Music
Instant Rivalry Siblings Megan & Caleb Hutton Singer/songwriters, producers, owners of Back Forty Productions Picton, Ontario
How has the pandemic affected you? Instant Rivalry released their debut country album, Whiskey and Lead, in December 2019, with two sold-out album release concerts at The Regent Theatre and The Old Church Theatre. Early in 2020 we were selling out venues. Our debut single Ho Down had been picked up by 36 radio stations in North America and was beginning to get rotation in Europe. As we geared up for their first tour to support Whiskey and Lead, COVID-19 happened. It was a mental shock at first. We had invested in ourselves by independently recording, producing, releasing and promoting this album and tour and by the end of March, everything was canceled.
Where have you found inspiration? It was a love of our community that made us accept what we couldn’t change, stay strong and want to give back to the region. On March 17, we hosted a St. Patrick’s Day Party live stream with The Frere Brothers at our recording studio Back Forty Productions. Typically, on a St. Patrick’s Day, you could find us and the Freres at the Waring House Barley Room Pub, performing to a packed house. Due to restaurant closures, this couldn’t happen, so we livestreamed. That livestream had over 11,000 views and kick started two livestreams a week with Instant Rivalry LIVE from the Back Forty. How did you manage your collaboration(s)? We had an existing partnership with Tri-Canadian Energy, a solar company based in the County, and had exciting plans for summer touring, music videos and more. Knowing we wouldn’t be able to do those things during the pandemic, TCE partnered with us to power our livestreams. With their help, Back Forty Productions has become one of the only solar powered recording studios in the world with one of the only solar powered livestreams.
Umbrella, Summer, 2020 - 18
