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 musician91裸聊视频檚 livelihood and artistic expression. Digitally streamed concerts have filled the gap somewhat, but it91裸聊视频檚 just not the same.

91裸聊视频淚 think everybody is [excited at the prospect of returning to a world of regular concerts],91裸聊视频� Bif said, taking time out during a Cranbrook sojourn for an interview.

91裸聊视频淟ong gone are the days of doing all the things bands did in the 91裸聊视频�90s. People receive their music differently. It wasn91裸聊视频檛 a revenue source for a long time anyway. But touring was.

91裸聊视频淪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, we91裸聊视频檙e desperate to perform, for the sake of performing. Most of us who91裸聊视频檝e been in bands since the 91裸聊视频�90s, we91裸聊视频檙e accustomed to living hand to mouth. I don91裸聊视频檛 think it91裸聊视频檚 necessarily new for musicians to be poor. The pandemic pressed the pause button for a lot of people. But that91裸聊视频檚 true of every industry.

91裸聊视频淏ut us in rock, we91裸聊视频檙e all used to being poor.91裸聊视频�

Bif Naked 91裸聊视频� aka Beth Torbert 91裸聊视频� 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 91裸聊视频�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 world91裸聊视频檚 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 women91裸聊视频檚 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.

91裸聊视频淎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 I91裸聊视频檓 10 years older. And the world is 10 years older.91裸聊视频�

Even though 18 months isn91裸聊视频檛 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.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 not revolutionary, but it can be evolutionary,91裸聊视频� Bif said. 91裸聊视频淎nd I think bands have had to really shift their thinking. It91裸聊视频檚 not even a pivot, because there91裸聊视频檚 nothing to pivot our thinking to.91裸聊视频�

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

91裸聊视频淎ny music, any art, is a vehicle for any artist to express their take on whatever is going on in their world,91裸聊视频� Bif responded. 91裸聊视频淔or most of us, it91裸聊视频檚 our running commentary on society. Any art that we make is going to be that. Rock is always been a protest music.91裸聊视频�

People coming of age in the 91裸聊视频�80s and 91裸聊视频�90s, Bif says, were lucky to experience Punk Rock music, and the birth of bands like Nirvana and Soundgarden.

91裸聊视频淭hey were creating new sounds 91裸聊视频� but new ways to say the same things, that generations before them said. Love is cool, loud is good 91裸聊视频� those kind of things. But as far as protest music 91裸聊视频� Punk Rock, Reggae, Hip Hop, were the anthemic protest music of our lives.

91裸聊视频淎nd now, as we are now in a world that is enmeshed in this pandemic apocalypse 91裸聊视频� people have been suddenly forced online. If they91裸聊视频檙e not bookworms, then online is where they91裸聊视频檙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 don91裸聊视频檛 agree with. That has brought a lot of people into the world and discovering they have a voice, where before they didn91裸聊视频檛 know, or didn91裸聊视频檛 participate. There are a lot of opinions.

91裸聊视频淭here are a lot of us 91裸聊视频榖ookworms91裸聊视频� that become disheartened by what we see people sharing on the internet. It can seem very callous.91裸聊视频�

What91裸聊视频檚 also happening at the same time as the pandemic, Bif says, has been the enormous repercussions of climate change becoming apparent 91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频渨e91裸聊视频檙e starting to see an acceleration of horrific results.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淚n a post-pandemic world, which we have not yet reached, we91裸聊视频檙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.91裸聊视频�

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. 91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檝e had that booked for two years, and they postponed it twice. Rumour has it that it91裸聊视频檚 happening this October, thankfully.91裸聊视频�

Even the release of Bif91裸聊视频檚 latest studio album 91裸聊视频� which would be her sixth 91裸聊视频� 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.

91裸聊视频淲e made a record 91裸聊视频� called 91裸聊视频楥hampion.91裸聊视频� We91裸聊视频檙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.

91裸聊视频淏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, 91裸聊视频榳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. Let91裸聊视频檚 wait.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淎nd so we waited, and we were going to do a streaming show for October, but it91裸聊视频檚 just not the same. It just didn91裸聊视频檛 seem right. We released another single (I Broke Into Your Car) 91裸聊视频� and so here we are, a year later. I still haven91裸聊视频檛 released Champion, because I don91裸聊视频檛 believe it91裸聊视频檚 important enough. I think there are other things, in the news feeds, that are much more important.

91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檓 not going to perish emotionally waiting to release a record. I haven91裸聊视频檛 done a studio record in over a decade. I haven91裸聊视频檛 wanted to. Hopefully the timing will be right this fall, and we91裸聊视频檒l be able to release it. But it depends on the rest of the world.91裸聊视频�

Left to right: Ferdy Belland, bass player for Bif Naked91裸聊视频檚 band; Bif Naked, holding Ace; Stephen Allen, guitarist with the band (and Bif Naked91裸聊视频檚 husband). In Huckleberry Books, Cranbrook. (Barry Coulter photo)