Maryland Artists Form Global Band To Produce Pandemic Music

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — When the world seemingly stopped spinning and life came to a screeching halt as the coronavirus pandemic took ahold, musicians and other entertainers found themselves without work, along with the many others who suddenly became unemployed. But making music isn't just a job, it's a way of life for most artists and they weren't about to let a pandemic deter them.

Matthew Smith, a guitarist and singer from Columbia, reached out to other artists around the world to collaborate on an album featuring the original song Fire. The 22 musicians spanning all seven continents call themselves Intercontinen7al and used special software called BandLab to work together from remote locations around the world. Devin Heritage of Edgewater and Jamie Miller from Columbia are the other artists from Maryland sharing their talents. The artists hail from South America, North American, Europe, Australia, Asia, Africa and even Antarctica.

Smith plays guitar in a band called Toast along with Jamie Miller, Ben Gaither, Emily Betz and Becca Drayer. They had been playing locally in Maryland clubs for the past several years up until the pandemic hit. Starting in April 2020, they recorded their own drum tracks, guitar riffs and other compilations, then opened it up to the BandLab public community for other artists to join in.

"The end goal of this effort was to prove that music can still be created and enjoyed, even virtually, during the pandemic, and also to use our talents to generate any fundraising efforts that we could," Smith told Patch.

The musicians are directing all proceeds made from the sale of their album to the COVID-19 Relief Fund and are working hard on their second album. They hope their next endeavor will produce a more "eclectic" sound. All proceeds from the sale of the second album also will go to a charity yet to be determined.

"We did not have a specific financial goal or target in mind, as we are piggybacking off of the GoFundMe one that was created back in 2020. As for a general goal, we really just wanted to try to give back and find a way to support those that have been impacted, financially or otherwise," Smith said.

Intercontinen7al also has added musicians to the group to produce an even fuller and diversified sound for their second album.

"We believe we are the first artists to create and record a song that includes music from all seven continents - the song 'Manor Hill,' named after the Howard County brewery, and we are currently in the application process with Guinness Book of World Records," Smith said.