Like the majority of you, all of us in the Philadelphia area are staying at home, learning to adapt to our “new normal.” MAGNET is checking in with local musicians to see how and what they’re doing during this unprecedented time. Photos by Chris Sikich.
Greeley: This whole period of time has felt like one giant rebirth/reset for me. I was coming out of a very difficult time in my personal life, and in a bizarre way, the timing of all of this couldn’t have been more perfect to get myself together, and to start feeling like myself again. After spending months and months feeling like I was losing my edge and consistently stockpiling creative and artistic ideas on the back-burner, I began to wonder If I would ever be able to get back on track as an artist. The constant “there’s not enough hours in the day” or “I’m just too damn tired after work”—I became very hard on myself, for several reasons, and once we were told to lock down essentially, I already felt pretty prepared to spend time alone after my own self-induced isolation from being depressed.
But what I was not prepared for was to actually take steps to finally get out of that dark hole. Each day, I began slowly but surely take those ideas off the back-burner. I began practicing singing and playing guitar again regularly, finishing songs and making recordings, writing and reading each day, catching up with family and friends, regularly having FaceTime and even reconnecting with some I had felt I had lost touch with. But most importantly, I started to actually like myself again, and started to feel a focus come back in to view I hadn’t let myself see for quite some time.
Needless to say, I still know there will be tough days ahead, and moments of uncertainty, but I know if we can all truly lean on each other for love and support, and persevere through all the obstacles ahead, we will get through this, one way or the other. I can’t even imagine what it will feel like to be at a show or play my first show live again for the first time. All I know is that I will be hugging and singing with every single soul around me, and letting them know how happy I am to be sharing that moment with them—to be alive, and to have music in my life, every day.
