Shinedown singer Brent Smith spoke to Medium about the coronavirus pandemic that is sweeping the world and how it might affect the band's touring plans. The band recently rescheduled its “Deep Dive” spring tour from April and May to August and September.
Smith explained, “We had 30-plus dates of touring to do this year, with a lot that was scheduled for April and May. Our booking agent had the foresight to know how serious this was going to be and rescheduled the tour to August and September. We're optimistic, but right now the smartest thing to do is to listen to the professionals.”
The singer added that the band was working in the studio when the outbreak really took hold in the U.S. and didn't initially realize what was happening. He remarked, “That's when we started looking at our phones, social media and the news and realized that just in that short time we'd been in the studio, s**t had hit the fan.”
For Shinedown, this pandemic hits especially hard. Smith told us a while back that Shinedown is at its best on tour: “I think everybody that knows Shinedown is basically aware of what this band is, is that we are a touring band and that's really where, in a lot of ways, our strengths lie. That's who we are. We're blessed to be able to be on the road as much as we are, we hopefully, you know, in our mindset, write songs that people want to hear, and we just love to tour.”
Shinedown reached into its archives last month to make available a never-before-heard song called “Atlas Falls.” The track will benefit Direct Relief, a non-profit humanitarian aid organization that is providing personal protective equipment and essential medical items to health workers responding to coronavirus. The song is available now for download with the purchase of a special T-shirt.