Musician from
Newfoundland seeks a shot

The present recession has hit many people in the service and entertainment industry. None are so affected as local musicians who play late nights in clubs and bars all over this country. I moved to Montreal from Newfoundland a year ago looking for work, doing odd jobs by day and playing music at night when I could find a suitable venue. I have played blues, country and Celtic music for 30 years now as a singer and guitarist. Never have I met such competition and unhelpful booking managers as here in Montreal.

Clubs ask bands to play for the door takings or a small percentage of the bar sales, and with no guarantee of payment, it’s hard to make ends meet. One pub chain has regular Celtic music most nights, but the booking manager is also a musician and hires his buddies and himself to play the three venues.

Most of these hired musicians are younger folk who have not as much experience as us veterans, and the question of age seems to raise its ugly head again and again. Many local guys never get hired simply because they are not young, cool enough or do not dress the right way, regardless of their musical competence. One well-known musician from Ireland was turned away from a bar that boasts they are the most authentic Irish pub in Montreal. Again age was a factor. And the other younger musicians who play at this venue have never set foot in Newfoundland, never mind Ireland. Yet they get all the work.

Whispers among the older musicians claim favouritism. It’s hard to get your foot in the door here in Montreal, especially if you’re not from the city. Some folk have been playing the same spot for several years without moving over for other musicians to have their chance. The public doesn’t seem to mind hearing the same handful of musicians play the same set week in, week out for years. Where I come from, the musical community is a sharing lot who helps one another, not a secret society of closed shops.

So dear readers, when you come across a street or metro busker, be generous. They probably had the door shut in their face by music bookers. We have spent decades learning our craft and deserve to make a living too.

>>Wayne Duffy

Discourse and bias

[Re: “Reframing the debate,” Letters, June 11] Patrice Bombardier seems to have missed one of the more important points of my last letter regarding media bias in relation to Israel.

I did not deny or particularly distort Shirley Groves’s views on Canwest and other pro-Israel organizations. All I said was that it is up to the reader to do their research and look up multiple sources.

Mr. Bombardier claims to welcome a comprehensive historical narrative, but his letter contains, next to his legitimate points about settlements and the unfortunate conditions in Gaza, consistent distortions and mudslinging—Israel bombs kids at lunchtime, a couple of soldiers wear a mean t-shirt, the fact that Palestine democratically elected a terrorist organization that attacks Israel, is Israel supposed to just let them go because they were elected? His main argument seems to be that anything the Palestinians have done, so have the Israelis (obviously on a larger scale, considering that Israel is a powerful and rich, Western-backed nation, while Palestine is a poor Iranian-backed nation).

But where does that method get you? Neither side in this debate is willing to change its position, and, based on the reaction to Netanyahu’s speech, when a change is made, it is never enough. And so I say once again, constructive public discourse is what is needed. Unfortunately Mr. Bombardier does not believe in this, preferring the destructive style of attacking the other side and not inviting the possibility of change.

>>Rodney Johnson

While no newspaper can be completely objective, the incredible extent of Canwest’s bias was vividly demonstrated several years ago, as I observed a pro-Israel rally and a small counter-demonstration by a group of anti-Zionist Jews.

Infuriated by the “Yes to Judaism—No to Zionism” placards that the Neturai Karta members were waving, several individuals from the pro-Israel rally crossed the street and surrounded the frail orthodox Jews, shoving, spitting and screaming, “Hitler should have finished you off.”  Seeing they were in physical danger from this angry mob, the riot police intervened and escorted the anti-Zionists to safety, while the pro-Israel thugs kept spitting and hurling garbage.

This is what Gazette readers learned the next day: “Pro-Israel rally targetted,” screamed the front-page headline. According to the Canwest reporter, an “ugly confrontation took place”—not after a mob assaulted the protesters, but after the “two groups came face-to-face.” A photograph showed the anti-Zionists—who were shielding their heads from the barrage of spit and garbage—with the caption: “Pro-Palestinian supporters gesture yesterday while being escorted away by riot police.” Not a single word about the revolting behaviour of Israel’s supporters.

>> John Dirlik

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