Editor’s note: This is the first of a three-part series about COVID-19’s effect on Brown County’s arts scene.
The COVID-19 pandemic putting a stop to gatherings, like catching a show at a bar or club, is an inconvenience for some. For others, it’s a pause on their full-time jobs.
The Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band — the Rev on guitar and lead vocals, Breezy Peyton on the washboard and Maxwell Senteney on drums — travels around the world performing country blues. For the past 14 years, touring has been The Rev and Breezy’s full-time jobs.
“Since the middle of March, all of our stuff has been cancelled and stopped entirely,” The Rev said.
“In all of the modern ways people listen to music, that money doesn’t really trickle down to the artist, and there isn’t much money there anyway. The way people make money in the music business now is by playing live shows.
“When you can’t play live shows, there’s just nothing coming in.”
It’s not just the trio’s livelihood that’s been affected by the halt of live performances. “Our crew, the rest of our band, management, agents, record labels, publicists, publishing, you name it. There’s a lot of people just with our band,” Peyton said last week.
Jayme Hood and John Bowyer have been performing as The Hammer and the Hatchet for six years all over the Midwest. They finished their third album recently, and had decided to make the “big financial leap” to put it on vinyl when the pandemic hit.
Their record release party and other events have been cancelled. They are still doing a pre-sale for the album on vinyl, but the records are not even pressed yet, because the factory they are using in Ohio is closed.
Fans can get a digital copy of the album while they wait for their vinyl copy, Hood said.
“It’s been a couple of weeks of, ‘What are we doing? What does this look like?” she said last week.
For performers, there’s also an emotional tie to not being able to visit so many of your favorite places.
The Hammer and the Hatchett usually performs at the Brown County Inn and at the Story Inn each fourth weekend of the month. They also play at the Brown County Playhouse, Mike’s Dance Barn, the Port Hole Inn and the Bill Monroe Music Park and Campground — all of which can no longer have live music or gatherings right now due to the pandemic.
“We love all of those places,” Hood said.
Side hustles
Chuck Wills has been singing and playing guitar and mandolin in Brown County for about 11 years now. He’s played once or twice a month at Country Heritage Winery, Brown County Inn and Big Woods, as well as outside the county.
Wills has a full-time day job, but “it’s safe to say the reason I have a day job is so that I can buy guitars and go out and have fun playing music on the weekend,” he said.
The restrictions on gatherings in restaurants and bars have not affected Wills as much as his other musician friends, but he feels for them.
“I see a lot of my friends that this has really put them more in an unemployed type situation. I think most musicians have a side hustle of one kind or another, but this is definitely been pretty serious for a lot of the musician folks,” he said.
Hood and Bowyer work side jobs, like painting houses and doing landscaping, along with touring.
“In order to book a schedule like that, you have to free your time up, so we did have to make like a decision, especially John, because I’ve worked flexible hours for years,” Hood said.
Bowyer stepped away from his job at a sawmill last summer to focus more on music while doing side jobs.
“We’re in our 40s, and it’s time, if we’re ever going to, we have success that has been building, and there’s anticipation for this album, so we’re like, ‘Now is the time. This is great.’”
Then, the world hit pause. Hood and Bowyer now home in Brown County where they have a small farm with work to be done. “We’re just trying to be grateful that we live in a beautiful place, we have people in the community we can reach out to if we feel like we need some kinship and we have each other,” Hood said.
“There’s still a lot to be grateful for. We’re all healthy.”
Foster has been a full-time musician his entire life. “You might say I have five businesses, four of which pertain to music: Performing, teaching, audio recording and stringed instrument repair,” he said.
His fifth job is a freelance web designer and hosting company, which has not been affected by the pandemic.
“All of my musical activities have come to a screeching halt,” he said. “No gigs, teaching has been relegated to online lessons only, and with folks watching every dollar these days, such niceties as music lessons have all but stopped. No studio sessions and no instrument repairs.”
Foster guitar and banjo as a solo act and in bands, at the Hob Nob Corner restaurant, Country Heritage Winery, the Brown County Inn, Mike’s Dance Barn and Hotel Nashville — “pretty much everywhere in Brown County, in addition to out-of-town gigs,” he said.
He had some savings, and his wife works in essential services, so they are doing OK right now, he said.
“Oddly enough, my day to day hasn’t changed much. We live out in the boonies of Brown County, and I would seldom ever leave the homestead except to go gig or teach,” he said.
Musician Dan Kirk is retired, and his gigs had helped to supplement his income. He misses that aid, but he has hope.
“This will end, and when it does, I hope everyone will still support all the musicians,” he said. “We will continue to keep rock and roll alive one memory at a time.”
Virtual tourism
Michele Wedel sits on the Nashville Arts and Entertainment Commission. She is working with the Brown County Convention and Visitors Bureau on bringing “virtual tourism” to visitors during the pandemic, when travel is not being advised.
The group is asking artists to submit videos introducing themselves and their work, or longer videos talking about the basics of their area of expertise, like stone carving and painting.
