A Musician’s Perspective: The Pandemic is Not Music to My Ears

From Rhode Island to California, the reverberations of the pandemic has forced musicians and artists to consider other career opportunities or adapt to the new reality we find ourselves in today.  Some have found success through the popularity of social media apps like TikTok — jumpstarting a wave of content creators in the race to get more followers. A task that’s easier said than done.In this episode, podcast hosts Dr. Jim McDonald and Dr. Philip Chan have a candid conversation with Casey Cook and Marc Trachtenberg on what’s it like to be a musician today. Cook and Trachtenberg are independent artists who made most of their discretionary income from music pre-pandemic. While these inspiring artists live nearly 3,000 miles apart, their stories of perseverance and resilience is an eerily familiar one that is resonating with millions of households in America. Join us for a somber look at what the music industry is facing. You won’t want to miss the outlooks our guests have for the year ahead and their thoughts on the future of the music industry.About Our GuestsCasey CookCasey Cook is a Los Angeles based singer and songwriter.A Rhode Island native who grew up singing in choirs and earning countless leading roles in musical theatre, she would eventually attend Belmont University and took her love of songwriting to the City of Angels upon graduation. Cook’s songs have been placed in movies, television and film festivals around the world, and in 2019 she earned an international cut with Eurovision winner Lena-Meyer Landrut, co-writing the single “Boundaries” which became the official campaign song of Marvel's X-Men Dark Phoenix in several European countries. Learn more about Casey by visiting iamcaseycook.com.Marc TrachtenbergMarc Trachtenberg is a Rhode Island based pianist, singer, composer, and educator. After graduating from New York University with a degree in music education, Trachtenberg became a piano teacher by day and keyboardist at night. His interest in enriching kids’ lives through music led him through a remarkable journey to the creation of Rock-a-Baby — a popular infant and toddler music class that he would bring back to Rhode Island.Trachtenberg and his wife, Stephanie, have started streaming a piano bar on Facebook. The duo play live from their living room, and it’s steadily gaining more support. Learn more about Trachtenberg here:https://www.facebook.com/welldoitlivepiano/live_videos/?ref=page_internal [facebook.com]