What working artists need
Is It Too Late To Close Canadian Music’s Value Gap? (NOW, July 25-31). No one buys music to the extent they used to. The new generation play video games. Fortnite is my nephew’s Pearl Jam.
Poor, working artists like me just need the government to allow us to live in a rent-controlled apartment, give us a break on tax on our work (like they do in other countries) and just generally support music and art like it’s a pragmatic and important part of the culture – not a hobby, but part of who we are as a people.
Canada does have a style – it’s called the Tragically Hip.
Sorry for the rant. Just my guitar player opinion.
G.C. Garinther, From nowtoronto.com
Local music hero Steve Smith dies
Steve Smith, band manager to a whole slew of punk bands in the 80s and 90s, died recently of a massive heart attack at his home on Albany Street. He was 57.
Son of feminist sociologist Dorothy Smith (who received the Order of Canada last month), he looked like a member of the Hell’s Angels – six foot four inches tall, leather jacket, dirty sneakers, coke-bottle glasses. But he was a guy who everyone in the Annex neighbourhood knew and the sort of fellow who always remembered unsung heroes in the music industry.
Indeed, I remember him writing an obituary for the manager of Montreal band GrimSkunk when he died unexpectedly back in the 90s. Steve leaves behind a wife and nine-year-old daughter.
Sarah Steinberg, Toronto
In defence of the Kingsway
Thanks for a peach of a letter from I. MacMillan on the Kingsway’s screening of Unplanned (NOW, August 1-7).
I always liked Kingsway Theatre, and now that I know they defend free speech and allow their audience to choose for themselves what they’ll watch, I’ll make it a point to patronize the theatre at least once a week.
Diane Dollimont-McGrath, Toronto
Illicit cannabis market goes online
Legalization has helped the illicit cannabis market in a surprising way – it’s come out of the shadows and now operates online (NOW, July 25-31). The list of online marijuana distributors is very long and they are reaching customers previously inaccessible with better products and prices. Local dealers have also come out of the shadows to offer delivery to your door within hours of ordering – sometimes in as little as 20 minutes! So long as the government tries to monopolize, they will be denied the massive tax revenues that other regions with no micromanagement enjoy.
Kris Noyes, Toronto
Just relax and keep tokin’
So we got our legal weed. Sure, it’s still regulated, but what can you do about that? It’s not like I can brew my own moonshine and sell it from my basement, so what’s all the grumbling about? If you need weed that bad, maybe you have a problem. I think there’s a sense of loss here. Remember when pot was illegal and a cause célèbre? Now it’s a multi-million-dollar legit industry with corporate suits who most likely don’t even use marijuana products and never will. Just relax and keep smokin’.
John Harvard, From nowtoronto.com
Lion King confronts stereotypes
It’s disappointing that most reviews of The Lion King (NOW Online, July 12) make little or no comment about the groundbreaking soundtrack from the film, which includes many popular Nigerian musicians such as WizKid and Burna Boy. Beyoncé’s Brown Skin Girl, which features WizKid, is on the Billboard chart.
Beyoncé has made a significant contribution to bringing attention to the extraordinary wealth of popular music from the African continent. This needs to be acknowledged loudly if the stereotypes about Africa are ever going to be changed.
Lise Watson, Toronto
Media’s climate call to action
Nothing threatens us more than the climate crisis. If you have children, cousins, grandkids, then you should feel terrified of the pending disaster that we’re on course to experience. This issue should be front and centre of every news story if we’re to build any meaningful action. This job belongs to you, media.
Craig MacLellan, Toronto
