What has been nothing short of a true labour of love for Andy Tough is set to reap yet another series of live-off-the-floor musical performances featuring five local acts.
Live! At The Barn is recorded and edited by Tough at the Norwood-area barn recording space he owns with his wife Linda.
The series returns to YouTube on Friday, January 15th at 8 p.m., with well-known British Invasion pop-rockers the Rick & Gailie Band leading the charge.
A new video performance will debut at 8 p.m. on successive Friday evenings, as follows:
- January 22 featuring Tungsten
- January 29 featuring James ‘Jimmy’ Deck
- February 5 featuring High Waters Band
- February 12 featuring the Rob Phillips Trio with singer Marsala Lukianchuk and violinist Saskia Tomkins.
You can access each video performance on Tough’s YouTube channel.
Each video will remain available for viewing permanently, alongside performances from the first series featuring Gunslingers, The Fabulous Tonemasters, Wylie Harold and Out On Bail, Weber Brothers Band, and House Brand.
According to Tough, the sudden passing of Tami J. Wilde collaborator James ‘Jimmy’ Deck on December 21st has resulted in a tribute to Deck being presented, as opposed to what was originally captured — a full performance featuring the longtime duo.
“Tami was uncomfortable with releasing their performance,” Tough says. “But she did agree to allow me to do a short tribute to him featuring a short interview and one of the solo performances he gave during the taping on October 3rd.”
Meanwhile, shortly after Tungsten recorded their hard rock/metal performance in September, drummer Nathan Lauder, the son of the band’s late founder, was involved in a serious motorcycle crash that resulted in major injuries.
“They’ve been trying to keep the band going in his father’s honour and then this happens,” Tough notes.
Originally, Steel Horse Gypsies were scheduled for this series’ lineup and were actually recorded at the barn. The band wanted to do a post-audio mix of their performance but with their Toronto studio closed due to COVID restrictions, that is yet to be done.
“The plan is to release that as a special episode in the future,” Tough says.
Since each band was recorded, Tough, who specializes in audio/video production and presentation through his business RMS Events, has been hard at it, editing performance tape and mixing it with interviews he conducted with each act.
“Having created the template, it was easier to hang the content onto a framework,” he explains. “It’s certainly not cookie cutter, but there’s some continuity between the first and second series.”
The first series’ episodes, says Tough, have collectively had 2,200 views to date. In addition, artists’ choice singles from those shows have had more than 3,000 social media views, while Weber Brothers singles released by the band on their Facebook page have also had more than 3,000 views.
“It’s great exposure for everybody,” says Tough of the response. “Certainly, it’s had a huge impact locally.”
One thing that hasn’t changed is the much-needed shot in the arm the performance platform has provided for participating acts that have been deprived of live venue opportunities since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.
The experience has been good for Tough’s psyche as well, providing a welcome opportunity to do something — anything — in the absence of work as a result of the pandemic shutdown.
“It’s keeping me sane,” he says. “It’s not bringing any money into the house but it keeps my production mind rolling along.”
As for the possibility that he’ll line up bands for a third series, Tough says while he would “love to do it,” he may have to look at charging bands for his services or have acts bring sponsor dollars to the mix.
VIDEO: Live! At The Barn – Season 2 Preview
“We had been looking for sponsorship but it didn’t pan out the way that we hoped,” Tough admits. “Frankly, I didn’t have the time to go out and knock on doors. That’s the trouble with being a solo producer — you have to wear all the different hats.”
“But we’re going to a do third series regardless, probably in the summer,” he adds.
That said, the second series did enjoy some support courtesy of David Goyette, Peterborough Hydroponics, Rural Lynx High Speed Internet, and Diane Lauder and Robert Mahler of Tungsten. kawarthaNOW, meanwhile, has returned as the series’ media sponsor.
With one series have debuted and another set to follow suit, Tough says he remains struck by “how gracious and friendly and thankful all the bands were during the recordings.”
“There were no egos. It was a very positive experience. Everybody worked towards a greater good, did their best, and felt good about having the chance to do it.”
As a long-time supporter of local music, kawarthaNOW.com is proud to be a media sponsor of Live! At The Barn.
