Arts & Entertainment
Coronavirus-Inspired Songs From Paul Cherry at Livestreamed Chicago Show
Chicago musician Paul Cherry said his new song “More Fun” was inspired by the alienation he has felt during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The lyrics are just, ‘I’m so ready to have more fun with my life ‘cause every day is a huge chore and every night is a huge snore like every night before’ and it’s about what I’m going through,” Cherry said.
On Thursday the indie rock songwriter played his first show in nearly a year: a special concert at Lincoln Hall livestreamed by Audiotree, the Chicago-based promoter that purchased Lincoln Hall and Schubas Tavern in 2015.
“Honestly, I’m kinda looking forward to it because there’s gonna be no nerves,” Cherry said a few minutes before showtime. “It’s gonna be like soundcheck or practice, which is an environment I’m much more comfortable in.”
Like many other music venues, Lincoln Hall was forced to lay off much of its staff and close its doors in March when the COVID-19 shutdown began.
But Cherry’s band filled the venue’s empty auditorium with sound on Thursday as part of Audiotree’s Staged concert series.
Paul Cherry and his band perform at a nearly empty Lincoln Hall on Dec. 10, 2020. The concert was livestreamed to approximately 250 people online by Audiotree, the venue’s owner. (WTTW News)
Lincoln Hall production manager Emily Egerton said a virtual audience of about 250 people purchased tickets to watch Cherry perform live online.
Audiotree was able to pivot when public life went virtual this year because the company already used several high-end cameras and other equipment to broadcast concerts during the pre-pandemic era.
“We’re one of the only venues in the country that has all of this audio and video setup ready to go and that’s why we’ve been so fortunate because our cameras are top of the line, all of our gear is top of the line because we’ve had it already,” Egerton said. “We’re not out of business and having to purchase really expensive gear.”
Egerton said Audiotree evenly splits ticket sales with artists performing in the series.
Cherry, whose real name is Paul Cherewick, moved to Chicago from the Detroit suburbs in 2010 to attend Columbia College. Four years later, he adopted the stage name Paul Cherry and started generating buzz within indie rock’s underground scene.
After spending most of 2019 promoting his debut album “Flavour,” Cherry said he ran out of money in January and took a job at an Italian restaurant. Now, the 28-year-old said that financial safety net is gone.
“The restaurant closed, so I have no job. So I’ve been in this super broke, crisis mode – very hard to be creative,” Cherry said. “I feel like the opportunity for work is so valuable if you don’t have it and there’s a limited amount of it, so I’ve just been really struggling.”
Cherry said several of the new songs he performed Thursday will be on his forthcoming album “Back on the Music,” which he said will be released on a Taiwanese record label and will hopefully open up touring opportunities for him in Asia.
“I’m constantly trying to twist classics – I’m trying to write classic songs that are about something real,” Cherry said. “And twist them to sound like me and to sound not like the classics – that’s the goal.”
Listen to Cherry’s 2018 debut album below:
Note: This story will be updated with video.
Follow Evan Garcia on Twitter: @EvanRGarcia
