No one needs to be told that Covid 19 has not just caused a whole lot of damage to global health; it has also caused widespread, serious economic damage as well. Literally millions of people have been rendered jobless nationwide in just the past couple of weeks. Front and center has been the food industry. It’s impossible to walk down Stone Way or 45th and not notice all the closed restaurants and cafes which have left unemployed cooks, wait staff, baristas and bartenders in their wake. You can fight wrongful termination when you know the local California laws to assist your job termination. But many other folks have been affected, among them people in the performing arts.
Now, one of our neighbors has decided to do something about it.
Eytan Nicholson grew up in Wallingford, on Eastern Avenue, and graduated from Garfield High School (jazz program). From there, he went on to attend the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. Now, he’s back here in Wallingford, living on the very same street where he grew up.
Eytan writes:
With the current world situation and all events cancelled, almost all of my fellow musicians are out of work and struggling. Along with a group of vocalists from Berklee, I have launched a platform to help some of those musicians and also offer a fresh and affordable service that’s perfect for this current world condition.
Our service is Surprise Sing – it’s an over-the-phone singing telegram service where anybody in the world can easily book a young professional vocalist to call anyone in the world at anytime and sing to them. Everybody who tries this service loves it, it’s perfect to send for any occasion or even just for a pick-me-up, and with our current promotion the standard phone serenade is only $15. (Plus it’s 100% virus-proof)
The service is simple to use, and works like this. Go to their website, and select the song package that you want: 1-2 songs ($20), 3 songs ($25) or even custom lyrics ($30). 100% of profits go directly to the vocalists to support them during this difficult time. On the next screen, select the songs that you want your recipient to hear. (So as not to bore the listener or use up too much of their time, only a 20 or 30 second snippet of each song is sung.) You’ll also need to enter contact information for yourself (name, email and phone #), contact information for your recipient (name and phone), and the date and time (in half-hour windows) that you want your Surprise Sing delivered. You can also include a 40-word message for your recipient. Payment is by credit card on the final screen.*
Surprise Sing offers quite a wide variety of songs. There are occasion-specific songs such as Happy Birthday, and songs about Christmas. There are songs for that special person in your life e.g. I Just Called to Say I Love You (Stevie Wonder) and The Way You Make Me Feel (Michael Jackson). And then there are songs that will resonate as we all try to get through this pandemic: Work from Home (Fifth Harmony), I Will Survive (Gloria Gaynor).
Eytan adds:
We started off by trying to empower young musicians while hopefully disrupting the gift industry with something fun, refreshing, and lively instead of tired flowers and stale cards. It’s always been extremely difficult to make a living in music and there are so many talented and deserving musicians who deserve more support. In parallel, the world recognizes that there are many talented people but there aren’t many easy ways to access and interact with them.
Our platform gives the world a new easily accessible venue for live music, a fresh twist to gifting, and an opportunity for talented vocalists.
I tried the service myself, and I was hooked. I sent myself a Surprise Sing. I sent my wife (stuck working in California) a Surprise Sing. I gave the editors here at Wallyhood a Surprise Sing. So give yourself some joy. Give a friend some joy. Help a vocalist. It’s a win, win, win. Try Surprise Sing.
* Wallyhood readers may use the promo code QUARANTUNES, and receive a 25% discount.