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Virus has Scottsdale musicians singing the blues

BY KRISTINE CANNON Progress Staff Writer “ Hey, Austin friends! I’m comin’ for ya!” southern Scottsdale resident and fulltime musician Chad Rubin wrote on Facebook on Feb. 25.

Rubin was gearing up to perform as a sponsored artist for Atari and the Antstream Arcade, calling it one of his biggest live performing opportunities – “if not the biggest.”

Ten days later, though, Austin canceled this year’s South by Southwest festival, marking only the beginning of a slew of canceled gigs for Rubin.

“This has been a tough time for everyone,” the singer-songwriter said. “I have lost thousands of dollars in work as well as major opportunities to potentially further my career.”

Rubin is a multi-genre songwriter who Scottsdale resident and full-time musician Chad Rubin was supposed to perform at SXSW this year. Since it was canceled, most of his upcoming live gigs were canceled. (Daniel Ruben)

performs frequently in Scottsdale, including W Scottsdale, Boondocks, and Kazimierz Wine & Whiskey Bar, where he’s had a residency since it reopened last year.

But in the wake of the coronavirus, he’s had 80 percent of his upcoming gigs through the summer cancel on him. And for the remaining gigs on his calendar, he has conflicting feelings about performing.

“My No. 1 thing right now is I have parents who are in their late 60s and I wouldn’t put myself in any kind of situation where I put them in any kind of harm’s way. There’s not an opportunity or a number on a paycheck at this point,” Rubin said. As listeners increasingly turn to streaming services to listen to music, musicians tour and play gigs to support themselves. A 2018 survey by the Music Industry Research Association and the Princeton University Survey Research Center in partnership with the Recording Academy’s MusiCares found that live performances were the “most common income source for musicians.”

But as businesses close their doors and postpone or cancel events, it leaves many musicians, including Rubin, without work.

“My main source of income is playing live,” Rubin said. “I do it to get better, and

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Local actress entertains kids with remote events

BY KRISTINE CANNON Progress Staff Writer A local actress dressed up as Cinderella sits on southern Scottsdale resident Sara Bernstein’s back patio, a laptop propped in front of her.

Cinderella is reading a story into the laptop camera to more than 200 children watching remotely across the country. This live virtual event is a new, free offering from Scottsdale-based Storybook Entertainment, a company owned by Bernstein that’s hosted nearly 3,000 character-themed parties for infants, kids and teens since 2014.

With Bernstein’s clients canceling parties in the wake of the coronavirus – nearly 30 over the span of two weeks alone – she launched the virtual events to not only continue paying her cast of nearly 30 contracted actors but also continue to do what her company does best: put smiles on children’s faces.

“As I’m monitoring the chat, I’m seeing the 10 pages of smiling faces of all the little kids in their houses, smiling and dancing and playing. For me, that’s just heartwarming because everyone’s nervous right now and everyone feels the stress but seeing smiling faces for a half hour of little 3-, 4-, and 5-year olds who are just having joy for a little while. It makes my heart happy,” Bernstein said.

Bernstein makes no money from the virtual events but still pays her cast – and will continue to do so, at least through March.

“I’m trying to find a few ways to keep their income streams a little bit, and then hopefully it will translate to other possible work,” she explained.

The 20-to-30-minute events take place via Zoom nearly every day with a differLocal actress Karissa Anderson-Self, dressed up as Cinderella, reads a story to the kids who tuned into Storybook Entertainment’s first live virtual event.

ent activity planned for each event. So far, each has attracted more than 200 kids. In addition to story time, participating kids can also color with Beauty, play games with Tianna, do yoga with SpiderHero, dance with the Little Mermaid, paint with Rapunzel and sing with the “Frozen” sisters.

Characters and activities vary but every event encourages attendees to give back to a specific charity.

The first two charities Bernstein chose are Alice’s Dream Foundation and Arizona Helping Hands. She had spoken with her friend Sherie Siegel, Arizona Helping Hands corporate engagement officer “about how we could do a charitable aspect of it as well.”

Alice’s Dream Foundation is a Maryland nonprofit that provides durable medical

I do it because, at this point in my career and playing around Phoenix and Scottsdale so much, I’ve been fortunate enough to put myself in a position where people trust me to come in and perform.”

Rubin is part of a network of musicians who rely on one another to fill in for gigs, so he’ll also typically pick up one extra gig each week.

Julian Weinstein, who goes by JuJu Stone, is part of that network.

Weinstein recently transitioned from full-time teacher at Imagine Desert West to full-time musician and the multiinstrumentalist singer-songwriter frequently performs alongside Rubin.

On average, Weinstein performed three to four shows per week, including some at Scottsdale venues such as Wasted Grain and W Scottsdale, where he had a residency with Rubin.

Weinstein also has all his upcoming gigs canceled.

“It sucks. There’s no way going around that,” he said. “It’s definitely been hard financially because that’s what I was relying on.”

To make up for the loss of income, Weinstein teaches guitar and bass via private virtual lessons at Scottsdale-based Kirk’s Studio for the Performing Arts.

