New Orleans’ music economy is like no other in the world, and New Orleans musicians were fortunate to be the beneficiaries of a few provisions in the recently-passed CARES Act. To understand how area performers are organizing themselves and helping each other through this crisis, Newell invited Tara Hernandez from the New Orleans Music Economy steering committee, Reid Wick from the Recording Academy, and the legendary Deacon John onto the show Tuesday morning.
“Everyone knows the gig economy is truly down and out right now, mostly because of the mobile way gig workers conduct their business,” Newell began. “It’s not easily documentable for the Federal government, but everyone in the industry seems to have come together and was able to get language put into the CARES Act that makes a big difference for the music economy. What can you tell us about that?”“The CARES Act is really going to make a difference by just putting money in our pockets,” Deacon John said. “We’ve been severely impacted. Ain’t no gigs for nobody, nowhere, throughout the music industry. Not even just the musicians, it’s all gig workers. The stimulus is going to help us immensely because we’ll be able to buy food, pay rent and just survive. I’m thankful that the government has stepped in and given us unemployment where we didn’t before. There’s a myriad of things affecting us that will be helped by the CARES Act, and there’s also other philanthropic organizations that are stepping up to the plate, like the Grammy foundation, GNO Inc, the Jazz and Heritage Foundation. We need a little stimulation right now, I’m waiting for my check myself!”
“Timing is everything,” Newell continued. “We’re going into the festival season, just one after the other, and they employ a lot of musical talent but that’s all lost - and you don’t get it back, either, right?”
“Festivals have been rescheduled for later in the year, but that doesn’t help the musicians or the stage crews right now,” Wick said. “The really cool thing about the CARES Act is that it’s the first time that gig economy folks, everyone that’s a 1099 or what have you, can get unemployment benefits and are now eligible for Payroll Protection Plan. There’s three or four different mechanisms in the Act due to the thousands of musicians, hotel workers and others working to get that language added. Originally we were not taken care of.”“I know there’s special things happening in the background too, Tara, tell us about those.”