SOUNDBAR proprietors Erin Moore and Nick Martin with children Morrison, 6, India, 7 and Frankie. Picture: Yanni

THE day the music died for Erin Moore was also the day that she realised the precarious situation her family was facing.

Ms Moore and her partner Nick Martin run the Soundbar in Rosebud which, like other venues, has had to close its doors in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19.

The couple live in a residence attached to the venue.

Ms Moore is waiting in “the virtual JobSeeker line” for Centrelink payments while Mr Martin, is ineligible for government help because he is a Canadian citizen on a 482 visa.

The couple has been “saving every dollar for the outrageously priced partnership visa”, but that has become a distant hope.

“We were so close,” Ms Moore said. “Everyone keeps saying we’re in this together, but it’s hard to keep positive when decisions are being made without any thought as to who they might affect.

“I want nothing more than to open the Soundbar’s doors again. Welcome our first customer. Book a band and sit back and watch the workplace that we created with so many, many years of hard work.”

Meanwhile, the Soundbar is providing an online platform for musicians to play from their lounge rooms on Tuesday nights.

First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 14 April 2020