GREEN BAY, Wis. (NBC 26) -- At 70 years old, Dale Anderson has toured around the Midwest, playing and singing blues nearly his entire life.
"Doing slide guitar and playing old blues in an open tuning is something I really like doing," the Green Bay-based musician said.
As Anderson prepared for his last gig in person a year ago with a cold and cough, he had no idea a pandemic would change his career forever.
"I don't want to be coughing in the spotlights in front of people," Anderson said about a scheduled show in De Pere. "So I canceled that first gig on March 14."
Opportunities to play music for packed crowds vanished. But on March 19, he found a way to reach even more fans.
"One of my good friends, Sue, asked me to play a song," he said. "It was the 'Love Theme' from 'Romeo and Juliet.' And I played it on my classical guitar and I put it on Facebook."
From then on, Anderson has made almost 600 videos playing songs on 15 different guitars, teaching lessons and telling stories. He posts them on YouTube and four social media platforms, including Twitter and Instagram. Some have gotten over 10,000 views.
"I wanted to show my hat collection and my guitar collection," Anderson said about his new gig. "So I did every single guitar, one by one, and then [made] a video right here in my room on the iPad."
Though it's been over a year since Anderson played a show in person, he says, in some ways, the pandemic has been a blessing in disguise for his career as a musician.
"I take it as seriously as any job I've had," he said.
Anderson even posts his videos and stories to 20 different blues websites.
"He's teaching people how to do certain slide things and techniques," friend and fan Bill Kilp said. "So he's more than generous with his time and his knowledge and his talent and it's a pretty cool thing in a person."
The guitarist also plays in his band, 'The Delta Jets.' They've performed in international festivals and have won competitions.
"I don't quite get that sort of a thrill doing this [making videos], but there has been a place for both," Anderson said.
But he wouldn't change a thing. Anderson plans to play his songs on the internet for the rest of his career.
"I think [at] 70 years old, you could spend some time at home instead of every night [playing] 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. or 10 a.m. to 2 a.m," Anderson said. "I don't know if I would wanna go out and play in a bar late at night anymore."
