we're all #@$&ed....

 

[rickwolff]

I'm enjoying an upside to 'social distancing' Here's a picture of my dog, Tripp, and me at Jordan Lake State Park. I can hear the fish jumping and not a person in site.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Too busy to get outside because of the online teaching mandate here at the U, but first nice day I get I'm hopping on my bike and catching some rays. In the meantime, my geriatric cat is amusing both herself and me by "killing" the same stuffed rat in bloody battle and laying it at my feet - then expecting praise for it - like 20 times every day.

 

[Don Hergert]

We do still have a musical engagement this Friday, a small church memorial for a friend who passed away. We intend to be there, but given the current situation it wouldn't surprise me if the church cancels.

In case anyone was worried, this has just been cancelled. So we have a week completely off together before my wife goes back to work, kind of nice in a way. Some of our nicest vacations have been completely unplanned, mostly at home.

... And I went to our RV-storage yesterday to borrow paper products from our 25' RV, so we have toilet paper.

 

[unbrokenchain]

I'm a bit worried about our area considering downtown Avl and Blk Mtn were booming this weekend, no one seemed to be concerned at all, bars restaurants etc. were slamming. We shut down the doughnut shop last week and were the only thing closed, got a lot of strange looks through the window. But now we've figured out a way to leave doughnut boxes outside for no-contact pickup, online payments only. And just for @Don Kasper I've been making strides at a cro-nut. It's delectable already but there's a fine line with those layers, they smush together if I try and add too many. So apparently everyone's got TP, and we still got doughnuts.

 

[sean_on_bass]

Gigs cancelled and day job has us working from home until further notice. I only see myself leaving the house in the near future for a grocery store run. Probably time to try a new practice routine on the bass. I may try to write some original music as well and record some demos.

 

[Keith Rawlings]

I’m going to practice and get my taxes in order. ‘Tis the season to pay the Taxman!

 

[Don Kasper]

everyone's got TP, and we still got doughnuts.

What good is one, without the other???
Thanks!!

 

[BrotherMister]

In the UK we got advised to stay away from all public gatherings. Within 2 hours of that statement I’ve lost most of my work and expecting what’s left to vanish in the next day or two. I literally about to head to the dress for the theatre gig when I was told it was shut. Then the rest of the calls came...

A lot of places here are up in arms because the government not officially shutting places means insurance doesn’t need to pay out. So effectively the government has passed the buck and left it businesses to close and go out of business or open and go out of business because no one is coming out. It’s going to be a bumpy ride indeed!

 

[Pilgrim]

I'm 69 and retired last summer; my wife is 64 and working, but her meetings have pretty much disappeared. She is a regional director for Extension at Colorado State U, but the Extension office are pretty much all closing for the next couple of weeks. She'll be doing meetings and working mostly online.

I don't have any gigs scheduled in the near future, and I'm also not counting on being able to use my tickets to see The Who in Denver in late May. I have no confidence that it will be any better at that time.

Locally, the restaurants are closed for dine-in, but most are inviting you to carryout or get delivery so they can keep working. That makes sense to me - at least it's a way to support a lot of people who need to work.

We'll be hanging out at home a lot, and catching up on jobs around the house. My garage may get cleaned!!

 

[james condino]

On the positive side, every time my business hits a hard spot and and all work slows to a crawl, every one else's old broken junk goes away....and I finally get to build myself a new instrument!

 

[Uncorked]

We were in the middle of rehearsal today when the alert went out that all bars and restaurants are being closed here in the mountains of Colorado, so no gig on Sunday. Phew. Really didn't want to do it, but the bar owner was insisting we show and if we didn't we had to pay someone else to do it.

Otherwise stocked up 4 months of food, 30 books from the library. Travel trailer ready to go to remote quarantine spot if necessary.

Good luck and hope everyone comes out the other side ok.

 

[Carl Hillman]

‘Tis the season to pay the Taxman!

That reminds me. This was sent along to members of the Theater Musicians Association today.
I don't know exactly what the rules are, and filing for 2020 is over a year away, but it may pay to plan ahead.

"COVID-19 and your INCOME TAXES:

Taxpayers affected by disasters are often eligible to deductions and credits. It is 10 to 13 months until you file your tax year 2020 return.

If you experience expenses and loss of income due to the pandemic measures, you would be doing yourself and your tax preparer a favor by documenting now.

Some of this will be easy, like losing the value of a concert ticket or your spring break. Some of this will be murkier, like if you live on tips or sales commissions.

Save emails, download and save office email blasts, and note if you have colleagues who have had to quarantine as some employers could unscrupulously use this to oust employees, especially older ones who might be more likely to distance themselves socially for their own safety.


Hopefully people experiencing this will be the exception and not the rule, but if that turns out not to be the case, future you is going to be grateful that you did a little record-keeping."

 

[John Chambliss]

68 here, wife and I will both be 69 this year. Looking forward to more arco practice for one thing. Hoping for early warm spring weather and coffee on the patio - also wine!

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Trigger warning: extreme house cat gore kill attached. Not for the faint of heart!

Spoiler

 

[turf3]

Too busy to get outside because of the online teaching mandate here at the U, but first nice day I get I'm hopping on my bike and catching some rays. In the meantime, my geriatric cat is amusing both herself and me by "killing" the same stuffed rat in bloody battle and laying it at my feet - then expecting praise for it - like 20 times every day.

So, praise her!

Does she only have whiskers on one side of her face, or is that just a trick of the light?