Stir-crazy music fans craving a festival experience can feed their need without leaving the house thanks to the upcoming Homebody Music Festival — available online for six dates this May via YouTube Live.
Hosted and with a performance by Canadian R&B alt-pop artist Ezra Jordan, headliners and featured acts for Homebody include Francesco Yates, The Reklaws, Allan Rayman, Courage My Love, Sam DeRosa, Zero 9:36, Ashley Hess, and more. In all, the festival will feature more than 50+ artists and cover a sonic cross-section of pop, alternative, R&B/soul, country, hip-hop, and everything between. Each artist will deliver a 15-minute set, complete with an interview and two songs. Like various live festivals, Homebody is scheduled to stream over the course of two weekends — May 22-24 and 29-31. See the set times below.
Corralled into creation as a decidedly organic effort supported by a select group of small businesses and content creators, Homebody Music Festival has been steered into this relatively new, uncharted territory by a handful of dynamic, like-minded Canadian music industry professionals, including founder Lukas Lennon. “Ultimately, our intent is to spread positivity, happiness, and unity during such a stressful time,” he says. “We recognize the difficulty of the situation right now, especially for independent creatives. We also understand music’s immense potential to heal during this moment of collective grief, and we want to contribute to that mission.”
Beyond that effort, the Homebody Music Festival is set to raise funds and awareness for three charitable organizations — two that serve on the national level, and one in Toronto. Some 40% of funds raised will go to Jack.org, a Canadian charity that trains and empowers young leaders to revolutionize mental health; an equal amount will go to the Unison Benevolent Fund, which provides counselling and emergency relief services to the Canadian music community in times of hardship, illness or economic difficulties. The balance will go to Meals TO Heal, a Toronto-based foundation utilizing donations from the community to buy and fast track meals from local restaurants and coffee shops for healthcare workers on the frontline.
“With 100% of the profit divided between the three charities,” Jordan and Lennon offer, “we hope to contribute meaningfully to their respective causes and the national efforts shaping the Canadian healthcare response to COVID-19.”
For more information, follow the Homebody Music Festival on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter.
