Pierre Desrosiers, the lead singer of RDGLDGRN (pronounced Red Gold Green), and his bandmates were already in New York City for the first stop of their spring tour last Thursday when they decided to cancel the entire run. After the indie go-go group got word that their show at U Street Music Hall, scheduled for later in the month, had been postponed due to coronavirus concerns, they got the feeling it might be a pattern. “We just saw the writing on the wall,” says Desrosiers. “It wouldn’t make sense.”

The tour, with more than 20 dates across the country set for March and April, marked their first as headliners, and as full-time musicians, touring makes up 70 percent of their annual income. But the group was worried for their own safety and for fans, friends, and family. They didn’t want to catch the virus or pass it on to other people, so they came home and regrouped.

With their unexpected down time, they decided to livestream a concert instead. On Friday, they’ll play two full-band sets from 38 North Studio in Falls Church, one at 1 p.m. and another at 8 p.m., for a suggested $10 donation through PayPal. A portion of the proceeds will go to benefit Capital Area Food Bank.

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Desrosiers and his bandmates are among many in D.C.’s music community—and across the country—struggling to adapt after widespread show cancellations and venue closures as local and federal governments clamp down to slow the spread of coronavirus. The Centers for Disease Control has recommended gatherings of more than 10 people be cancelled or postponed, effectively wiping the calendar for many musicians and music professionals who count on a busy spring.

Like RDGLDGRN, many artists around the world have taken to livestreaming their shows on platforms like Facebook Live and StageIt, and music site and storefront Bandcamp announced that it would waive fees on Friday, March 20, allowing the artists who use its services to collect a larger portion of sales. Eric Zidar, the vocalist for local rock outfit Tosser, says the band has already seen a boost in sales as a result, though he declined to give a specific number.

But times are still tough. Brandon Mijares, a musician freelance audio-visual technician says he’s taken financial hits from every direction. “Because I’m a contractor, I have multiple jobs, too,” says Mijares, “but they’re all in the same industry.” One client he works with, the Tally Ho Theater in Leesburg, has postponed its shows through early April, and many hotels have canceled their events. “Usually, this month and next month I make between $6,000 and $8,000 at least,” says Mijares, who lives in Northeast D.C. “And because there’s no work coming in, I haven’t made any of that.”

Mijares has found some potential work as a livestream consultant, advising clients on what technology to buy and helping them learn how to use it, though he doubts it will make up for his lost income. He’s also been using some of his free time to work on his own music, connecting with musician friends and bouncing ideas off one another on Facebook, which has proven cathartic. “You gotta find something to do to keep sane.”

Chelsea Lee, lead singer of the alt-pop trio SHAED, whose song “Trampoline” has been a fixture on the pop charts since last summer, says she and husband/bandmate Spencer Ernst have been holed up in Arlington since Monday, while their other bandmate, Spencer’s twin brother Max, is social-distancing at his home in Northeast.

Until recently, the group shared a house in Silver Spring, and spent most of their time with each other. “It’s been really strange for us, especially because we generally spend every day together,” says Lee. “But it’s made us really get creative with music stuff.”

The group generally worked out song ideas in person at home, so while they’re separated, they’ve started sending ideas back and forth online and are working on finishing up their debut album, which they hope to release this summer. The band has been touring constantly for the past two years, but all their shows for the next three or four months have been rescheduled or postponed. Lee says they’re trying to make the most of it. “Having these months to work on writing music is a really rare thing for us, so we’re really trying to take advantage of that.”

Still, she says, it’s scary. Most of their income comes from touring, and she and Spencer recently bought a house, which they’re supposed to settle on next week. “It’s definitely a concern.”

For some, the shutdown has meant pressing pause on long-planned releases. Ian MacKaye’s band Coriky, which includes former bandmates from Fugazi and the Evens, was set to release its debut album via Dischord Records on March 27, but has postponed it indefinitely. In an email, MacKaye says the decision was “based on what seemed like the inevitable shuttering of distributors and shops around the world as ’non-essential’ businesses,” refering the “shelter in place” orders active in cities like San Francisco, which require non-essential businesses like to close. They don’t have a new release date set, but he hopes the delay won’t last more than a few weeks.

Local venues have also felt the economic impact—9:30 Club, which has postponed all shows through March, is working to minimize the shutdown’s impact for hourly employees, according to a representative for IMP. They’ve also rounded up staff-recommended online entertainment, like the Live at 9:30 Archive, which has footage of classic performances, and a 9:30 Club crossword puzzle, to help keep patrons’ spirits up.

Through it all, Desrosiers says he and RDGLDGRN will keep playing music, whether they have a venue booked or not. Depending on how it goes, they might even do more livestreams. “This is what we do no matter what,” he says. “We would be doing this no matter what, and we’re going to try to survive.”