TBA Music performs at the Dallas Arboretum. (Photo courtesy of Ashley Highberger.)
The coronavirus has canceled live music, so East Dallas musicians are taking their concerts online. But even that has its own set of challenges. With so many online concerts, who do viewers tune in to watch? The White Rock-based band, TBA Music, hopes to make its concerts unique by donating a percentage of tips from virtual performances to local venues, restaurants and charities. The pop, soul and motown cover band formed in 2017 and has since played at the Dallas Arboretum, the State Fair of Texas, the Perot Museum and more. We talked with co-founder Brigitte Mena about the music scene during the coronavirus outbreak.
Her daily routine: My routine was to work on bookings during the day, and then on the weekends, we’d have our gigs. All of our gigs have been canceled for the unforeseen future. The first week was the most difficult because no one was returning my emails. If they were, it was to cancel gigs.
On online concerts: We’ve shifted gears to online concerts. Every musician is doing that now. The internet is getting really saturated with online concerts. Who do people tune in to? We’ve tried to find a way to make [our concerts] unique. We’ve partnered with local venues that we regularly play at and local charities so donations can go to those charities. The whole point is give viewers and customers the same experience they’d get at a venue. Take the food to go, and then have a concert to round out the evening.
On giving back: There’s a time limit on how long these businesses and bands can go on with just donations and takeout orders. I don’t even know what to think about that. The only thing we can do is continue to partner. Partnering together is going to keep this scene alive.
What she misses about playing live: I miss the connections with people that we meet and seeing new people get joy out of our performance. With online concerts, you can only get so much interaction. It’s typing in comments.
Perks of online concerts: Trevor, the other band leader, is from Colorado. His friends and family still live there. His whole side of the family has never seen us perform a full-out concert. One of the cool things is giving people the chance to see us remotely. We’ve seen some people tune in who we’ve never met. It’s given us a chance to gain new followers and fans.
On staying positive: I’m a very schedule-oriented person. My schedule is different now, but I’m trying to create a daily routine. I’m trying to go in my backyard every day and be more active with yoga and meditation. This is going to be over eventually.
