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 musician乌鸦传媒檚 livelihood and artistic expression. Digitally streamed concerts have filled the gap somewhat, but it乌鸦传媒檚 just not the same.

乌鸦传媒淚 think everybody is [excited at the prospect of returning to a world of regular concerts],乌鸦传媒� Bif said, taking time out during a Cranbrook sojourn for an interview.

乌鸦传媒淟ong gone are the days of doing all the things bands did in the 乌鸦传媒�90s. People receive their music differently. It wasn乌鸦传媒檛 a revenue source for a long time anyway. But touring was.

乌鸦传媒淪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, we乌鸦传媒檙e desperate to perform, for the sake of performing. Most of us who乌鸦传媒檝e been in bands since the 乌鸦传媒�90s, we乌鸦传媒檙e accustomed to living hand to mouth. I don乌鸦传媒檛 think it乌鸦传媒檚 necessarily new for musicians to be poor. The pandemic pressed the pause button for a lot of people. But that乌鸦传媒檚 true of every industry.

乌鸦传媒淏ut us in rock, we乌鸦传媒檙e all used to being poor.乌鸦传媒�

Bif Naked 乌鸦传媒� aka Beth Torbert 乌鸦传媒� 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 乌鸦传媒�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 world乌鸦传媒檚 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 women乌鸦传媒檚 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.

乌鸦传媒淎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 I乌鸦传媒檓 10 years older. And the world is 10 years older.乌鸦传媒�

Even though 18 months isn乌鸦传媒檛 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.

乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 not revolutionary, but it can be evolutionary,乌鸦传媒� Bif said. 乌鸦传媒淎nd I think bands have had to really shift their thinking. It乌鸦传媒檚 not even a pivot, because there乌鸦传媒檚 nothing to pivot our thinking to.乌鸦传媒�

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

乌鸦传媒淎ny music, any art, is a vehicle for any artist to express their take on whatever is going on in their world,乌鸦传媒� Bif responded. 乌鸦传媒淔or most of us, it乌鸦传媒檚 our running commentary on society. Any art that we make is going to be that. Rock is always been a protest music.乌鸦传媒�

People coming of age in the 乌鸦传媒�80s and 乌鸦传媒�90s, Bif says, were lucky to experience Punk Rock music, and the birth of bands like Nirvana and Soundgarden.

乌鸦传媒淭hey were creating new sounds 乌鸦传媒� but new ways to say the same things, that generations before them said. Love is cool, loud is good 乌鸦传媒� those kind of things. But as far as protest music 乌鸦传媒� Punk Rock, Reggae, Hip Hop, were the anthemic protest music of our lives.

乌鸦传媒淎nd now, as we are now in a world that is enmeshed in this pandemic apocalypse 乌鸦传媒� people have been suddenly forced online. If they乌鸦传媒檙e not bookworms, then online is where they乌鸦传媒檙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 don乌鸦传媒檛 agree with. That has brought a lot of people into the world and discovering they have a voice, where before they didn乌鸦传媒檛 know, or didn乌鸦传媒檛 participate. There are a lot of opinions.

乌鸦传媒淭here are a lot of us 乌鸦传媒榖ookworms乌鸦传媒� that become disheartened by what we see people sharing on the internet. It can seem very callous.乌鸦传媒�

What乌鸦传媒檚 also happening at the same time as the pandemic, Bif says, has been the enormous repercussions of climate change becoming apparent 乌鸦传媒� 乌鸦传媒渨e乌鸦传媒檙e starting to see an acceleration of horrific results.乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淚n a post-pandemic world, which we have not yet reached, we乌鸦传媒檙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.乌鸦传媒�

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. 乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檝e had that booked for two years, and they postponed it twice. Rumour has it that it乌鸦传媒檚 happening this October, thankfully.乌鸦传媒�

Even the release of Bif乌鸦传媒檚 latest studio album 乌鸦传媒� which would be her sixth 乌鸦传媒� 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.

乌鸦传媒淲e made a record 乌鸦传媒� called 乌鸦传媒楥hampion.乌鸦传媒� We乌鸦传媒檙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.

乌鸦传媒淏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, 乌鸦传媒榳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. Let乌鸦传媒檚 wait.乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淎nd so we waited, and we were going to do a streaming show for October, but it乌鸦传媒檚 just not the same. It just didn乌鸦传媒檛 seem right. We released another single (I Broke Into Your Car) 乌鸦传媒� and so here we are, a year later. I still haven乌鸦传媒檛 released Champion, because I don乌鸦传媒檛 believe it乌鸦传媒檚 important enough. I think there are other things, in the news feeds, that are much more important.

乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檓 not going to perish emotionally waiting to release a record. I haven乌鸦传媒檛 done a studio record in over a decade. I haven乌鸦传媒檛 wanted to. Hopefully the timing will be right this fall, and we乌鸦传媒檒l be able to release it. But it depends on the rest of the world.乌鸦传媒�

Left to right: Ferdy Belland, bass player for Bif Naked乌鸦传媒檚 band; Bif Naked, holding Ace; Stephen Allen, guitarist with the band (and Bif Naked乌鸦传媒檚 husband). In Huckleberry Books, Cranbrook. (Barry Coulter photo)