Kingston-based band Lara Hope & The Ark-Tones were supposed to be rocking Seattle's Showbox music venue this weekend. It would have been one-stop out of 30 on a breakout tour with rockabilly/doo-wop favorite Tiger Army. Then came the outbreak of the coronavirus.

Lead singer Lara Hope told Spectrum News that on March 11, the day before the band was supposed to leave for the tour, tour managers were stressing out.

"They were waiting until the last minute to try to hold on and try to salvage this," Hope said during an interview on the back patio of her Kingston home on Friday morning, "because of months of work, effort, and money people had put in to make this happen."

It did not happen. Hope and bandmember/husband Matt Goldpaugh had just recorded a new album. They invested thousands of dollars in merchandise like band shirts, records, and homemade jewelry boxes to sell while on the road. Also, the couple had just closed on their new house.

"We're trying to make ends meet and figure out what we're doing here," Hope said. "All of my income for the foreseeable future is gone."​

They are managing. The couples' other act, The Gold Hope Duo, has begun performing live shows on Facebook and accepting donations through Paypal. Hope said long-time fans have been placing extra orders for merchandise, seeming to consider the band's difficult position.

The couple and their bandmates may also soon receive relief through the federal coronavirus relief bill, because of several additions that provide assistance for "nontraditional workers," or gig workers.

All band members will be eligible to receive direct payments of $1,200, and unemployment insurance benefits would be made available to gig workers for the first time ever. Loans and grants will also be available to independent contractors and sole proprietors who apply for them.

Hope, who performs about 200 times a year, said she plans to take advantage of some of those new provisions to blunt the impact of the tour's postponement

"We're not major-record-label musicians," Hope said. "I'm just happy I'm able to pay my bills through playing music."

Hope added she recently received a call from a bandmember from Tiger Army, informing her some tour dates are being rescheduled for September. Until then, Hope and Goldpaugh are "rolling with it," and exploring new methods of promotion and money-making on the internet. After the postponement, the couple produced a song about social distancing, "The Social Distancing Blues."

"Can't give no one a hug. Can't hold my baby tight," one verse goes. "You've got to wear a hazmat suit to get into a fight."

Hope hopes the topical track circulating online brings the band some recognition.

"I hope it goes viral," Hope said. "Pun intended."