Steve Wong, Times-News correspondent
For nearly a year, the world has been stymied by COVID-19 in nearly every way possible, including the enjoyment of live music.
Live music, especially on the community level with local musicians performing at local venues for local people, has been hit hard. There is always the fear that as you sit in a crowded bar that someone will breathe out contaminated droplets that you could breathe in and be stricken with the disease that has infected more than 95 million people, killing more than 2 million worldwide.
A year ago, on any given weekend (Thursday-Sunday) there were between 40 and 50 live music opportunities within the readership of this newspaper. This week, there are only 15, presented by only nine venues.