Musician on brink of starvation during pandemic

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    Honolulu, HI (KITV) — With no gigs over the past year, Barry Flanagan — one of the founding members of the local music group “Hapa” — said he nearly starved to death.

When the music stopped, the Na Hoku Hanohano award-winning artist lost his primary source of income.

Without help from the state, he said his life began to unravel and he hasn’t been able to find the right chords to stop the spiraling.

In a matter of just weeks during one stretch, he said he ran out of money, lost his rental home, and his car was stolen at gunpoint.

“We have people starving here,” said Flanagan, 68.

He said his hardship throughout the COVID crisis is similar to the struggles experienced by many others in Hawaii.

“We failed. People need help here,” he said. “There’s hundreds of thousands of people like me that haven’t gotten a penny that they’re owed from unemployment.”

Flanagan estimates he’s lost about $100,000 after the state banned live music productions. And based on his calculations, he said he’s owed about $50,000 in unemployment benefits, but his desperate pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

“After a while you’re like, screw this. There’s no reason to keep calling this (unemployment) office. It’s beyond frustrating.”

He said he was homeless for a couple weeks and now lives off and on in his Lincoln Continental, tents or any place he can safely lay his head.

By speaking out he hopes to help others — and not just fellow musicians, but homeless women and children as well.

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