KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City-area artists and musicians have turned to technology to continue pursuing their crafts as the coronavirus pandemic has prompted stay-at-home orders, social distancing and venue closures.
"Being a musician is built off of playing for people, in front of people,” said Belle Loux, a member of local rock band Belle and The Vertigo Waves. “You can't really get around that with how things are right now.”
Belle and The Vertigo Waves performed at least once a week until the pandemic hit the metro.
"I think we canceled three shows, had to get canceled obviously because everything got canceled," said Jeremiah Scott, the band’s base player.
Now, they are playing a different tune to stay relevant and work toward fulfilling their dreams of making music their full-time job.
"We have a music video coming out at the end of this week," Loux said. "We are planning on doing like anInstagram live."
Meanwhile, Jenny Hahn is a full-time artist in Kansas City.
"These are certainly challenging times right now for everyone, really," Hahn said.
She relies on events like First Fridays in the Crossroads to earn an income. Now, she is teaching art online.
Han said while artists like herself might be struggling now, they can't wait for normalcy to return.
"My hope is that we can all get back out there and have First Fridays again, have in person art shows, have all of those things," Hahn said.
