2020 was meant to be a year to remember for so many reasons, both personally and professionally. It started off pretty bad so I should have known then!! Our beloved cat Charlie contracted a disease called the ‘Cat flue’ from stray kittens that came into our yard. Due to his age he got horribly sick, we didn’t know if he’d survive and it was very upsetting to see him so unwell. It took weeks of nursing him and not to mention thousands of dollars on emergency Vet bills.
But then we got over that and 2020 was actually looking pretty damn good!
Professionally, I had bookings all the way through to the end of the year and a tour with Suzi Quatro to go out with a bang!
Then Covid hit and my world literally crumbled around me. Without notice gigs that week were being cancelled every hour and then came lockdown! Suddenly and without notice to prepare for it, I had zero income for the foreseeable future but I still had bills and a mortgage to pay.
I’ve been a full time musician for 25 years and I have always been able to live off playing music. I’ve worked really hard to build up my name so that I can make money from what I love and that is very fulfilling.
In the first couple of weeks of the Covid crisis, I spent my days trying to figure out ways to lower our outgoings. I made countless phone calls to the banks re our mortgage, bills etc trying to negotiate discounts with little luck. It was a very stressful time and I don’t think I’ve cried so much in my life outside of the passing of my parents.
Then as time went on and restrictions tightened, my Fiancé and I had to make the heartbreaking decision to cancel our Wedding in June, which was going to be a destination wedding in Noosa, QLD. We finally had all of the plans sorted and so we were able to start enjoying the time leading up to our wedding. We felt so awful contacting our guests about cancelling, as most by then had already booked and paid for their flights, accommodation and organized their leave to be there with us.
Our honeymoon road trip through California which was going to be another trip of a lifetime, also gone up in smoke.
I have done many writing and recording trips and many a holiday spent in the U.S.A.
I feel heartbroken at how bad things are over there at the moment and I wish for things to turn around for them sooner than later.
It hasn’t all been negative this year! We moved into the house we were building in May, which we absolutely love!! My Fiancé has also nailed how to make a delicious Four Pillars Gin & Tonic and one of the best Negroni’s I’ve ever tasted in this time too!
My studio is also all set up now and I’ve just started working on some new music, which is really exciting!!
It’s pretty scary for us musicians because even once we open up again we will be the last people on the list to be able to get back to work. How can venues afford to have us after all they’ve been through and with lack of capacity due to social distancing? This is the question. I think it will be a very long time before things are back to what they once were in my industry. What will I do in the mean time?
This is all I’ve ever done and all I know
Let’s spare a thought for all of the people who have lost jobs, lost a family
member to Covid and have died alone or have been sick from this disease but have recovered and for ALL of the emergency service workers and health care workers that are working long hours and doing the hard work to either keep us safe from ourselves or bring us back to health. Let’s not drag this on for any longer than we have to, ‘let’s do our bit to social distance.’
