Cranston Dean launched the #CurfewSessions, a Facebook live stream each night from his home studio, to bring songs and stories to those who need it most. Photo by Bart Lentini
By Chris Rotolo
Perched at an ivory piano bench and affixing a capo to the neck of an acoustic six string, Ben Gibbard of the internationally renowned Death Cab for Cutie peered into the lens of his live streaming device and offered a sobering, but hopeful message.
“These next few weeks are going to be very, very crazy. We should all be acutely aware of how incredibly safe we need to be with ourselves and our families during this time,” Gibbard said from his Seattle home, speaking and playing to a live streaming audience of thousands. “I urge you to not leave your house if you don’t have to, and to not congregate with people. The one way we can help medical professionals at this time is to steal ourselves away and stay home.”
With that, Gibbard stroked the opening chords to “I Will Follow you Into the Dark,” the centerpiece of Death Cab for Cutie’s breakout 2005 release “Plans.”
Gibbard’s performance, like many live streamed sets offered by artists from around the globe since federal, state and local governments began mandating emergency precautions, was a gripping juxtaposition of normalcy in an abnormal environment.
Earlier this month both creators and spectators saw their beloved routine of artistic showcase in the live setting distinguished in an effort to stem the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
The global pandemic has not only shuttered large scale arenas and thousand-seat art centers, but cut the legs out from beneath local artists and small local businesses alike, many of which rely on a symbiotic relationship to survive.
For Bayshore songsmith Cranston Dean, this sort of relationship is illustrated in his partnerships with the Highlands-based watering hole and home to live music, the Chubby Pickle, and the neighboring art-house and coffee shop, the Waterwitch Cafe.
Both locations are home to weekly live music sessions, open mics, poetry readings and more, many of which are curated by or include performances from Dean.
“We need places like the [Chubby] Pickle and Waterwitch Cafe to be in operation. They’ve done so much for me and this artistic community, and just like a lot of the artists who perform there, they work on such a small margin. The artistic community and those businesses that support it need our support right now.”
It’s the reason Dean launched the #CurfewSessions last week, launching a Facebook live stream each night from his home studio and bringing songs, stories and a sense of comfort to those who need it most. It’s also a platform on which he can post the name of his Venmo account for tips and help support local businesses, bars and restaurants.
“There are a lot of people who are stressed, scared, bored, whose lives have been disrupted by coronavirus. Everything can seem like it’s out of sorts, but we know we have music by Cranston to look forward to each night,” said Atlantic Highlands Mayor Loretta Gluckstein, a regular viewer of Dean’s live streams. “It’s like the old “MTV Unplugged” or something, and it’s grounding a lot of people. It’s a true service he’s doing.”
Dean is also scheduled to perform live on Facebook as part of “Corona Classic Concerts,” a nightly live stream concert series featuring different artists from across the country, including Neptune native Nicole Atkins, the Asbury Park-based Emily Grove and Hazlet’s own Amanda Duncan.
Like Dean, Duncan is a Jersey Shore music scene veteran that over the past year has honed her live streaming performance skills with the launch of “Soft Pants Nation,” an online variety show in which she plays original music, but more importantly, works to inspire others to achieve their goals.
“This is something I’ve been doing for about a year now, and I have a small, regular audience that checks in. It’s part of their routine. And if it can be an escape of sorts in this crazy situation, it’s like a hurricane hit the entire planet, then I’m happy I can help,” Duncan said. “I love the connection you can have with others, live or virtually. And right now, the live element isn’t an option. I think people are searching for that connection, and live streaming is a way you can do it.”
Duncan is scheduled to perform as part of the “Corona Classic Concerts” series April 14.
This article originally appeared in the March 26, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
