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Macon musicians describe performing during COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 is impacting people in all professions, including local musicians who've had many of their live gigs cancelled.

MACON, Ga. — Musician James Worsham says he's lived in Macon for the last three years. He says this was supposed to be an eventful summer.

"I had a pretty big summer coming up before all this happened. I had probably 15 dates cancelled like overnight," he says.

Instead, he had to step away from performing live.

"I increased my hours at work doing consulting and I've started producing for other artists a lot more, and I kind of, just to myself, decided I'm not going to play any shows until next year. I might play one or two if something comes up that feels safe," says Worsham.

As we head into month five, Worsham says his mindset has changed. "I'm not in the mood to play music right now to be honest."

Worsham is just one full-time musician forced to get creative with ways to make a living due to COVID-19. Another is 24-year-old Hughes Taylor.

"When I can't perform, which is what I know I'm meant to do, and when I can't do that, it's tough," he says.

Taylor is a blues artist and Macon native who now performs across the state.

"You wanna stay ahead of the curve, but you don't really know what that's gonna be, it's just kind of doing whatever you can," says Taylor.

For him, that means making money from Facebook Live videos, a website, and paid subscribers, who he refers to as 'the Hughes Blues Crew'.

"They get all the music I ever put out before it ever hits the stores, like months and months and months in advance, so they already have access to all my stuff. That's how I'm keeping in touch with my fanbase," says Taylor.

Hughes says live gigs are starting up again, especially in north Georgia, but he'll still make sure to keep his online presence a regular one.

Both Worsham and Taylor say they're working on new music and hope to release something before the end of the year.

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