Even entertainers are enjoying the entertainment provided by others

In addition to beckoning us to the dance floor or encouraging us to give that romance one more try, music is often called upon to reflect the times in which we live, to challenge what is happening around us, to give us a sense that our voices and opinions matter.

The Vietnam era quickly comes to mind, from Edwin Starr's deep growl demanding of "War," what is it good for?; to Freda Payne imploring the government to "Bring the Boys Home"; and even Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young bringing attention to four dead in "Ohio." Calls to action via sounds of inclusion. Later decades brought different crises — the scourge of AIDS hauntingly realized in Bruce Springsteen's "Streets of Philadelphia" and even the Gulf War buffered by the tender lullaby of "From a Distance" courtesy of Bette Midler.

So if Mr. Peabody and Sherman set the Wayback Machine from "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show" to fast forward and landed in 2020, what songs would greet them? Possibly Simon & Garfunkel's "Sounds of Silence," based on the coronavirus pandemic that's shuttered entertainment venues and forced performers to get creative — you know, singing from a window to the neighbors or Zoom-ing a rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

Until the internet crashes from overuse as families and friends are "cooped up" during this COVID-19 nightmare, the web is wild with videos of singers and strummers keeping us musically together while we're socially apart.

Even the entertainers are enjoying the entertainment provided by others.

"(I'm) watching a lot of YouTube videos where popular artists are recording videos of themselves performing from their living rooms," said self-described Rehab Singer Tom Kennedy (just add a .com to his nickname and you'll be whisked away to his website). "I really like stripped-down, unprocessed raw music performances, and that's what some of the famous artists are doing right now! It's amazing to me."

Kennedy, a local guitarist who bills himself as "a crowd-pleasing singer-storyteller playing acoustic rock, love songs, and songs you know by heart," still can be heard, for example, decrying the ills of addiction on public service announcements — like "Drugs Kill Dreams" — that you know you've heard on COOL 101.7 FM. But you won't catch him spreading his message at rehab centers or jails while this insidious virus is spreading through country and community.

"I am also working on my own music, writing songs that can be used to enhance and aid a person's recovery from substance abuse disorders," Kennedy explained via email. "In the drug/alcohol rehabs I perform probably 85 percent songs that everyone has heard before and 15 percent songs of my own, for 100 percent music with a message."

So this musician, activist and speaker encourages folks to seek out his videos on Facebook for a few moments of inspiration, while he spends his days going for a run or spending "some time in the peace and quiet up at the Greendale Cemetery ravine" and his evenings "reading detective and crime novels by John Sandford, James Patterson, Michael Connelly and others" (some of this writer's favorites, too).

Kennedy's tunes aren't protest songs or political rants; they're contributions to the healing of our most vulnerable citizens — which includes just about everybody at this point. And after you've checked out his artistic endeavors, by all means take a virtual visit to the page of a favorite country crooner or pop princess to see what they're posting.

"Many artists won't perform without auto-tune, reverb, compression and various other processing techniques, in an effort to make everything 'perfect,'" Kennedy said. "But I prefer the imperfections of a live performance because that is where it all starts, that's the ground level of music. So I am enjoying this time while the artists are quarantined and sharing their talents with us."

But suppose your guitar of choice is less acoustic and more thrashing? These days are pretty heavy for heavy metal followers as well.

Imagine your band is booked to play a gig at Meadville Council on the Arts on March 28 and the plug is pulled from the amp because of circumstances beyond your control. That's what happened to local group Tear From Grace.

"For us that was rough 'cause we had worked really hard on getting ready for that show," said Eric (E-kak) Smith, whose vocals and lead guitar are joined by Johnny Britain on drums and Ken Dizzle on bass. "So since all of this has went down we have been pretty much just practicing as much as we can, and I've been writing new songs so we constantly have new material to work on."

Luckily Smith is in the "essential workers" club, so his job as a sous chef at Julian's Bar and Grill in downtown Meadville can provide a distraction. However, the lure of the musical muse is ever-present, so he and his bandmates are counting the days until MCA's Gardner Theatre — and, while we're at it, The Academy Theatre, Meadville Community Theatre and every other outlet for creativity — reopens.

"So for us we are trying to find ways to keep playing, and posting videos on (Facebook) and Instagram so people can still hear what our music is," E-kak said. "But now with the stay-at-home order, that has made rehearsal even harder. But where there is a will, there is a way. We will figure out ways to keep rehearsing, and getting better at our craft. We just can't wait for this to end so we can get back to what we love doing, and that's playing live music for people."

So perhaps the sounds of this time can be anything from head-expanding to head-banging, making one confront issues or escape from them. That's pretty powerful in itself.

To let Tear From Grace's Smith end on a high note: "Music is therapy, and the world needs some good therapy right now."

Kevin M. Hart can be reached at 724-6370 or by email at kevinh@meadvilletribune.com.

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