Co-Mission Contributor: Anna Vogelzang
Meet Anna Vogelzang
This kind of turbulence isn’t new to musicians… It’s new to be in it together, yes – and that together-ness feels like a small blessing, to be honest; we’re all on pause, no matter what part of the album cycle we’re in. But we’re scrappy and used to hoofing it to make sure we can pay our bills next month, and the month after that. And while those skills come in handy emotionally in the face of this crisis, they do not change the fact that suddenly we’ve lost hundreds or thousands of dollars of gig and teaching income, the livestream market – while amazing – is heavily over-saturated, and we cannot start booking future shows until anyone knows what The Future’s going to look like. I’ve lost gigs, had to cancel the recording session in LA for my next LP, and am waiting to hear if my late summer festival shows are even going to be an option. All of our usual go-to ways of making it to next month have suddenly vanished.
I’ve been talking to a lot of friends who’re grateful for the pause – folks who knew they were about to burn out on tour but had planned on it anyway, because it’s what their team/career demanded; folks who’ve been trying to find a few weeks to focus on writing a new album and here it is in their laps; folks who just moved into new houses and are taking this as a gift to unpack and create their new space. Those people are struggling, too, without their service industry jobs, without their tours to pay their teams, without any certainty ahead of them – but they are still grateful. And I’m finding my version of that, too. Time to foster more direct connection with my Patreon community. Teaching toddler music classes to cooped up parents who are losing their minds. Eating lunch with my kiddo every day no matter what. Yoga in my bedroom. Writing a song a week. I’m just hoping we can all find one piece of joy in the everyday – because that will be what gets us to the other side.
People can support my efforts by joining my community at Patreon (patreon.com/annavogelzang) where I’m performing live once a week until the end of quarantine, and posting two new song demos/month. If you are a parent, you can email me (anna@theanna.com) about joining the toddler music class experience. You can also directly support via Venmo (@annavzang) or PayPal (anna@theanna.com). <3
Web: www.theanna.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/annavogelzang/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/annavzang/
Twitter: twitter.com/annavzang