Ben Gibbard just might be the busiest musician in quarantine.
Shortly after the Seattle songsmith's primary band Death Cab for Cutie completed a three-night Showbox run in February, the pandemic shut down much of the music industry. But Gibbard's hardly put down his guitar since. During spring's TP-hording pandemonium, the hometown indie-rock hero's Live From Home virtual concert series raised more than $250,000 and other nonmonetary donations for roughly 20 local charities and nonprofits.
The streaming for a cause hasn't stopped, with Gibbard virtually performing for multiple fundraisers, including the SMooCH benefit for Seattle Children's Hospital (7:30 p.m. PT Saturday on KEXP's YouTube channel). After unveiling a comedic PSA video for voter registration group HeadCount's efforts this fall, Gibbard's cult favorite band The Postal Service will add a live album from its 2013 reunion tour to streaming services for the first time on Friday — the same day Death Cab releases "The Georgia E.P.," covering songs by Georgia artists with proceeds from Bandcamp downloads benefiting Stacey Abrams' voter's rights initiatives with Fair Fight Action during the state's runoff election.
We caught up with the king of the livestream to talk quarantine concerts, TLC and faking out Postal Service fans. (This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.)