Those videos would then be distributed using the CVB mailing list.
For musicians, the CVB is asking them to put together schedules of live performances, so the CVB can promote their virtual concerts.
The point is to “keep the live experience vibe going, but then also to keep the new music out and to help entertain folks, especially now that we’re going to be at home longer. Any little escape like that would be helpful,” Wedel said.
“If you look at any society, and especially Brown County, every society has some form of art, some form of music, some form of creative expression, and especially during times like this, it can help,” Wedel said.
“We also want to keep our artists spirits up and keep them engaged. We want to keep them top of mind for our visitors, so when they do come back down here, they can understand. Maybe folks who only come down here to ride mountain bikes, maybe now they can get a clue and really kind of get an understanding of some of the other things we do out there.”
Technology has also allowed musicians to record music with each other from afar along with hosting livestreams or video performances.
“I got an email from one of my friends yesterday that said, ‘Hey, we have all of this technology. I missing seeing you. Let’s use this to make some music.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, let’s figure it out and do it,’” Wills said.
Staying afloat
Foster said he hesitates to ask the community to worry about musicians during this time because they are just like everyone else.
“We chose to be in a business where any little downtick in the economy can, and usually will, impact our opportunities to work,” Foster said.
“We can get back to supporting local artists once our own families are safe.”
He does have a Paypal account set up, like other musicians have done, to earn some extra cash during this time if folks can spare it. His can be found at: www.paypal.me/stringdancer.
He also may take advantage Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program for self-employed people. The Indiana Department of Workforce Development is still working to set this up.
Hood and Bowyer have savings and will continue to do some side work, as well as look into grant opportunities throughout the state.
“We’re just trying to survive on our own right now: Sell our music, sell our merch, play livestreams and do the PayPal link,” she said.
“My musician friends that are on our level, doing what we do, a lot of us have been really amazed by people’s generosity, but we also really struggle with asking people for anything when everyone is off work,” she said.
All of the Rev. Peyton Big Damn Band’s shows have been cancelled this spring, but shows are still being booked for the summer in hopes the restrictions will be lifted by then. The uncertainty of when life will return to a relative normal is the most difficult part, he said.
“If we were told, ‘It’s going to be this date,’ and the date is way back, it would be like, ‘OK, let’s plan for that,’ but there’s no way to plan for that, really. It’s literal day by day,” Peyton said.
To be proactive during this time, Peyton started a Patreon account. Fans on Patreon.com can pay to join different tiers and get access to extra content, like new videos and music, with plans to also offer merchandise down the road, by visiting www.Patreon.com/bigdamnband, Peyton said.
“A lot of your fans can come together and crowdfund and be your patrons so you can continue making art. … We’ve been telling our fans to sign up and it’s off to a good start,” he said.
“We’ve been making videos from home, just have been trying to take this time off to keep working, keep writing, so when we can get back out there, we’ll be ready to go,” he said.
“It’s a frightening time. We’re trying to be positive,” he added.
“We have to stay afloat, keep the lights on for the next few months until we get back to playing live shows again.”
The Hammer and the Hatchett are also on Patreon. They plan to do more live streams from their Facebook page. Anyone who wishes to donate to their virtual tip jar or contribute to their Paypal account can do so by visiting their Facebook page.
They also have their album for sale online, with more merchandise to come at thehammerandthehatchett.com, Hood said.
The band recently went over to Rainwater Studios to put together a video for their new song, “The Morel Mushroom Hunter’s Blues,” featuring photos from more than 20 locals of their morel stashes. It’s available for streaming on YouTube now.
Putting up content on Patreon and making YouTube videos helps keep the Rev and Breezy busy at home in Brown County. But like many other residents, they lack an internet connection that would allow them to livestream music at this time.
For now, Peyton set up a studio in his living room to make YouTube videos. He also has been doing a series of “hillbilly home workout” videos.
This is a time when the band usually would be on the road, so Peyton said he has had more time to write new music for a record. Their production schedule was pushed back due to the pandemic.
“Some of what I had intended for the next record, it’s like, ‘Nah, back burner. I have new stuff to talk about now.’ People are struggling in a completely different way,” he said.
“Good songs are hard to find, but I’ve been finding a lot of good songs lately. … I don’t hardly ever write songs on the road. I only write songs at home.”
One of their hit singles is “Poor Until Payday.” The couple is not a stranger to difficult financial times; when they first started touring, they were homeless. “Life has sort of prepared us for it,” Peyton said.
“The one nice thing about Brown County is it would be tough to starve around here. … I know a dozen people with enough canned food to last us all for the next two or three years, so at least that’s one thing we don’t have to worry about.”
Until life returns to normal, Peyton said they will focus on being flexible and proactive and a positive example through this all.
“As a musician, we’re pretty much dead in the water for doing shows, and for how long, we don’t know, but we’re just trying to stay as flexible as we can,” he said.
“Everybody has to navigate this, and at the other side of it, hopefully, we’ll end up being OK and be better. It’s the only thing I can hope.”
