It’s not even a pivot, because there’s nothing to pivot our thinking to.”Ĭan Rock music provide a voice to address this new post-pandemic world, like it has in the past? “And I think bands have had to really shift their thinking. “It’s not revolutionary, but it can be evolutionary,” Bif said. There is a lot of cultural divisiveness, social upheaval, and tumultuous news. And the world is 10 years older.”Įven though 18 months isn’t a very long time in the scheme of things, the world that performing musicians are re-emerging into feels like a different place. “After I went through cancer treatment, I felt like I had to re-emerge. She recalls the experience of returning to the stage after her bout with cancer. She is a prolific writer and graphic artist, and has also developed a parallel career as an activist and humanitarian, as a long-time champion for women’s rights and the LGBTQ+ community, and other causes.Ī breast-cancer survivor herself, Torbert has lent her voice to raise awareness and treatment issues. She launched a career in Punk Rock in Vancouver in the early ‘90s, went solo in 1996, and her career has since seen her tour Canada, the U.S., and Europe as a headliner, and appearing on the bill with some of the world’s top rock acts. “But us in rock, we’re all used to being poor.”īif Naked - aka Beth Torbert - is one of the top-selling Canadian artists and songwriters, and a popular pop-punk artist with an almost 30-year career in recording and global performance. The pandemic pressed the pause button for a lot of people. I don’t think it’s necessarily new for musicians to be poor. Most of us who’ve been in bands since the ‘90s, we’re accustomed to living hand to mouth. And more than anything else, as artists and performers, we’re desperate to perform, for the sake of performing. We want to see our familiar faces in every town, our friends and family. “So now, to re-emerge, for a lot of bands, we are elated to return to the stage. It wasn’t a revenue source for a long time anyway. “Long gone are the days of doing all the things bands did in the ‘90s.

“I think everybody is ,” Bif said, taking time out during a Cranbrook sojourn for an interview.

Digitally streamed concerts have filled the gap somewhat, but it’s just not the same. The music world is contemplating a return to the stage, a year and a half after the pandemic pushed pause on live performance.Īs legendary Canadian rock artist Bif Naked relates, performing live is the economic mainstay of a musician’s livelihood and artistic expression. 2017 Parksville Qualicum Beach Discovery Guide.

Biff naked