The coronavirus put a screeching halt to national touring concerts at the Eureka Springs Auditorium.
Cancellations included America, Marshall Tucker, Tanya Tucker and Delbert McClinton.
But Ron Sumner could stand the silence for only so long.
Sumner is technical director at the city-owned, 980-seat auditorium, which opened in 1929 and is affectionately known as The Aud.
In August, he started a live concert series called LiveAtTheAud.
There's no audience. And no pay. It's all done by volunteers.
But it has provided a venue for local performers and entertainment for Eurekans and others beyond that Victorian village.
"I'm just trying to do something that's kind of fun and keeps our venue going," said Sumner. "The idea was to keep The Aud in people's minds and try to do as professional quality presentations as we can with the all-volunteer staff, equipment and talent that was available to us."
At 7 p.m., almost every Thursday from Aug. 27 to Nov. 19, another LiveAtTheAud show was broadcast live on YouTube. The video performances are archived at https://bit.ly/39j3fxT so people can watch them later.
"Nothing's going to replace a live audience," said Tim Hillwood, a Eureka Springs guitarist who played in the Sept. 3 LiveAtTheAud show.
"It's great to have a resource, a place that especially will camera-record you and have a place online where people can find it," said Hillwood, whose real name is Tim Wilson.
Sumner said he thought of the idea last spring, when the pandemic hit Arkansas.
"It was too early to start something because everybody was in shutdown basically," he said.
Sumner said almost all of the musicians have been local so far, with the exception of Brant Jester, a jazz pianist from Ozark, Mo.
Sumner said most of the performances have had a few hundred views on YouTube, except for John Two-Hawks, whose Nov. 19 performance has been viewed more than 1,000 times.
Before performing his final song on a Native American flute, Two-Hawks encouraged people to adopt a "spirit of gratitude."
"Try to look and find the goodness," he said. "Find goodness somewhere in all things. Find that nugget to be thankful for. Thank you all again. Thank the crew and everybody at The Aud for putting on this event and for doing these needed shows. It really means a lot to a lot of people."
Sumner said he may broaden the scope of LiveAtTheAud, bringing in more musicians from nearby cities. But there are plenty of performers in Eureka Springs who have yet to appear on the show.
"We haven't come close to tapping into the talent that's right in our immediate area," he said.
Sumner said he's been assisted by David Rush, a professional videographer, and Adam Louderback, who teaches film at Eureka Springs High School.
He also gives credit to the city Advertising and Promotion Commission, which operates The Aud. Gina Rambo is the commission's executive manager, and Rick Bright is manager of the Auditorium. Sumner said Mayor Robert "Butch" Berry has also supported the effort.
Sumner said students have helped with LiveAtTheAud, and he hopes the concerts can serve as an educational tool.
Sumner said there was no LiveAtTheAud performance on Thanksgiving Thursday. The next performance will feature Buddy Shute on Thursday.
After that, several performers will be recorded separately for a "Home for the Holidays" Christmas show that will air Dec. 17 on YouTube.
Sumner said they may do theatrical performances next year, but they've avoided that so far because of covid-19 directives.
"We are following all covid directives with our performers and staff during the production," he said.