LIVESTREAMS: THE NEW CORONAWORLD

Like everyone from James Taylor and Alicia Keys on down to our local pub singers, we're all singing to the world from our living rooms these days to try to put some joy into the world and make up for cancelled tours and a massive hit to our income. Livestreaming is the new CoronaWorld term for the video webcasting (vidcasts as we've called them) I've been doing several each year for over a decade on a variety of platforms like YouTube, Facebook and Zoom. You can watch the event as it happens, broadcast from wherever it happens. Usually you can interact with other guests and make requests via a Live Chat feature, all from the comfort of your own home, snack bar and beverage cabinet.

In this time of pandemic, livestreaming free or ticketed shows is my only avenue to audiences. Thankfully anyone can tune in from anywhere in the world. It would be a delight to share some "face" time with you, and raise a toast or two together. I'd love for you to join me and to help get my new project out to more people too. 

Livestreaming can help make my mortgage from home, but I also use the intimate format of sitting together in my living room to do some different things - including taking a few requests and engaging in conversation via the Chat. It's a bit different than a regular concert with the audience in the room - think of it as an interactive TV broadcast. I often mix in a couple chestnuts from out of my early catalog, sometimes cover a traditional tune or a standard from the Great American Songbook, and of course, a few longtime favorites too. 

With millions of Americans unemployed or in a severely reduced income situation along with me, I am trying to balance giving performances to help heal a hurting world for a few minutes with my very real need to make up lost touring and performing income. So I do some shorter free performances like my occasional "Musical Mondays" on Facebook along with full length shows that require a ticket. You can "tip" whatever you wish any time during any broadcasts via my https://www.paypal.me/andrewmcknightmusic or https://venmo.com/andrewmcknightmusic

Of course, since people can tune in from anywhere in the world, please use social media and email to help invite your friends to come experience my music! More than ever, I am grateful for the help in reaching new listeners. 

Here are some tips for your best livestream viewing experience:

- shut down unneeded internet and wifi devices during the show to preserve bandwidth (your internet download capacity)
- shut down unneeded apps on your viewing device during the show to reduce strain on your computer/device processing power (and it's not a bad idea to reboot and start fresh before we begin).
- check your internet download speed with an app like speedtest.com
- if your screen freezes or stutters, try reloading or refreshing the page

Most importantly, I offer my huge thanks for your generosity - these tickets and tips are suddenly the entirety of my performing salary. I'd like to think that these are fun events - no two alike - and that livestreams allow us connection and community even as we are physically separated.