Bend country group Appaloosa performed the Worthy Roots Relief Fund livestream concert May 16. The group performed from Central Oregon Recording studio.

It’s about week 472 of no live music in Central Oregon. OK, no it isn’t, but it sure feels like it for music fans, musicians, venues and other essential industry workers struggling to get by right now.

While Deschutes County last week got the go-ahead to begin Phase 1 of reopening, large gatherings are still verboten until September, at least. But before you fire up Netflix for your 472nd view-through of “The Office” (What? 472 seems like a good number), remember that your favorite local artists are still out there and still making noise online with livestreams. And at least one Bend venue is looking to return to (smaller, socially distanced) real-world live music.

Welcome to primal stream therapy, GO! Magazine style.

Real-world concert alert

Food truck pod River’s Place will test the waters with a socially distanced live music performance from Bend-based singer-songwriter Pete Kartsounes at 5 p.m. Sunday.

Kartsounes will perform in the venue’s outdoor gazebo/makeshift stage, and most seating will be outside. The venue will have some tables set up inside with the garage door and windows open so people can listen, said River’s Place co-owner Jessica Swartz. Only one party per table will be allowed, so a family or group that comes in together can sit at the same table.

“We have a very large outdoor area at River’s Place,” Swartz said. “We have approximately 4,000 square feet of outside space with seating. We have strategically placed all of our seating outside to be six feet apart — not just the tables six feet apart, but actually the chairs if there are chairs. Some of them are picnic tables, so that’s not as much of an issue. But six feet away with people, not just the tables themselves.”

If this goes well, River’s Place will continue to host similar performances over the summer, Swartz said.

“Please come and do good,” she said. “Play by the rules. That would be my biggest message (to put) out there so that we can keep doing this.”

Kartsounes, one of the first local musicians to jump on livestreaming when the lockdown started, said he’s looking forward to playing his first in-person show in nearly two months. He recently released the sprawling, Pink Floyd- and Ray LaMontagne-inspired single, “Broken,” and is working on a double-album tentatively titled “Out Here on My Own” for release later this summer.

“It’s supposed to be a beautiful day,” Kartsounes said. “… I had a festival booked that day that got canceled obviously. So it’s nice to have some work.”

Home on the Grange

On May 16, The Parnells — Casey, Whitney and Corey — performed for Sisters-based studio Grange Recorders’ first livestream show since March 20. The Americana group and offshoot of Precious Byrd performed for roughly two hours and collected tips, using the studio’s recording muscle to deliver one of the cleanest-sounding (and looking) livestreams to come out of Central Oregon yet.

Grange owner and founder Keith Banning found a way to socially distance at his studio while hosting these shows. Rather than hosting it in the studio — a space about the size of a large garage — he set up his equipment in the airplane hangar on his property. The hangar, which normally serves as a Crossfit and weightlifting gym, offers 2,000 square feet of space — plenty of room for four to five musicians and engineers to maintain safe distances.

Banning planned to host more livestream concerts from the hangar, but unfortunately had to tear down his setup when the gym reopened this week. He still plans to host livestream shows and is working out the logistics, and said the studio will soon be open for socially distanced recording sessions — so stay tuned.

Banning and Grange also teamed with the Sisters Folk Festival Organization for the annual My Own Two Hands Community Art Auction and Fundraiser, which took place May 8 through 16. The organization, which has long worked with Banning and the studio to archive the festivals, moved My Own Two Hands online due to the pandemic.

The organization also started hosting SFF Bandwagon: mobile pop-up concerts featuring artists such as Pete Kartsounes, Beth Wood and Tisdel performing from the back of a beavertail trailer.

“It’s really just a way for us to recognize that people need music right now; they need art and culture and music and connection,” Tisdel said. “… We’re not really promoting it heavily and saying, ‘We’re going to be in this neighborhood.’ We put somebody on there, we fire up the generator, we try to make it sound really good and we drive around town and stop if people are out and hanging out in their front yards.”

Livestreaming could come into play for the Sisters Folk Festival itself, which as of deadline is slated to happen Sept. 11 through 13.

“I would say as it stands right now, we’re meeting daily and talking about putting all options on the table and seeing what new developments happen, as well,” Tisdel said.

The Worthy Roots Relief Fund

Two key players in Central Oregon’s music scene — Worthy Brewing and the Bend Roots Revival — teamed up to create the Worthy Roots Relief Fund livestream concert series. The streams kicked off April 1 and have continued every Wednesday and Saturday since, with artists booked through May.

The next Worthy Roots stream at 6 p.m. Saturday will feature Americana, blues and country duo Dave and Melody Hill. Larkspur Stand takes the digital stage at 6 p.m. Wednesday. You can find the streams on Facebook at the artists’ pages, Worthy Brewing’s page, the Bend Roots Revival’s page or on individual event pages.

The streams help support the joint fundraising effort between Worthy Brewing and the Bend Roots Revival to support musicians and industry workers affected by COVID-19. For every Worthy six-pack sold on concert day, the brewery donates $5 to the fund.

Each Worthy Roots performer for the month of April received $300 from the fund, said Bend Roots founder Mark Ransom. He hopes to continue awarding $300 per artist as the series continues, he said. The rest of the fund will go toward $100 individual grants for musicians or support staff such as sound engineers who are out of work during the pandemic.

“We’ve made a policy of selecting from those who have inquired and also those that … the bands and the Roots team — Ian (Egan), me, Samantha (Harber) — want to nominate for this additional relief fund money,” Ransom said.

A local music compilation

Bend Roots Revival and Bend Music Collective will team to put out a compilation of local musicians to be titled “High Desert Calling.” The Bend Music Collective is a group dedicated to promoting “creative personal and professional growth and leadership of all artists,” per the Facebook post announcing the compilation.

Project manager Jeshua Marshall, of Guardian of the Underdog, Larry and His Flask and many more groups, is asking for submissions of original songs (they can be previously released or new) to bendmusiccollective@gmail.com by June 11 for a projected July 11 release date. Include the name of the artist and links to a website or social media pages. The compilation will release online for free, with streaming revenue going to the artists, per the post.

Also, musicians can submit to win free recording time at Central Oregon Recording for the compilation. To enter, send a short email to the above address with the subject line “High Desert Calling Giveaway” describing yourself and why this opportunity would help you grow as an artist right now. Include a home-recorded demo of your song. Contest submissions must be received by Saturday, per Marshall’s Facebook post.

You ain’t goin’ nowhere (it’s Mr. B’s Ballroom)

It’s good to pontificate about pop music in these pages again. If you’re looking for more reviews, interviews, features and all the other stuff I used to put in this magazine, check out my blog, Mr. B’s Ballroom (mrbballroom.blogspot.com). Thanks to Mark and Jerry for the name (we’re all Devo!).

— Got a tip, a livestream concert, a new album or single or any other local music news to share? Drop me a line at brian.mcelhiney@gmail.com.