American Singer-songwriter-guitarist, record producer, painter and guitar maker Buck Curran has featured extensively on Folk Radio over the years. He now lives in Bergamo, Italy with his wife and singer Adele H along with their young son – they are expecting their second child soon. Worldwide, Bergamo is currently the second worst-hit city by the coronavirus.
Hello and Best Wishes from Bergamo, Italy. Adele and I would like to give a big Sincere Thanks to FRUK for having us share some music and for asking us to talk about how we are living here in Italy during this intense situation with the coronavirus pandemic. We sincerely hope that folks in the UK, Ireland, and America will benefit from our experience and become more proactive in helping contain this virus, which spreads like wildfire and caused far too much suffering here. We currently live in Adele’s hometown Bergamo, a part of the northern region called Lombardia, which is now the second hardest-hit region in the world. Bergamo is also the hardest-hit city in this region. Last Monday our city went into quarantine, and only two days later the city went into full public lockdown, in an attempt to contain the virus as deaths ramped up extremely (hundreds per day). So far, there is no relief in sight!
We have absolutely no possibility to leave Bergamo, which means we can’t even see our best friends who live only 15 minutes away in a neighbouring village. Schools have actually been closed much longer, since March 4th. Restaurants and retail shops have closed…even the parks. The streets are almost entirely empty….sometimes it really feels like we’re living in a ghost town. The only places left open are pharmacies and grocery stores. Our town is also obliging us not to visit with our family or friends. Groceries and pharmacies have also regulated letting only a few people in at a time, so we have to wait in spaces outside, before entering.
Additionally, there is an ordinance suggesting a one-metre separation from others while in public or standing in lines, as we wait to get supplies. Here at our apartment, we only have a tiny balcony that faces the backside of other buildings. Our neighbours are mostly shut-in, and we rarely see any of them. Our hospitals are overrun with people who are seriously ill, and patients admitted are quarantined and are no longer allowed to see family. Those who have died have done so alone, without the support and love of their families. As well, the morgues here are beyond capacity! The Italian government is doing the best that they can to contain the virus, but still, so much damage has already been done. Despite all of these complications, everybody here remains focused on what is most important: Remaining calm and avoiding panic, social distancing (especially with avoiding large crowds), washing hands and wearing masks as needed. The main thing now is for everyone around the world to educate themselves about the nature of this virus and how it is transmitted. Another bit of misinformation that quickly needs to be dispelled is that this virus only affects older people, as there are children and adults (in their 30’s and 40’s) who have become very ill. Anyway, there’s already plenty of information available out there, and we truly wish everyone the very best with protecting yourselves and your family.
So now we are really just beginning to see how this pandemic creates huge problems for musicians everywhere around the world, as so many of us who rely on touring to make a living, are now having to cancels shows and entire tours. In Bergamo, we are no longer allowed to perform locally or even to travel outside of town, let alone travel outside of Italy (even my local gig last Sunday was cancelled). Touring has been crucial for my living from week to week, and my overall monthly income. I was also rehearsing every Thursday with my friend Jodi who I play music with. His rehearsal space is in a neighbouring village only 15 minutes from my apartment, but we’ve had to stop because we can no longer travel there. I mostly perform concerts outside of Italy, in countries like Switzerland, Germany, France, England, etc….so this has taken everything away. When I am back in Bergamo, I occasionally have the opportunity to teach private guitar lessons, but that is also impossible now. I am currently trying to make adjustments by offering online guitar lessons, but so far haven’t had any luck. Of course, if any folks anywhere in the world read this and are interested, I am offering lessons online. The lessons can be for guitar or songwriting, or I can even provide advice to new artists who might benefit from my extensive knowledge about touring, recording, mixing, music management, etc. It’s now looking like, this is one of the few options remaining, outside of selling records online through platforms like Bandcamp, Apple Music, etc. Obviously (outside of Bandcamp) there is a major problem with sourcing income via platforms like Spotify and Youtube, whose streaming royalties for artists amount to virtually nothing.
How to survive…Yikes! Since October, Adele had been teaching part-time in a High School 30 minutes from Bergamo, but as of 3 weeks ago, they went to online classes which affords us a very meagre income! Currently, that’s our primary source of income for a family of three (as we have a 2 1/2-year-old son). We also found out two months ago that we are expecting another child in August. Adele and I are currently trying to figure out a way to stream a live concert, with hopes that maybe some who stream a live concert, might be able to make small contributions of anything they are able to offer. Anyway, that is our current situation, but we are still very hopeful for the future and think (for those of us who survive this pandemic) that we’ll come out of this tragedy, with more knowledge about ways to improve global society…making positive steps and finding a better way for all of us to live, not only with situations like this but with the climate crisis as well.
So for all of us musicians out there, the best way to move forward is to focus on what we can do from home: streaming live concerts, sharing pre-recorded videos online, online teaching, and sharing links for purchasing digital albums.
At the moment Adele has quite a lot of songs written for her next album, so we’ll make time to arrange and record her. I have spent the last year finishing up my forthcoming album ‘No Love Is Sorrow’, which was just mastered last week by Harris Newman in Montreal. I was hoping to release the album in October, but now I may just release digitally in April (with hopes of releasing Vinyl and CD later in Autumn). I also have some collaborations I’m working on with fellow musicians around the world; And what a wonderful thing it is, just to have the possibility of collaborating and creating music with friends so far away! Adele and I have made three videos over the last few days that we’d loved to share. Two of the videos were filmed in the stairwell of our apartment, which has quite amazing natural reverb. The first is a video of Adele and me performing my new song ‘Deep in the Lovin’ Arms of My Babe’, a song that will be on ‘No Love Is Sorrow’. The second video is Adele singing ‘Ave Maria’ at an empty church (Chiesa della Madonna dello Spasimo) in downtown Bergamo. We discovered the church open by chance one evening when we went outside for some fresh air and to make a supply run to the pharmacy and grocery store. In the last video, I’m performing ‘New Moontide’ from my first solo album ‘Immortal Light’. Thanks again so much for reading and listening! And when things improve, we so look forward to meeting some of you at future concerts. I definitely have plans to tour in the UK, Ireland, Europe, and America in support of my new solo album. Again, we really hope everyone out there can stay positive, unite, and be proactive with trying to help contain this situation as efficiently and best we can.
Videos from Bergamo (Playlist)
Best Wishes, Stay Safe! Sincerely, Buck Curran and Adele H
Bandcamp: https://obsoleterecordings.bandcamp.com/
Apple Music:
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/buck-curran/635132897
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/adele-h/1110906505
Recent podcast published by the NY Times of an interview with a doctor here in Bergamo
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/podcasts/the-daily/italy-coronavirus.html