Courtesy of John Stano
On his 2018 album Live at the South Shore Farmers Market, John Stano opens with a song, that might be a sound check or simply a conversation welcoming folks in. The Milwaukee singer-songwriter comes off as the neighborhood version of Steve Goodman. With a season of outdoor gigs canceled, Stano talks about gradually coming to terms and digging out of the pandemic.
How has the lockdown affected your creativity?
Initially I experienced a flurry of practicing, writing and recording song ideas. It felt like a weird series of snow days. But the news kept getting darker and what first seemed like America coming together to beat COVID turned into tribalism and a general lack of seriousness regarding this pandemic.
The added sadness and national outrage over George Floyd’s murder made music seem almost trivial to me. As the lockdown progressed, I went through a period of not really playing much. Health and other family concerns took precedence.
Watching the gigs I had booked for what was going to be a busy Spring and Summer fall off one by one was also discouraging. I missed the motivating energy I get from folks when I perform. I also lost a weekly school gig and missed my kids. Computer problems prevented performing online for some time.
I eventually was able to record and post video. It was good to hear some positive feedback and connect with fans and musician friends again. I did receive other positive news as my song “This Old Guitar” from my January release Digging Out in the Heartland charted on a Folk DJ list at #2 out of 100 and it also made the finals of “The Great American Song Contest.”
About a month ago I had a resurgence of inspiration and have since written three new songs I like and have several more that I’m working on. Not sure where it came from, but I am grateful. Maybe things have new, weird normalized for me.
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Do you have a routine or schedule for staying in practice or working on new material?
I’ve most always had a sporadic approach to practicing—with the exception of when I was a kid trying to learn old country blues and songwriters like Bob Dylan and John Prine off of records, or when I attended the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music to learn how to read music notation when I really immersed myself in the music.
These days I may play a little one day, skip a day or sit on my deck and play for hours. I did recently play a small outdoor birthday party where the guest of honor liked banjo, so I really hit the woodshed beforehand to memorize some songs to play for that. “Necessity is a mother” as I always say.
Open tunings and playing instruments other than guitar like banjo, mandolin and ukulele where I don’t always know where I’m at on the fingerboard help keep things fresh for me. Sometimes I try to play along to whatever is on TV. I always tell myself I should be more methodical but at least an instrument is always within reach.
Are you making plans for when you can resume playing in front of people again?
Playing online does not begin to replace the lost income from playing live for most musicians that I know. Emojis floating up the corner of a screen are nice but do not replace seeing people’s faces and hearing crowd reactions live.
Other than the birthday party, I played a three-hour farm gig recently. I hadn’t sat in one place and worked through my repertoire like that for months. I wondered if I would remember all the lyrics and changes as I don’t like to rely on music or chord charts. I also wondered whether my voice would hold up.
At times I felt like I was out on a tightrope but am pleased to report it went well, although I was able to do a pretty good Tom Waits impression the next day. I’ve since played that gig again and have a few more outdoor things set up or in the works where folks can maintain physical distance. On August 31, I’m going to do Music on the Porch Day in Bay View too.
To read more stories of Milwaukee musicians dealing with lockdowns, sheltering in place and more, click here.
To read more stories by Blaine Schultz, click here.
