How Musicians And Organizations Are Responding To The Coronavirus

Plus, the Nashville music community comes together in the wake of deadly tornado.

by Marissa Lorusso and Lyndsey McKenna Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images In the past few weeks, musicians and organizations across the world have been grappling with the uncertainties of the coronavirus, and how to handle large gatherings of audiences in close quarters. The Boston Symphony Orchestra cancelled a tour of Asia; artists including Green Day and Khalid have cancelled tours or postponed other activities. On Wednesday in Switzerland, the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra in Switzerland gave a performance to an empty hall. As these concerns grew, attention turned to the annual South by Southwest festival in Austin. An online petition asking SXSW to cancel this year's event attracted tens of thousands of signatures, and a number of prominent tech and media companies — including Facebook, Twitter, Intel, Vevo, Mashable, Amazon Studios, TikTok, Netflix and WarnerMedia (which owns CNN and HBO, among other properties) — withdrew from the festival. Then, on Friday afternoon, Austin mayor Steve Adler declared a local disaster for the city of Austin and, as a result, officially cancelled SXSW for this year. “‘The show must go on’ is in our DNA, and this is the first time in 34 years that the March event will not take place,” organizers said in a statement. “We are now working on ramifications of this unprecedented situation.” The impact will undoubtedly have ripple effects across the music industry and beyond. South by Southwest is a vehicle for music discovery, and it’s also big business for Austin. Our colleagues will continue to monitor all sides of the story, from the spread and containment of the coronavirus to any cancellations to come.  The beat goes on, Marissa Lorusso and Lyndsey McKenna Newsletter continues after sponsor message Featuring Early Tuesday morning, a tornado tore through the greater middle Tennessee area, including Nashville, causing substantial damage and killing 24 people across four counties; East Nashville, home to many in the city’s music and arts communities, was hit particularly hard. Since then, lots of Nashville-based musicians we love, from Margo Price to Brittany Howard to Kacey Musgraves, have helped rally the community and give back. The groundbreaking jazz pianist McCoy Tyner died on Friday at the age of 81. Tyner was the last surviving member of the John Coltrane Quartet. WBGO's Nate Chinen says few musicians have ever exerted as much influence as a sideman, and remembers Tyner's long, consequential post-Coltrane career as a composer and bandleader. Dashboard Confessional’s 2000 debut record is an emo classic: an ode to emotional upheaval, well-versed in the art of articulating anguish, that helped define a new wave of the genre. As part of NPR’s 20|20 series, writer Hanif Abdurraqib reflects on loving the album as a gateway to one's younger self: raw, foolish, endlessly seeking to feel things out loud. Over the last few years, Caroline Rose has transformed her sound from clever Americana to cheeky pop-rock. Her new album, Superstar, is another departure: a synth-heavy concept album that recounts a singer’s rise and fall, all while poking fun at the idea of stardom.  In 2020, beloved ’90s college rock radio acts are the new legacy artists. So how do you get an audience to pay attention to your new material when you’re known for what you did decades ago? Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus has a solution: His new album Traditional Techniques sounds unlike anything he's done before in a career spanning three decades. New Music We haven’t stopped thinking about Dixie Chicks, but it's been quite a long time since the group released an album. This week, we got to hear “Gaslighter,” the title track from the Chicks’ first album in 14 years. (Yes, your newsletter editors were continually humming this song while writing this newsletter.) With daylight saving around the corner, this week’s NPR Classical playlist additions spotlight composers who tinker with time — from Morton Feldman’s five-hour string quartet to Anton Webern’s minute-long orchestral piece and Meredith Monk’s timelessness. This week’s Tuesday episode of All Songs Considered features picks from NPR Music’s striking Viking, Lars Gotrich, who played intense metal, psychedelic Brazilian music and more alongside new tracks from Dirty Projectors and Radiohead's Ed O'Brien. Tiny Desk Laura Beltran Villamizar/NPR As a founding member of the Grateful Dead, Bob Weir practically invented the jam band. So how could we possibly ask him to keep his Tiny Desk concert to a mere 15 minutes? Spoiler: We didn't. Instead, we permitted him to perform a sprawling set with Wolf Bros (Jay Lane on drums and Don Was on bass) at NPR HQ.  Also: As an activist, drummer, educator and bandleader, Terri Lyne Carrington is something of a celebrity in the jazz world. Her Tiny Desk concert with Social Science touched on some of today's most pressing social justice topics, from mass incarceration to police brutality. (P.S. Over the last few weeks, we’ve been posting old Tiny Desk videos that had never before made it to YouTube. You can check out sets from Andrew W.K. and Maria Taylor now.) Incoming By this point, you almost certainly know “Yellow,” “Fix You” or “Viva la Vida,” but how will one of the world’s most famous bands handle the Tiny Desk? Tune in next week as Coldplay scales down with a set from our office. One More Thing Something about “Fight the Power”? 🤔 What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: nprmusic@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Books, Pop Culture, Health and more! Need a new playlist? Follow NPR Music on Spotify and Apple Music! You received this message because you're subscribed to NPR Music emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy