BOURNE – Jim Decatur is a musician without a place to gig but he remembers a time before the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the world when such places existed. He especially remembers the nice staffs at those places.
Ever since the world was shut down, Decatur, a new father of a four-month old boy, has been putting on Facebook Live concerts to benefit the staff of places he has played.
Lots of musicians are putting on Facebook Live concerts in an effort to make up for some lost income from gigging. Decatur, so far, has been doing it for others.
He had a full-time job at Falmouth Glass and he had not been laid off yet when he decided to give back to staffs of restaurants that had cut staff. He is now laid off, he said.
“They have supported me for years,” he said of one such venue he is supporting, the Naukabout Brewery in Mashpee. Decatur is performing a Facebook Live concert on Friday afternoon at 5 p.m. for the staff, he said.
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He has done two fundraisers so far, and he plans two more – tonight’s for Naukabout and “Sunday or Monday for Fisherman’s View” in Sandwich.
The other two benefit online shows he has put on were for the staff of Bucatino Restaurant and Winebar in North Falmouth, and his local hangout, the Daily Brew in Cataumet.
Part of why Decatur is giving back, he said, is a long story involving some stolen musical equipment of his from six or seven years ago when friends and family raised money to replace his equipment in less than 24 hours. Decatur said he did not miss a gig.
“It was such a roller coaster of emotion. It was such an awful thing to happen… and then hours later be like, holy crap, everybody’s taking care of me,” he said.
And so when the pandemic hit, Decatur said he was moved to give back. He is not sure how much longer he will play only benefit shows, he said.
And, said Decatur, playing online is very different than playing for a live audience. “It’s wicked awkward,” he said. “I really need people in front of me to get energy from.”
But, he said, he took comfort in “just seeing names pop up on the screen,” of those commenting.
One thing that is a positive, said Decatur is that with a new baby he would not be able to go out to see local musicians play, and now he can get to watch.
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“Brian Tarcy knows Cape Cod and captures the attitudes, quirks and idiosyncrasies of its diverse residents. Beneath the witty banter and self deprecating commentary is embedded the most serious issue of the peninsula of Cape Cod – Development. Cape Cod needs jobs and economic impetus, but at what cost? Will the drive to build houses destroy the very nature of the Cape? Will greed push environmental ruin and development obliterate the natural beauty that natives and tourists both crave? Tarcy builds his story around the lives of a softball team of life-long friends, townies who have taken different paths and have opposing visions for the town they love.”
