Listen. The album made for lockdown

After two years of twists, turns and a whole lot of hard graft we were absolutely ecstatic to finally be releasing our americana and mental health-inspired album, Listen, at a sold-out album launch. Little did we know that COVID-19 was lurking just around the corner and that it would throw our release, as well as those of many other musicians we know, into a tailspin. With a house full of merchandise, inclusive of our first-ever vinyl release, the performances and tours we had spent the time organising and curating started to slowly disappear from our much-loved live calendar; not an ideal situation when you have made the album of your career.

Enter lockdown. You start to notice cracks in the walls that you were always too busy to see and before you know it, weeks have passed and there's been a tremendously unexpected shift deep within; you feel as though you have accomplished nothing and that everything is going wrong as you sit amidst the towering stacks of your greatest creation that is sitting aimlessly in the boxes it came in. It really is a bitter pill to swallow . . . until you shift that limiting paradigm.

Live streaming! Something we had always been able to do yet never really ventured into. Of course, as musicians, we prefer performing to people who are in the same room as we are, however, everything we had to learn as quickly as we did seriously opened doors we never even realised were there. From bitrates and frame rates to streaming software and guerilla marketing, we were able to develop our knowledge in so many ways. Also, the positives that came from engaging with our audience in this way were just phenomenal! We managed to raise a significant amount of money to put back into our locality to support those who were most vulnerable and were able to provide a fun and entertaining way for people who were feeling isolated to be able to connect; it actually became less about our new album release and far more about positive mental health in our community.

Giving priority to mental health is why we then decided to stop broadcasting live streams after a short and, fortunately, successful stint; we had been due a break and realised that we didn't always have to live up to the expectations that came from being a musician in a suddenly locked-down world and that we could use the time afforded to us to recoup. After a little discomfort and adjustment, we decided to take some time and spend it on 

enjoying things we had forgotten we liked doing so much; cooking, painting, gardening, walking . . . creating only for ourselves. It was great and provided us with the mental space we needed to rest after many years of rigorous performing and promoting; it also really helped us refocus our attention towards applying the new skills learned to the next chapter of our musical journey.

We have already made plans to continue engaging with our audience via our website, Facebook Live and Zoom; all of these platforms are so malleable and lend themselves very well to interactive video and conferencing projects and we look forward to creating more exclusive and exciting content going forward. We are also getting more of an opportunity to collaborate with others through webinars, panels, live streams and online performances . . . we have lots in store! Hopefully, you will be able to join us and experience the intention behind our music along the way; we are happy to know that it has already in some way helped so many people through this difficult and uncertain situation we are all living in. So, why not give it a 'Listen'?

Thanks for reading everybody; we wish you a safe, happy and healthy journey!

Lynzy & Vivienne
The Coaltown Daisies

Social Links
Website: www.thecoaltowndaisies.com
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