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 musiciansa国际传媒檚 livelihood and artistic expression. Digitally streamed concerts have filled the gap somewhat, but itsa国际传媒檚 just not the same.

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

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

sa国际传媒淪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, wesa国际传媒檙e desperate to perform, for the sake of performing. Most of us whosa国际传媒檝e been in bands since the sa国际传媒�90s, wesa国际传媒檙e accustomed to living hand to mouth. I donsa国际传媒檛 think itsa国际传媒檚 necessarily new for musicians to be poor. The pandemic pressed the pause button for a lot of people. But thatsa国际传媒檚 true of every industry.

sa国际传媒淏ut us in rock, wesa国际传媒檙e all used to being poor.sa国际传媒�

Bif Naked sa国际传媒� aka Beth Torbert sa国际传媒� 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 sa国际传媒�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 worldsa国际传媒檚 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 womensa国际传媒檚 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.

sa国际传媒淎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 Isa国际传媒檓 10 years older. And the world is 10 years older.sa国际传媒�

Even though 18 months isnsa国际传媒檛 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.

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 not revolutionary, but it can be evolutionary,sa国际传媒� Bif said. sa国际传媒淎nd I think bands have had to really shift their thinking. Itsa国际传媒檚 not even a pivot, because theresa国际传媒檚 nothing to pivot our thinking to.sa国际传媒�

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

sa国际传媒淚n a post-pandemic world, which we have not yet reached, wesa国际传媒檙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.sa国际传媒�

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. sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檝e had that booked for two years, and they postponed it twice. Rumour has it that itsa国际传媒檚 happening this October, thankfully.sa国际传媒�

Even the release of Bifsa国际传媒檚 latest studio album sa国际传媒� which would be her sixth sa国际传媒� 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.

sa国际传媒淲e made a record sa国际传媒� called sa国际传媒楥hampion.sa国际传媒� Wesa国际传媒檙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.

sa国际传媒淏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, sa国际传媒榳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. Letsa国际传媒檚 wait.sa国际传媒�

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

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

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