Barbra Lica: Hello from My Basement
It has been a difficult year for artists, to be sure, and so many musicians have overcome the challenges of this year with creativity and impressive resilience.
Barbra Lica & Tom Flemming recording outside of The Barn on a warm summer day. Photo by Steve Dagg.
As a response to COVID-19, Artistic and Managing Director Brian Finley began Westben’s podcast journey to explore the life and work of some of the greatest composers in history with music historian and friend Barb Hobart. This podcast has grown into a vehicle for musicians who record Digital Concerts at The Barn, to express the trials and successes of being a performer during a global pandemic.
Episode 15 of the podcast is a vibrant and interesting conversation with internationally acclaimed Toronto-based singer-songwriter Barbra Lica! From conversations of creative new remote collaborations to learning to produce music in her basement, Barbra Lica shared a few wonderfully creative things she has been able to accomplish during this time of isolation.
Listen to the full conversation in the newest episode of Westben’s Podcast, available on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Anchor.fm, Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, & RadioPublic and on Spotify above.
“I always wanted to do it, I never had the time”.
Barbra is excited to share that she and her good friend Anders Azzopardi are working on a collaborative arrangement together during this time with hopes of a music-filled party in the future when we are all safe to gather again.
Barbra: “It started off as taking entirely music from my last 5 albums but now we have arranged a tune that hasn’t been released yet”
Barbra Lica & Tom Flemming their Digital Concert on stage at The Barn, Summer 2020. Photo by Steve Dagg.
Brian: “Awesome. Good!”
Barbra: “One of the ones we did today - what do you say - the one we opened with. So we have done an arrangement for that. We’re just putting everything together for a 15 piece chamber orchestra.
Brian: Well good on you to think so big, like for such a big ensemble. It’s great thinking. What drew you to that? Is it just something you missed and wanted to get back to?
Barbra: I always wanted to do it, I never had the time and my friend Anders called me almost a week into the lockdown and he said “You know, I’m not working right now, I’ve been teaching and my students are on pause, why don’t we do this together? And you know at the end of this we can have a big party with everyone. And just play shoulder to shoulder as we used to…
Brian: Oh I’m looking forward to that.
Barbra: And I thought that was such a beautiful idea and I just fully can’t wait.
“Tell me where you are and send me a recording of you know HELLO”
Barbra also shed some light on her quirky new recording Hello from My Basement that will be featured in her Digital Concert at The Barn.
Barbra: So I had a really hard time with the pandemic, and I decided to go for a run right when it happened. It was really weird because I kept bumping into people with bags, grocery bags full of toilet paper and groceries that they were hoarding and the such. And I thought you know, this could totally be a song. So I wrote this song in my head while I ran and came home and I sent emails to everyone and I put it up on my website and I said
Hello from My Basement is available to purchase on Barbra Lica’s Bandcamp. Click Here.
‘Tell me where you are and send me a recording of you know hello from my… fridge, wherever you happen to be’
So I strung it all together and I produced my first ever song. This is my isolation tune - this is called Hello from my Basement”
Hello from My Basement
All my friends are far away
They’re stuck at home with toilet paper rolls
Paper rolls
And I’ve got seasonal allergies
So my neighbours are afraid of me and my runny nose
Runny nose
But even if it’s Armageddon
Everyone still needs a friend n’
Now we’ve got technology to say
Hello from my Basement
Hello from my living room
Hello from my balcony
Been counting up the tumbleweed …
Hear ‘Hello from my Basement’ in Barbra Lica’s upcoming Digital Concert at The Barn on Saturday, February 13th at 8:00 pm.
This concert will be available to watch after this premiere time but we would love for you to join us on Saturday night to enjoy LIVE chat with other friends of Westben, specials with local restaurants participating in #WESTBENTOGO and a LIVE pre-concert chat on Instagram prior to the concert with Barbra Lica & Westben’s Samantha Clark.
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Do you have questions about Digital Concerts at The Barn or any feedback? We would love to hear from you!