January 28, 2021

The Promise Is Hope ‘Anxiety Relief’ concerts sharing hope and donations

Since the release of their debut album, “Where We’ve Been & Where We’re Going,” in 2015, the Worcester-based wife and husband folk duo of Ashley and Eric L’Esperance — who perform as The Promise Is Hope — had been steadily going in what seemed like the right direction.

Acclaim, awards, another album, and expanding tours were pointing the way forward. That was especially true of the increasing number of live in-person shows, which up until last March provided most of the revenue for musical acts.

“It was not uncommon to be playing three or four shows a week,” said Eric L’Esperance. “For musicians it’s always a bit of a puzzle that you’re putting together, but live performances are our bread and butter.”

Then the sudden arrival of the coronavirus quickly canceled all the live in-person show bookings.

After what the duo has described as “a few brief panic attacks,” The Promise Is Hope planned what would soon be the first of 22 weekly “Anxiety Relief” livestream concerts, along with some new promises.

The latest, at 6 p.m. Jan. 31, will see The Promise Is Hope share the screen stage with Worcester visual artist John Vo. While the duo perform songs from their latest release, “Every Seed Must Die,” Vo will be creating live illustrations inspired by The Promise Is Hope’s music and answering questions about his work during the stream.

Any donations will be split 50/50 between The Promise is Hope  and John Vo.

Sharing has been part of the promise since the start of the “Anxiety Relief” concerts last March.

For the first livestream, The Promise Is Hope announced that 50% of the  first concert’s donation proceeds would benefit Club Passim (the legendary music club in Cambridge) and the Worcester County Food Bank. The audience donated over $1,300, half of which duly went to the two organizations.

“Right away it felt it was important for us in our time of need to be present to the need in the community,” Eric L’Esperance said. “It seems like it resonates with the community of folks that tend to tune in.”

The 22 weekly “Anxiety Relief” concerts so far have raised a total of $13,000. Of that, $6,000 has been donated to various music venues, independent musicians, and local and regional nonprofit organizations. Over $4,000 of it has been donated directly to Worcester-area nonprofits, including the YWCA of Central Mass, Abby’s House, Worcester Youth Center, the Greater Worcester Community Foundation, Community Legal Aid, Dismas House, Boys & Girls Club, MainIDEA, and Family Health Center.

The rest, about $7,000, has gone to trying to keep Ashley and Eric L’Esperance afloat financially.

“The concerts are our main revenue,” Eric said. There is also some money coming in from the sale of merchandise,”a handful of music students,” and The Promise Is Hope is on the Patreon platform that allows content creators to run a subscription service.

“I know it’s not a lot of money. We run a tight ship,” Eric said.

COVID-19 has also directly affected the couple, as both were infected by the virus last year.

 “Fortunately, it wasn’t as bad as it could be. We were able to stay out of the hospital, but it was a scary event,” Eric L’Esperance said.

The Promise Is Hope had been moving at what he called “a lightening pace” pre-pandemic, “paying our dues” as the duo tried to get established and then build a following.

Now, “We’ve been married six years and we’ve never been home this long,” he said.

The couple are writing new songs. Meanwhile, they live in a two-bedroom apartment, one of which has been made into a studio for the livestream shows.

The viewing audience currently ranges from 35 to 100 per week, he said. In the early months of March, April and May, “the numbers were higher because everyone was in shock.”

The Promise Is Hope took a break in the summer, but retained a a decent sized and still very generous audience on its return to “Anxiety Relief.”

“There’s a like a core of folks,” Eric said. There have been people watching from Tennessee, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, as well as Massachusetts. “Last week we had someone from the United Kingdom,” he said.

To vary the repertoire, The Promise Is Hope has had theme nights, a Beatles night, singer-songwriter shows and full request nights. In January, Ashley and Eric L’Esperance decided to split the concerts and the proceeds with other artists. Vo, a longtime friend of the couple, is the first non-musical guest.

“People will be able to see the images appear and develop through the concert. We thought it would be a cool experiment,” Eric said.

The pandemic has been “a disruption for everyone, for our whole world, for us,” he said.

But out of where they’ve been has come “a community of support. It’s the people that really matter,” he said.

“It’s easy to get caught up in numbers and streams and sales. This (the pandemic) has really opened our eyes. It’s the people in our community that matter most. It’s helped to get a clearer sense of that,” he said.

In terms of the future, Eric L’Esperance said, “we don’t know what it will look like. We definitely plan to tour again, but hopefully our heart has shifted in a good way and we’ll be able to carry that forward.”

“The Promise Is Hope & John Vo for Anxiety Relief XXIII” will be at 6 p.m. Jan. 31 on Facebook (www.facebook.com/thepromiseishope/live), YouTube (www.youtube.com/c/thepromiseishope), or The Promise is Hope website (www.thepromiseishope.com/tour). People can donate to Sunday’s concert via PayPal (www.paypal.me/tpih) or Venmo (@TPIHmusic)  and donations will be split 50/50 between The Promise Is Hope and John Vo. “Please include your email address in the description of your donation and you will be emailed one of John’s illustrations after the concert as a thank you.”