Arts council virtual concerts still streaming online

Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band includes the musical duo who are part-time Columbus residents. Submitted photo

If you’re still fighting a bit of the blues, maybe you need a little bluegrass to turn life more upbeat, especially amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Banister Family Bluegrass Band has been helping people do that for goodness knows how long. The ensemble recently was a part of the Columbus Area Arts Council’s online Open Mic Nights — free, virtual concerts that still are accessible on the nonprofit organization’s Facebook page.

The group punctuated the early part its living room performance with the Lester Flatts and Earl Scruggs standard, “Old Salty Dog Blues” that was energetic and upbeat enough to chase away plenty of homebound hassles.

The series is just one of the arts council’s ways of staying in touch with local residents — and giving them music and more while in-person performances remained banned because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Kathryn Armstrong, the arts council’s executive director, mentioned that she hopes local residents note that the arts council is aiming to find creative ways to spotlight all aspects of the arts.

“Our mission hasn’t changed,” Armstrong said. “We’re still here to strengthen the community through arts and culture. And we’ve sort of taken our mission up a notch in order to inspire and uplift during what is a challenging time for everyone all over the world.”

If the arts are partly about an inspired flow, then perhaps it’s fair to say that arts council leaders are finding new tributaries.

Besides the Banisters, the multiple Grammy-winning Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band also recently presented an online living room performance for youngsters — this one from Los Angeles, California, where Alisha Gaddis and Lucky Diaz live when they’re not also at home in Columbus, where Gaddis’ parents live, and where the couple also maintain a home.

The zippy, high-energy show included pop numbers such as the bouncy, bilingual “Paletero Man,” referring to the Mexican ice cream deliverers in Los Angeles. In a country sometimes fraught with division, Diaz once told Billboard magazine, “We can all unite over ice cream — can’t we?”

The concert has triggered more than 3,000 views — hardly surprising when considering that the duo has performed worldwide and boasts its own Emmy-winning children’s show on PBS and another show in China.

“(The year) 2020 is looking a little different than we planned,” Armstrong said. “But we’re excited for new opportunities and ideas to engage Columbus.”