The pandemic did not throw singer/songwriter Bonnie Bishop into songwriting, she reveals. It threw her into the book she’s wanted to write for years about her stepfather, college football coach Jackie Sherrill. She hopes to have a first draft of the book — which is about her family, Sherrill’s story, and a statement on the damaging effects of celebrity culture — finished by January. “I think at the heart of it, I’m actually a storyteller,” Bishop muses. “I happen to be able to sing, I’m a great singer, but I’m really telling stories when I sing, too. It’s very fulfilling, and it’s extremely challenging. There’s nothing similar between books and songs except they both use words. It’s trying to train yourself on an economy of words. It’s a lot. But it’s really fun.” (Courtesy Photo)Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Bonnie Bishop confesses that, after 18 years on the road, she had been looking for a way to take maybe a year off from touring to pursue other creative interests. What she didn’t know was a global pandemic was going to make that decision for her as the live music industry was brought to a screeching halt.
Bishop was supposed to perform at the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville on March 21 — almost exactly one week after the WAC announced it would be suspending live performances in response to the spread of covid-19. On Sept. 10, she’ll now be the venue’s first hosted show in six months.
“I actually think music is really more important for other people than I realized before,” Bishop considers. “And I think other people are realizing, all the arts, it’s all come to a stop. Broadway has closed down; actors are out of work; movies aren’t being shown; music’s not being listened to live. That’s something I don’t think anybody would have predicted could happen. Market crashes, that’s fairly common. But for our culture, this seems to be like the difference between freedom and complete poverty is the ability to create art and to experience art.
“And I feel that it’s pretty important for us to get to a place where we can do those things, and people feel safe enough to come experience them,” she goes on. “Because I think the soul suffers without being fed in those ways, both on the performance end and the side of the audience experiencing it.”
The WAC has done its part in creating an environment where hopefully patrons will feel safe and excited to experience live performance again. Bishop was originally part of the West Street Live lineup, a series at the WAC known for its intimate, listening-room feel and presented in Starr Theater. To accommodate for appropriate social distancing, the concert has been moved to Baum Walker Hall. The larger space did allow for a few more tickets to be sold, but the number will still be limited as groups will be separated in the same row by a minimum of four seats, and every other row in Baum Walker will be left empty.
Bishop admits that the onstage distancing between musicians will require some getting used to, but one of the most difficult changes for her will be not getting to interact with fans at the merchandise table after the show.
“That’s really where I think people feel like they have a real connection to me is when they get to come and tell me, ‘We played your song at our wedding,’ or ‘We played your song at my mom’s funeral,’ or ‘I saw you 10 years ago the night I met my husband,'” Bishop recounts. “I hope people will still feel a connection to me at a distance. That’s a challenge as a performer that you have to think about.”
Another challenge she knows she’ll have to navigate each night is how much to address what’s going on outside those theater doors. Bishop shares candidly that she hopes to create an environment with her music that will allow people to escape the emotional and mental weight of daily life, but recognizes it may seem callous not to acknowledge the turmoil the world is in. It’s a balance she’ll have to find as she picks up performing again, she says.
“Hopefully it’s a time where you can really just let the music speak for you, and sing from your heart and let the music be the words that you speak,” Bishop offers. “Being honest musically and connecting with them that way, I think that’s most important — to provide people a place they can escape from what’s happening outside the walls.
“What my music has always been about has been emotional connection. So that’s what I’ll focus on when we come and sing in Arkansas, and hopefully provide a place for people to get filled up and find some joy and some beauty and some escape in the music.”
Her music has even brought some of that solace to her during the last few months, Bishop shares. Though her latest album, “The Walk,” was written well before the pandemic and released in October, the songs are all about struggling through depression and the unknown and seeking a deeper sense of meaning and a deeper sense of self, she reveals.
“So, I think it’s good timing. I hope that people find that music.”
FAQ
Bonnie Bishop
WHEN — 8 p.m. Sept. 10
WHERE — Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville
COST — Balcony seats for $32
INFO — 443-5600, waltonartscenter.org, bonniebishop.com
FYI — This performance is rescheduled from March 21.