Echoes of the Pandemic: Haw River Ballroom's Heather LaGarde reflects on COVID's impact on live music

For over a decade, Heather LaGarde has been the driving force behind the Haw River Ballroom in Saxapahaw —a small, beloved music venue that has hosted big names like St. Vincent and Jason Isbell. But music isn’t her only gig; her day job is in global public health.

So when COVID-19 emerged in 2020, she immediately understood the gravity of the situation, opting to shut down the venue for a year and a half. 

In the final installment of Echoes of the Pandemic, she reflects on ways the virus reshaped the music industry and how, for the first time in years, live shows finally feel normal again.

Interview Highlights

On telling other venue owners to prepare for lockdowns:

“Those calls were teary, they were panicked. They were rough, but they quickly turned into this fantastic team spirit feeling where instead of venues competing against each other and trying to get the same bands, we were really dropping all of the walls and just trying to help each other survive.”

On how artists were affected:

“Artists were just so vulnerable and shocked and trying to innovate and be resilient, but just heartbroken and trapped and already, just like at the edge of financial stability. And we saw it on all levels, where a high-level person has just released their big, huge album that everyone's been waiting for, but they can't tour, and touring is how they make money. Or lower level bands releasing things, and they just get lost in the fog of all of the emergency things we're reading, and no one's even seeing or finding their new album.”

On the first live show after the venue reopened:

“Those first few moments everyone on our staff was just on the floor crying. I mean, it was so incredible to have music happen in here again, and see an audience in here again, and just feel this hopefulness.”

*Editor's note: This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Echoes of the Pandemic was produced with editorial support from Bethany Chafin and music production by Adam Bennett and Eddie Garcia.