What Can a Musician Do During Lockdown in Ealing?

A great deal according to singer-songwriter Tony Bowen

Singer-songwriter Tony Bowen

When lockdown was announced Ealing musician Tony Bowen received a series of emails from the venues he regularly played at including the Drayton Court informing him they were closed for the foreseeable future.

Singer-songwriter Tony said, “I decided I needed to look into other ways of getting through to the other side of lockdown with my sanity and a roof over my head.”

The first thing he did was started a regular Self-Isolation Party broadcast live on his Facebook page in which he takes song requests on different themes every day.

“I figured everyone was in the same boat, stuck at home and looking for ways to stay entertained” says Tony.

“Prior to lockdown, I already took requests via social media at the gigs that I did so I had a decent following of people who knew that I really enjoyed taking requests and being kept on my toes.”

On Friday June 26 he organised a Zoom party for all his regular followers for the 100th Self-Isolation Party and, as it coincided with Glastonbury, the theme was headliners.

During lockdown he has played a few charity events including Roald Dahl Children Charity and a 5 hour marathon gig to raise money for the NHS. He’s also worked with Camden Town Brewery, Hard Rock Hotel London, Innocent Smoothies as well as some family/local run companies for ‘after work drinks’ as a means of helping employees with maintaining their mental health and making sure everyone feels connected.

He’s also been recording songs for special occasions (first dances, Mothers/Father’s Day gifts) and now bookings are starting to come in for some private garden parties and other outdoor socially distanced events.

This has left him barely enough time to write his own music but he has still managed to do so.

If you’d like to join him for a Self-Isolation Party they are still continuing every day on his Facebook page at 1pm.

And you can see some of the best song requests on his Instagram page.

Despite a productive time during lockdown Tony says, “I can’t wait to get back into playing in pubs though and reconnect with people”.

July 1, 2020