A GoFundMe campaign to help Tucson musicians has so far doled out $30,000 in grants to 86 people who rely on gigs and touring as their sole or primary income.
But Ben Nisbet, who is spearheading the Tucson Musicians Relief Fund effort with Tucson singer-songwriter Katie Haverly and KXCI radio personality Hannah Levin, said they aren’t finished yet.
The campaign will actually kick into higher gear, Nisbet said last week after the group announced it had helped 86 musicians with individual grants averaging $360.
“We are currently starting phase three of this,” he said, which will include reaching out to private donors who can donate more than the $25 and $50 GoFundMe contributions the campaign has relied on since it was launched on March 15. “We are trying to figure out a way that we can get money to everybody. We are going to try to identify as many people as we can who are most in need and hardest hit by this, most likely with a heavy focus on those who rely on gigging as a primary income source.”
To date the fund has brought in more than $32,000, exceeding the initial goal of $25,000.
The effort was launched days after Tucson Mayor Regina Romero on March 12 put a limit of 50 on how many people could gather at one time — a move that put the brakes on every concert in Tucson, from mariachis performing in restaurants to intimate shows at Monterey Court on East Miracle Mile. Five days later, Romero ordered all bars and restaurants closed except for takeout, a move that Gov. Doug Ducey followed up with on a statewide level a week later.
Tucson pop singer-songwriter Naim Amor said he has lost an average of three gigs a week since the shutdown.
Amor, who moved to Tucson from his native France in 1997, is a full-time musician. He spends most of the year gigging locally and regionally, and spends the summers touring, including trips home to France. All of that has evaporated since the coronavirus pandemic.
“I looked at my calendar yesterday for the first time in several weeks. This week I had several gigs (on the books),” he said. “I lost everything overnight. The last gig I played was March 8 and then there were some gigs right after and they were like overnight, canceled left and right.”
Amor is one of the musicians who received a relief fund grant. He recently applied for unemployment and received the federal COVID-19 stimulus money in April, which helped him make ends meet.
“I think I got a little lucky on a few fronts. I filed my taxes and I got a little refund. And I got the relief fund,” he said.
But Amor is concerned about what the immediate future holds.
Bars and restaurants reopened in mid-May, but with restrictions that limit capacity to half or less.
“Even with restaurants opening back up, the expense of having live music in your restaurant is probably not a high priority for restaurants right now that have lost so much of their revenue,” said Nisbet, who plays in several Tucson bands.
Nisbet said the majority of musicians applying for Tucson Musicians Relief Fund money play music full-time, and those who have day jobs are employed in the service industry, including at restaurants, bars and hotels that have had to lay off many of their employees due to the pandemic.
“They were sort of catching it on both sides,” Nisbet said. “It’s crazy, it’s all over the place. The only common denominator is people exhibiting some degree of being freaked out.”
The Tucson Musicians Relief Fund is one of dozens of efforts to help musicians nationwide that were created in response to the health crisis. The Recording Academy’s MusicCares charitable arm early on established a relief fund open to musicians nationwide. The academy, which gives out the annual Grammy Awards, also shined the spotlight on efforts including Tucson’s on its website.
To donate to the Tucson Musicians Relief Fund, visit gofundme.com/f/tucson-musicians-covid19-relief.
