For more than a year now, the state of America's live music industry has been a grim one.
The COVID-19 pandemic threw hundreds of thousands of musicians, roadies and other touring industry professionals out of work, according to the Country Music Association. In Tennessee alone, the industry's unemployed number around 50,000.
Compounding the problem, the jobs in restaurants and other hospitality businesses that have long sustained out-of-work entertainers were drastically slashed, too.
Now, in response to the crisis, the music association is expanding its efforts to help the industry's needy. It's announcing Monday that it will provide 4 million meals in cities with large populations of musicians and music industry professionals in a new partnership with Feeding America.
The trade organization鈥檚 foundation will also launch a donation challenge to fund an additional 1 million meals throughout all of Feeding America's food banks. And its Music Industry COVID Support (MICS) Initiative will help those in Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon.
All of that will come on top of $3 million that the CMA has invested in numerous nonprofits that serve music professionals.
鈥淣obody wants to think about their friends or colleagues going without food,鈥� said Sarah Trahern, the association鈥檚 CEO. 鈥淏ut I鈥檝e been out at a couple of the food banks that we鈥檝e done work with over the last year, and it鈥檚 us. As people, you think, 鈥楾here but for the grace of God go I.鈥欌��
鈥淚 feel like by next year we鈥檙e going to be in good stead,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut a lot of those people will have gone 18 months to 24 months without salaries in their chosen fields. And then you can鈥檛 put a roof over your head or put braces on your kids or put food on the table.鈥�
The need to help those musicians and music industry professionals make it through the next few months is why the CMA opted to expand its MICS initiative. And it鈥檚 why country superstar Blake Shelton said he is proud to have been part of the initiative in helping drum up financial support for the food banks.
鈥淭here are a lot of people struggling in our country, and COVID has only made that worse,鈥� Shelton said in an interview with The Associated Press. 鈥淧eople are going to bed hungry at night now more than ever, and I just can鈥檛 live with that. I鈥檝e been passionate for a long time about helping folks get the food they need.鈥�
Since beginning his recording career in 2001, Shelton has never been off the road for as long as he has now, though his work on 鈥淭he Voice鈥� has kept him busy when he hasn鈥檛 been on his Oklahoma ranch with his fianc茅e, Gwen Stefani, and their families. He said he feels fortunate to have been able to keep paying his band and crew over the past year, allowing his band members to be 鈥渂usy working on different musical projects, keeping their skills sharp!鈥�
鈥淭his pandemic has affected people all across the country, working in all different kinds of industries, from restaurants to schools to travel,鈥� Shelton said. 鈥淲hat more can be done? The world is starting to open up again, and tours and shows are being announced daily. So go support your
That鈥檚 what Amberly Rosen yearns to do. Rosen, one-half of the folk-dance duo The Rosen Sisters, has toured with numerous artists. She has played arenas and major festivals with country star Terri Clark and 鈥淟ate Night with David Letterman鈥� with Maddie and Tae. And she wants very much to get back to entertaining people.
"There was a ton of disappointment last year,鈥� said Rosen, a violinist who was trained at the Berklee College of Music and now lives in Nashville. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 wait to have joyful moments with people again, when we can be with each other just a little bit.鈥�
Rosen remembers the day early in the pandemic when she received one call after another
鈥淚t was totally terrifying,鈥� said Rosen, 34. 鈥淚鈥檝e always worked in music. It鈥檚 what I do. It鈥檚 who I am. All of a sudden, I couldn鈥檛 do my job.鈥�
As she looked for ways to cut costs, Rosen heard about a program from Musically Fed, one of the initiatives the CMA began supporting in 2020, that would give unemployed musicians $100 vouchers to spend at a local farmers market.
鈥淚t was so helpful, and I was so grateful to have that,鈥� Rosen said. 鈥淏ut it was a personal struggle because I worried, 鈥楢m I needy enough for this?鈥� I鈥檝e always been capable of taking care of myself, but this time there were really no jobs in my field.鈥�
That鈥檚 a common feeling, especially during the pandemic, when so many found themselves so quickly in need, said Nancy Keil, CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, one of the nonprofits that will benefit from the expanded MICS initiative.
About 40% of people who visited food banks in the past year, she said, had never come before. Part of her group鈥檚 challenge is to educate people to accept help when they need it.
鈥淲hen people just don鈥檛 have jobs, you have a need,鈥� Keil said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just find food somewhere. You need someone to help. It鈥檚 so basic.鈥�
Second Harvest, it turns out, needs some help of its own. In 2020, the food bank experienced a 50% increase in demand for its services 鈥� which, Keil said, meant that about 450,000 more people in Middle Tennessee became food insecure. Financial donations rose last year. But they didn鈥檛 completely cover the costs of increasing staff and buying more supplies because food donations from now-closed restaurants tumbled.
鈥淭his funding support from the CMA is going to be huge,鈥� Keil said. 鈥淲hen we looked at the numbers from the last recession, it took 10 years to get back to pre-recession numbers. We鈥檙e hoping that this time it will take much shorter.鈥�
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Glenn Gamboa, The Associated Press