“A little bit of money has been coming in that way,” he said.

Full-time musician and DJ Taylor Ouellette said he’s been dipping into his savings.

“I have lost thousands in income,” said Ouellette, who goes by Coach Taylor.

Ouellette usually performs several times per week throughout the Valley, including Mondays at Copper Blues, Wednesdays at Bevvy Uptown, and Fridays and Saturdays at Taco Guild and Kelly’s on Southbridge.

He also performs weddings – which he said also were postponed.

To help struggling artists, Ouellette suggests buying artists’ merchandise, taking lessons from local musicians and sharing music.

“I would prefer more emotional help than financial help right now — meaning, the music that I’m about to release and the music I’m working right now, if that’s spread around and a lot of people really enjoy it, that’s going to help me much more in the long-run by just getting my music out there, more so than necessarily making a lot of money,” Weinstein said.

Some artists, including Valley-based bands Jimmy Eat World Jared & The Mill, have even helped raise money for the Recording Academy’s affiliated charitable foundation MusiCares and its COVID-19 Relief Fund, which helps those in the music community affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Right now, the live music industry is just completely shut down, and there are scores of people who depend on it for their living,” said Scottsdale native and lead singer of Jared & The Mill, Jared Kolesar. “MusiCares is a group that helps bring financial stability to our musical brothers and sisters in these troubling times, which is very important to us.

“Music is something that has certainly saved me a couple of times, and to be able to help save the people that make that music go now just feels like the right thing to do,” he added.

Jared & The Mill – with more than seven million streams on Spotify, more than 17,000 Facebook followers, and nearly 14,000 followers on Instagram – performed a live virtual show on Twitch on March 22 benefiting MusiCares, raising $1,000.

“It was a super cool project to work on. Exploring the broadcasting world is going to play a big part in the next couple of months for us,” Kolesar said, adding that they plan to live-stream again soon.

Jared & The Mill wasn’t hit as hard as Julian Weinstein usually performs a couple times per week Scottsdale venues, including W Scottsdale, Wasted Grain, and more. But since they were all canceled, he’s had to rely on his private lessons for income. (David Majure)

fellow musicians. They had just a couple of fly-out dates for music festivals that were canceled.

“It’s actually funny; we’ve toured yearround for the past, like, six years, and this is the first year that we decided we weren’t going to tour the first half of the year. So, that was incredibly lucky for us, because the entire industry is currently blowing up,” Kolesar said.

Kolesar also suggests purchasing merchandise and sharing music, including their album “This Story Is No Longer Available,” which is available on Spotify and Apple Music.

“Spreading the presence of our songs is the best thing that you can do for us right now!” he said.

Kolesar also emphasized that supporting artists shouldn’t be reserved solely for difficult economic times.

“Etching out a life for oneself as a maker of music has never been easy, but to support them in the good times helps them stay afloat in the hard times,” he said.

And supporting artists doesn’t always mean donating money, according to Weinstein.

“Musicians are struggling now just like everybody else. Most of us musicians have been used to the struggle. So, if you can’t give money right now, give your time, meaning give your time to listen to new artists and share their music, because that’s going to go a long way,” he said.

Follow on Facebook: @ChadRubinTunes, @taylor.ouellette, @julian.weinstein.58, @jaredandthemill

Information: grammy.com/musicares

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equipment to families in need.

“They’re a very small nonprofit, [and] this is a make-or-break for them at this point. They want to keep their doors open,” Bernstein said. “I know the executive director personally ... so, even if I can help her out a little bit, then that’s great.” Bernstein has been flooded with positive feedback from parents since she launched the virtual events.

A mother in Chicago, for example, told Bernstein, “You guys have made my [3-year-old] daughter’s week by doing this, and it’s something so exciting for her to look forward to. These times are so sad and crazy, but it’s really amazing seeing everyone coming together from all parts of the world.”

Bernstein said she may reduce the frequency of the events once her own children start homeschooling.

She said she’s also considering making the event a subscription series where people can pay to have access to videos they can watch later.

“It really comes down to how long are we trapped in our houses? How long does this affect our day to day lives?” Bernstein said.

“As long we’re home, I’m going to try to do something, and keeping up smiles, and keep doing different opportunities,” she added.

In addition to the live events, Bernstein is offering one-on-one themed activities for $100.

During those sessions, kids can fully engage with the Storybook Entertainment character of their choice. Activities can include anything from crafts and story time to playing games and nail painting. “They’re going to have to be things that kids already have in their own homes, but there’s so much we can do,” Bernstein said.

While other companies do offer similar story time readings for kids, Bernstein said what sets her events apart is that they’re live.

“Live is what makes it fun,” she said. “Having your kid being able to see it happening in real time is what makes it as close to a birthday party as what we’ve offered for the last six years.”

Bernstein’s advice for other business owners is to stay positive.

“I’m a cancer survivor, and I ran my business while going through a year of treatment,” said Bernstein, who beat breast cancer two years ago. “I truly believed, and I stayed positive through that, and my company continued to grow. So, if we stay positive, you can do anything.”

Information: storybookentertainmentaz.com