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Imbasciani continues performing — for an online audience

By Staff | Apr 24, 2020

PHOTO PROVIDED Mike?Imbasciani

What is a professional performer to do in a time when performing before an audience is impossible?

Local People’s Choice Winner Mike Imbasciani has not stopped performing despite the changing tides and social distancing directives put into place all over the world because of the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, he has taken to Facebook Live performances in his home. He said he gets requests for certain songs, especially from long-time fans.

Imbasciani has set up an online account where fans can buy his CDs or pay for a live showing of his craft. He admits missing the connection with people only achieved with a live crowd.

“That’s why TV shows film in front of a studio audience, baseball players play in front of a stadium full of people – the connection with the people,” said Imbasciani. “It’s what makes playing music so fun.”

While Imbasciani concedes to studio time being a necessary responsibility of any musician to get a perfect CD sound, it’s the live crowd of onlookers that drives him. He said although his live Facebook performances have been fun, it’s nothing in comparison to playing a gig. Imbasciani feels fortunate to have been born in a time where technology allows him to play to an audience, even though they’re not right in front of him.

“People comment,” said Imbasciani, “they want to know exactly what time I’m going to be doing a video so that they can watch it live, and then they get to be one of the people who got to see it when it happened instead of two hours later when they were scrolling through Facebook.”

All the extra alone time has afforded Imbasciani not only the opportunity to sit down and finish the CD he’d been working on but also to write some new songs. Finding inspiration from some of his own favorite music has also helped him through this time. It’s no secret that Imbasciani and his BluezRockerz pack in the fans when they play Bert’s Bar and Grille. He counts Bert’s as one of the best venues for the band as they’ve played there for so long.

“Unfortunately now season is coming to an end and a lot of my fans from Europe weren’t able to come over here this year,” said Imbasciani. “This would have been the one time a year they get to see my band play.”

Crediting both his parents for support and inspiration, Imbasciani said they each played a role in helping him carve his path toward becoming the musician he is today.

He admits it would have been nice to have played in time for Easter, as many people assumed the country might be back to normal by then.

“That timeline came and went,” said Imbasciani, “although we should be on our way to getting back to normal here. It would be nice if it was early to mid-May.”

Imbasciani said he thinks the post-pandemic performances will start slowly and pick up gradually, although he said he can also see a scenario where people are tired of being cooped up and may be ready to go out and have a good time. He assumes some people will stay home for fear of going back out after all this, which he says is fine, adding with a chuckle that some will likely be sick of looking at each other by the end of the order to stay home.

“It’s just going to be nice to do it again,” said Imbasciani. “I’ll have to make sure to have band rehearsal to make sure we still know everything.”

His property in Arcadia has provided a place of solitude for Imbasciani to get away and spend some time doing yard work, he said, adding that it’s been nice to spend time outside lately. He also said taking walks has been a great way to pass the time. His belief that everything happens for a reason has helped him keep his head in this time and said it’s given him an appreciation for many things we generally take for granted, such as going to the grocery store without fear of catching something. He said its important that we all understand that we are a part of the eco-system like everything else.

“We’re all in this together, and we’ll get past this, and find a way to make everything better,” said Imbasciani.

If you’d like to support Mike Imbasciani’s music, or catch a live performance, you can find more information on him on his Facebook pages: Mike Imbasciani, Mike Imbasciani and his BluezRockerz, or his website Mikeimbasciani.com, where you can also find his CDs.