How one Lexington’s busiest, most visible bands stayed positive, active during COVID

When a dose of positivity was needed to navigate their way through the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the members of Joslyn and the Sweet Compression turned to one of their own – namely, lead singer and namesake artist Joslyn Hampton.

“What has been happening has given people time to just slow down and breath for a second,” the vocalist said. “When all of this passes, we’re not going to have time to breath. We’ll be busy. Had the virus not hit, we would have been gone the majority of the time. We wouldn’t have had time to sit still. I just think we need to take this time to relax and rest.

“A lot of people feel kind of doomsday about it all. I just try to stay on the positive end. I mean, what has happened has been horrible. I love the stage. I miss the energy. I miss the people. I miss everything about our music because that’s what I live to do. That’s our livelihood. But let’s just take it all in stride. Whatever will be will be.”

For the past three years, Joslyn and the Sweet Compression has become one Lexington’s busiest and most visible bands as well a leading voice for a cross-generational blend of soul, R&B, funk and pop. But like every other performance ensemble, local and national, the coronavirus pandemic shut down operations for the group.

“Our entire spring summer schedule had to be canceled,” said Sweet Compression guitarist (and Hampton’s stepfather) Marty Charters. “We had over 40 dates in 12 states cancel. That included eight major festivals. There were talks about European shows. All of it… just dead. There are people that have it worse, I know. But still, it’s extremely painful.

“Joslyn has saved us psychologically, though. While we focus on our lost momentum, she reminds us to keep in mind that this isn’t just affecting us, it’s everyone. When we hit reset, if that ever happens, hopefully we’ll kick things back up. So as long as everyone is in neutral, why don’t we tighten up the live show, add some new elements and work on some new music. I’m been more prone to depression and anguish, but not Joslyn.”

One the subject of new music, the band has been using its downtime to complete work on its second album, having done much of the recording with local producer and studio ace Duane Lundy prior to lockdown conditions triggered by the pandemic that took hold in the spring. As many music venues remain silenced by the coronavirus, Charters and the band’s management company plan to use the fall to “shop” the record — meaning, they will make the rounds of various record labels that might be interested in releasing it. Regardless of what happens, the new record isn’t likely to surface until next year.

“Management is hot to get this album because they want to shop it,” Charters said. “They’ve telling us, ‘There is so much we cannot be doing during this unprecedented downtime, but there is one thing we can do and that’s shop the album to labels.’ We’re fortunate enough not to actually be releasing an album at this time since we can’t tour behind it. Instead, we’ve been recording one.”

“I’m really excited about it,” Hampton said of the new record. “It’s very funky and has a few pop elements. It may be a little different than what you’re used to with us. I hope people love it as much as we do.”

“It’s nine new songs Joslyn and I wrote, Charters added. “So we’re digging deep, working long and hard on getting it to sound like we want it to sound. The album sounds exactly like us. We didn’t get weird or anything. No one’s going to go, ‘Oh, I liked how they used to sound.’ It’s not like that. It’s just got some more ambitious production goals than the last one.”

The band plans to stay off the road at least through September, but with a few exceptions. One will be a performance this weekend at The Burl — well, outside the club, actually. While The Burl itself remains closed, it has begun presenting outdoor shows with socially distanced table seating in the club’s parking lot.

“We were going to shut down for August and September and try things again in October if conditions have improved,” Charters said. “Then the Burl date came up. So if somebody has a great idea for an outdoor-only show and if there are significant safety measures in place — things like distance from the audience, things like reduced capacities — we’ll consider those. So we ended up with a show at the Burl and a Derby Eve engagement in New Albany, which is also on an outdoor stage. We decided that was safe, so we’re going to do that one, too.

“From October on, we’ve got a million holds for shows all over the place, but we’ll see what happens. We don’t know if anything is going to be any better or not.”

Until then, Hampton plans on remaining hopeful.

“I am trying to take this time to write and record music and just try to use this downtime as a positive to continue to push forward with our dreams, our career and our music,” she said.

Charters, however, remains focused making everyday ends meet for the band.

“I’m the guy who talks to the management and booking people, where all the focus is on the bad stuff — not only about the shows that are canceled, but also news on the clubs that have gone out of business. But when I think of giving up, Joslyn reminds me that all this is an intermission. It’s a horrible one, but it’s only an intermission. Things eventually will respond.”

Joslyn and the Sweet Compression with Driftwood Gypsy

When: 8 p.m. Aug. 15

Where: The Burl parking lot, 375 Thompson Rd.

Cost: Table seating for six patrons is $75. No individual tickets are available.

Safety: Masks are required for entry to the Burl property and when patrons leave their tables.

Info: 859-447-8166; theburlky.com/shows

This story was originally published August 11, 2020 at 11:01 AM.