Stories from the Edge of Music #54: BAD TIMES FOR FESTIVALS

Plus, a true road story and some Substack recommendations

Last time, I promised you a piece on why people quit the music business, but it’s turned out to be longer than I figured, so if it’s OK with you I’m saving it for next time. After that, I’m reprinting (with permission, of course) a controversial piece written a couple of years back by music biz guru Bob Lefsetz — a listing of what/who an artist really IS.

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BAD NEWS ON THE FESTIVAL FRONT

Regina Folk Festival says goodbye

Meanwhile, the Regina Folk Festival in Saskatchewan has suspended operations. “The time has come to say goodbye,” the festival announced. After more than 50 years, “the economic challenges have become insurmountable.”

The festival’s board reported that “ongoing financial pressures from the pandemic, including stagnant or reduced funding, rising costs and declining ticket sales have created obstacles we can no long overcome.”

Edmonton Blues Festival is over

The long-running Edmonton Blues Festival will not happen this summer. Producer Cam Hayden said that production costs had increased by between 40 and 60 per cent. Declining sponsorship and “lagging ticket sales” sealed the festival’s fate.

Increasing the ticket price to cover these shortfalls would mean that “blues hounds” would be unable to afford admission, he added.

Calgary Bluesfest loses its site without warning

At the same time, the Calgary Blues Festival has lost its site at Millennium Park, where it’s been held every July for 14 years. With no warning, the site has been levelled, the stage removed, 80 trees chopped down and 70 per cent of the park paved with asphalt.

These “improvements” are being made to provide an extensive bar — Cowboys Beer Tent — which will operate for 10 days during the Calgary Stampede, and the site has been renamed Cowboys Park.

The site has been redeveloped without an ounce of public input or consultation. Cindy McLeod, who produces Bluesfest, was not informed, and didn’t learn about it until the changes were well underway.

Sadly, much of what I wrote last December, in Stories #44, seems to be coming true.

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LIFE IN THE VAN: THE SINGER TAKES A SHOWER

One of the most difficult musicians in a veteran Canadian band’s long history was, in fact, the singer and leader’s brother. And he was, in reality, one of the very best blues singers in Canada’s musical history.

He was corpulent, and in those early days — we’re talking early ’70s — he was apparently averse to taking regular showers, and was certainly an odiferous presence in the band’s van.

Eventually, his fellow musicians organized a late-night intervention in a hotel room after a gig. Shaming him, they demanded he shower every morning and change his socks and underwear on a regular basis.

As he skulked off to his room, someone shouted after him: “And one more thing: when the van leaves at 11 in the morning it leaves at 11, not half past, or a quarter to twelve. For heaven’s sake, be on time!”

The next morning, at 11, the band assembled in the van. Suddenly, there was a hubbub — the singer came through the hotel corridor where the maids were making up the rooms, through the lobby where guests were checking out, or checking in, and across the parking lot.

He was carrying his suitcase, wearing boots and his wrist watch — but otherwise he was dripping wet and stark naked.

As he settled into the van’s shotgun seat — reserved for him because of his girth — he turned to his speechless brother and the rest of the band members, and glanced at his watch.

“Eleven o’clock!” he pronounced, with a satisfied grin.

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SOME OTHER SUBSTACKS FOR YOU TO CHECK

Here are five Substacks you might care to check out. They’re in no particular order, and they’re what I read regularly (and sometimes pay for). There’ll be another five next time, and yet another five after that…

Michael Barclay

That Night in Toronto

(Michael Barclay). Michael’s blog has introduced me to more new music than I can possibly list. He also runs a weekly listing of music events in the city, which I find invaluable when planning my own nocturnal adventures. And he handles the technical end of Stories from the Edge of Music, and is enormously helpful to this computer dunce.

everyone is entitled to my own opinion

(Jeff Tiedrich). If you wake up every morning and ask yourself, What has that idiot Trump done now?, this Substack is for you. Wonderful invective about Donny Convict and eye-watering video links to the fool in the White House and his appalling sidekicks.

The Sound & Reason

(Bill King). Veteran musician, photographer, author and Toronto radio host, King writes about politics, music and whatever else catches his fancy. He’s also sent some 80 of his subscribers to this Substack, so I owe him!

Lyz Lenz

Men Yell at Me

(Lyz Lenz). A Substack filled with feminist wisdom — and humour — from a journalist based in Iowa, which seems to be almost as backward as Mississippi or Alabama, even though it’s part of the “Great Midwest.” Her skewering of public figures in her regular series Dingus of the Week is a delight.

The Honest Broker

(Ted Gioia). This is certainly one of the most widely read Substacks — a serious and thoughtful examination of music, societal trends, social attitudes, technology and anything else that crosses his mind. Drawback: just too much “content” to cope with three or four times every week.

Five more recommendations next week!

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I don’t want to hear any whining about the music business. I understand you chose this profession. What the fuck do you want to do? Drive an ice cream truck?” — Francis Rossi, leader of the British band Status Quo

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AND TO WRAP UP…

The English folk group Steeleye Span had its first hit, “All Around My Hat” when the lead singer, Maddy Prior, was just 19. Here she is, a few decades later, singing her original hit with Status Quo. The energy is infectious, and the tune is an earworm…