These are troubling times for Irish musicians, many of whom are reliant of the income they get from gigs, and the merch they sell at them, to survive.
Alarm bells started ringing last week when Ireland’s SXSW contingent – Ailbhe Reddy, Autre Monde, Far Caspian, Gross Net, Lilla Vargen, Pat Dam Smyth, Pillow Queens, Tebi Rex, The Murder Capital, The Wood Burning Savages, Ryan Vail & Elma Orkestra and Ryan McMullan – were told that their industry showcasing trip to Austin, Texas was off.
They’d all spent considerable sums arranging flights, accommodation, equipment and crew. Some of that might be refundable, a lot of it won’t be.
Tebi Rex were using SXSW as a jumping off point for a longer American tour, which has been cancelled too.
Turning a negative into a positive, Pillow Queens say: “In light of SXSW being cancelled we’re hoping to use that week to work on new songs somewhere beautiful. If anyone knows of somewhere in Ireland where we could write – a cottage, a studio, whatever – please get in touch.”
If you know of somewhere conducive to making great rock ‘n’ roll, hit ‘em up!
As many artists have previously highlighted in Hot Press, Spotify plays alone are not enough to keep Irish artists afloat, especially with a freeze on live earnings.
You can help by buying their music from record shops, online stores and their Bandcamps.
We refuse to let Coronavirus rob us of our sartorial elegance, so check to see what t-shirts and other merch artists have in their stores.
As we fight back the best we can against the current situation, Hot Press will as a matter of routine include click-throughs to merch stores, Bandcamps and Patreons in all of our Irish music news stories.
If you’ve nifty tees, handsome vinyl editions, tote bags, wavy hands or – in Emma Langford’s case, hi-vis doggy vests – let us know for our Merch Of The Day updates.
And most importantly, let’s be careful out there!