The music world is contemplating a return to the stage, a year and a half after the pandemic pushed pause on live performance.

As legendary Canadian rock artist Bif Naked relates, performing live is the economic mainstay of a musicianB次元官网网址檚 livelihood and artistic expression. Digitally streamed concerts have filled the gap somewhat, but itB次元官网网址檚 just not the same.

B次元官网网址淚 think everybody is [excited at the prospect of returning to a world of regular concerts],B次元官网网址� Bif said, taking time out during a Cranbrook sojourn for an interview.

B次元官网网址淟ong gone are the days of doing all the things bands did in the B次元官网网址�90s. People receive their music differently. It wasnB次元官网网址檛 a revenue source for a long time anyway. But touring was.

B次元官网网址淪o now, to re-emerge, for a lot of bands, we are elated to return to the stage. We want to see our familiar faces in every town, our friends and family. And more than anything else, as artists and performers, weB次元官网网址檙e desperate to perform, for the sake of performing. Most of us whoB次元官网网址檝e been in bands since the B次元官网网址�90s, weB次元官网网址檙e accustomed to living hand to mouth. I donB次元官网网址檛 think itB次元官网网址檚 necessarily new for musicians to be poor. The pandemic pressed the pause button for a lot of people. But thatB次元官网网址檚 true of every industry.

B次元官网网址淏ut us in rock, weB次元官网网址檙e all used to being poor.B次元官网网址�

Bif Naked B次元官网网址� aka Beth Torbert B次元官网网址� is one of the top-selling Canadian artists and songwriters, and a popular pop-punk artist with an almost 30-year career in recording and global performance. She launched a career in Punk Rock in Vancouver in the early B次元官网网址�90s, went solo in 1996, and her career has since seen her tour Canada, the U.S., and Europe as a headliner, and appearing on the bill with some of the worldB次元官网网址檚 top rock acts.

She is a prolific writer and graphic artist, and has also developed a parallel career as an activist and humanitarian, as a long-time champion for womenB次元官网网址檚 rights and the LGBTQ+ community, and other causes.

A breast-cancer survivor herself, Torbert has lent her voice to raise awareness and treatment issues. She recalls the experience of returning to the stage after her bout with cancer.

B次元官网网址淎fter I went through cancer treatment, I felt like I had to re-emerge. I was very self-conscious. I gingerly approached the stage again. Nothing for me was scarier than that. But now IB次元官网网址檓 10 years older. And the world is 10 years older.B次元官网网址�

Even though 18 months isnB次元官网网址檛 a very long time in the scheme of things, the world that performing musicians are re-emerging into feels like a different place. There is a lot of cultural divisiveness, social upheaval, and tumultuous news. It seems these are febrile times.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 not revolutionary, but it can be evolutionary,B次元官网网址� Bif said. B次元官网网址淎nd I think bands have had to really shift their thinking. ItB次元官网网址檚 not even a pivot, because thereB次元官网网址檚 nothing to pivot our thinking to.B次元官网网址�

Can Rock music provide a voice to address this new post-pandemic world, like it has in the past?

B次元官网网址淎ny music, any art, is a vehicle for any artist to express their take on whatever is going on in their world,B次元官网网址� Bif responded. B次元官网网址淔or most of us, itB次元官网网址檚 our running commentary on society. Any art that we make is going to be that. Rock is always been a protest music.B次元官网网址�

People coming of age in the B次元官网网址�80s and B次元官网网址�90s, Bif says, were lucky to experience Punk Rock music, and the birth of bands like Nirvana and Soundgarden.

B次元官网网址淭hey were creating new sounds B次元官网网址� but new ways to say the same things, that generations before them said. Love is cool, loud is good B次元官网网址� those kind of things. But as far as protest music B次元官网网址� Punk Rock, Reggae, Hip Hop, were the anthemic protest music of our lives.

B次元官网网址淎nd now, as we are now in a world that is enmeshed in this pandemic apocalypse B次元官网网址� people have been suddenly forced online. If theyB次元官网网址檙e not bookworms, then online is where theyB次元官网网址檙e getting a lot of their new discoveries, things that have broadened their lives, broadened their worlds. The internet is so vast that with freedom of speech comes freedom of ideas that we donB次元官网网址檛 agree with. That has brought a lot of people into the world and discovering they have a voice, where before they didnB次元官网网址檛 know, or didnB次元官网网址檛 participate. There are a lot of opinions.

B次元官网网址淭here are a lot of us B次元官网网址榖ookwormsB次元官网网址� that become disheartened by what we see people sharing on the internet. It can seem very callous.B次元官网网址�

WhatB次元官网网址檚 also happening at the same time as the pandemic, Bif says, has been the enormous repercussions of climate change becoming apparent B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址渨eB次元官网网址檙e starting to see an acceleration of horrific results.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚n a post-pandemic world, which we have not yet reached, weB次元官网网址檙e going to talk about the people who are vaccinated versus the unvaccinated. People who like science versus people who do not agree with the science. This has always existed. Separation of church and state. People have always argued about vaccinating their children, have always argued about climate change.B次元官网网址�

Bif Naked is pictured in acoustic performance with Stephen Allen. (Photo submitted)

As for her own performing future, and recent past, Bif Naked and her band have been hanging fire for almost two years.

They had a tour booked with rock bands Buckcherry and Age of Days. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e had that booked for two years, and they postponed it twice. Rumour has it that itB次元官网网址檚 happening this October, thankfully.B次元官网网址�

Even the release of BifB次元官网网址檚 latest studio album B次元官网网址� which would be her sixth B次元官网网址� has been delayed, not for just pandemic reasons, but also because of her perspective on the larger issues that were shaking up things in 2020.

B次元官网网址淲e made a record B次元官网网址� called B次元官网网址楥hampion.B次元官网网址� WeB次元官网网址檙e very proud of the songs, the mixes, and everything was in place. We put our first single out in 2020. That was a big undertaking, did a video, and were quite prepared to release another single that May, then another one in August, and then release the record.

B次元官网网址淏ut with everything that was happening, and especially last summer, I felt nobody needed a Bif Naked record at that moment. What we needed was to talk about race, and about equity and about the world we live in and how we needed to fix it, and change it. My parents were civil rights activists with Dr. Martin Luther King, and I thought, B次元官网网址榳here we are, after so many years, we cannot let the work that they started be in vain. I thought, my record means nothing this year. LetB次元官网网址檚 wait.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淎nd so we waited, and we were going to do a streaming show for October, but itB次元官网网址檚 just not the same. It just didnB次元官网网址檛 seem right. We released another single (I Broke Into Your Car) B次元官网网址� and so here we are, a year later. I still havenB次元官网网址檛 released Champion, because I donB次元官网网址檛 believe itB次元官网网址檚 important enough. I think there are other things, in the news feeds, that are much more important.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 not going to perish emotionally waiting to release a record. I havenB次元官网网址檛 done a studio record in over a decade. I havenB次元官网网址檛 wanted to. Hopefully the timing will be right this fall, and weB次元官网网址檒l be able to release it. But it depends on the rest of the world.B次元官网网址�

Left to right: Ferdy Belland, bass player for Bif NakedB次元官网网址檚 band; Bif Naked, holding Ace; Stephen Allen, guitarist with the band (and Bif NakedB次元官网网址檚 husband). In Huckleberry Books, Cranbrook. (Barry Coulter photo)