Photo credit: Jim Eannelli
Singer-songwriter Peggy James
During the pandemic, singer-songwriter Peggy James put the finishing touch on her just-released album, Paint Still Wet.
How has the lockdown affected your creativity?
It's so important to keep your creativity alive during this confinement. This lockdown thing is affecting everyone differently and it sure hasn't been easy. But on the positive side, it gave Jim [Eannelli, James’ musical collaborator] and I more time to focus on finishing this album.
We had all the songs almost completed by February 2020, but it still needed some finishing touches. When the COVID lockdown started there were less distractions, so Jim was busy mixing, and mastering and I was working on the CD design and the manufacturing end. By June 2020, the album was finished. I feel lucky to have music and songwriting as a part of my life because it keeps me mentally active and healthy during these trying times.
Do you have a routine or schedule for staying in practice or working on new material?
No. I have no routine or schedule for practicing or writing new material. Probably should? I work mainly on inspiration which is dependent on a lot of things. But I do try to find some solitary time each week to write and practice guitar.
Are you making plans for when you can resume playing in front of people again?
Under the circumstances it's very difficult to make plans to play in front of people, so no plans yet—just waiting for this whole COVID thing to settle down and see where we land. It’s hard to plan when things change from day to day. Maybe for now it’s just a good time to write more songs.
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.
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