Glen Phillips is among the area musicians playing at the virtual event Apart Together, a two-day, live music festival that takes place 4-8 p.m. on Facebook (facebook.com/unitedbyart805).

If you’ve ever been to the Fiesta Cantina on Wednesday night for Spencer the Gardener, or lolled on the grass at Alameda Park watching the bands play on a balmy Solstice afternoon, you know what a huge part of the Santa Barbara experience it is to come together for music and art. We have a tradition in this city that’s as old as the courthouse and as deep as the channel of using art to create community, and we’ve never needed it more than we do today. 

Apart Together is a two-day “home-cooked” live music festival that will be taking place online Friday-Saturday, April 10-11, from 4 to 8 p.m. on Facebook (facebook.com/unitedbyart805). It can also be accessed via the organization’s website, unitedby.art. The lineup includes a who’s who of Santa Barbara musicians, including Glen Phillips, Tina Schlieske, Lois Mahalia, Alastair Greene, Cougar Estrada, Tariqh Akoni, Trent Summar, Brad Nack, Justin Fox, Estrella and Aaron Campos of Key Party, Zach Madden, and, of course, Spencer Barnitz. 

Each artist will be live streaming an approximately 25-minute set that begins either on the hour or the half hour. Artists will be encouraging viewers to donate to helping organizations of their choice, but the show is not primarily a fundraiser. Instead, it’s a chance to bring back the feeling that so many of us crave right now — the sense of community that made us all love Santa Barbara to begin with. 

Organized by Todd Capps and a plucky band of community supporters, United by Art is dedicated to bringing neighbors out of their homes and into the streets. Their Community Table events and pop-up performances have brought joy to thousands while creating an atmosphere in which people feel comfortable meeting and talking to their neighbors about what it means to share this incredible place.

Whether you curl up somewhere with your phone and earbuds or stream the concert to your television set and watch with the whole family, Apart Together will make you feel, for a few hours, like you’re back in the beautiful world of friendship and love that can seem so unreachable under these trying circumstances. For more information, and to watch the show, go to facebook.com/unitedbyart805.


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