Shut In & Sing Virtual Music Festival Expands Schedule

A live-streamed concert series that launched last week, Shut In & Sing features podcast host Kelly McCartney and singer/songwriter Natalia Zukerman hosting live-streamed performances. Acts such as Keb’ Mo’, Rhiannon Giddens, Mary Gauthier, McCrary Sisters, to Jerry Douglas, the War & Treaty, Courtney Marie Andrews and Steve Forbert have signed on to perform for people staying home. The performances are being aired via Stageit, with the profits split between the participants. 

Shut In & Sing will feature a special Easter gospel/spirit lineup on April 12, a Compass Records showcase on April 15, an AMA session on April 17 and a Rounder Records-themed performance on April 19. In addition, Our Native Daughters will perform on April 22, and there will be a Smithsonian Folkways concert on April 24. Cantina Navarro plays on May 3, and an AMA UK event takes place on May 6. There will be an all-instrumental Shut In & Pluck night on May 9.

“Every project that I work on is centered on creating ways to bring fans and artists together, and that holds true even more in times when we find ourselves kept apart by forces beyond our control,” says McCartney in a press release. “When Natalia [Zukerman] had the brilliant mini-festival idea, I knew my friends at StageIt could make that happen – and they did. To be met with such a wonderfully enthusiastic response from artists and fans that we have to keep adding shows is exactly what we had hoped for.”

McCartney and Zukerman aim to highlight the “grassroots” side of the music industry.

“Every touring musician I know lost their ability to make money in mere hours as the pandemic and measures to contain it came to light. I panicked…and then I tapped into a deep desire that I always have to find and create opportunity out of adversity,” explains Zukerman. “I also became very aware that people would be turning to online concerts as the only available option to continue our connection with our fans and maintain our identity as performers. How can we turn this into a chance to cross-pollinate, share our resources, and maybe even lighten the effects of social isolation?” 

Singer-songwriter Matt the Electrician signed up immediately.

“Right now is a complex swirling of emotions and intensity the likes that almost none of us have ever known,” he says. “The reasons to play online right now are, of course, multi-pronged. Many of us traveling artists have had our ability to financially maintain our lives put on hold indefinitely. Meanwhile, everyone else has had their live, in-person entertainment and connection taken from them. Performers and audiences, in the best of times, need one another. And in the worst of times, hopefully, we can rely on and serve one another.”

Zukerman says the response has been overwhelming. She likens it to a “bolstering light.”

“We band together and take care of each other,” she says. “We are a community and we will get through this. This too shall pass, and in the meantime, we’re gonna sing.”

The series will be held each week from 3 to 5pm EDT on Wednesdays, from 8 to 10pm EDT on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, and from 12 to 3pm EDT on Sundays. Find a complete schedule and buy tickets at www.stageit.com/shutinandsing.