Warning! This post may get ranty, so you may want to stop reading now. You’ve been warned…
Back in January and February, I wrote about meeting with city politicians regarding the stated aims of making Toronto a “Music City“. While the meeting seemed to bode well, time has passed and the follow-through has finally caught up with my expectations at the outset: all of this is a well-intentioned but ultimately vaporous bit of political PR.
When you look back and connect the dots, the pattern emerges:
- a mayor who declares he wishes for Toronto to be Music City North but has so little understanding he believes the music scene is healthier today
- window-dressing events like YYZ Live that have been referred to as “Spinal Tap” moments by local players who have performed at them
- a bloated and promoter-heavy advisory council (TMAC) that is so uninvested it could not even achieve quorum at its last meeting, and the next meeting scheduled for April 23 still has no agenda published
- significant portions of the budget (when there was one) spent on junkets and high-visibility but low impact promotions
- political “leadership” on this council that lacks the understanding and commitment to this issues: the chair Josh Colle is also chairing the TTC (how much time can he really invest in the Music City initiative?), and Mary-Margaret McMahon who has already declared she will not run again
All together, these indicate that this is a “wouldn’t it be nice” initiative, but once it became evident that a few bands in Nathan Philips Square and and the airport do not a Music City make, a lot of appetite for the real work of solving Toronto’s music infrastructure problems seems to have been lost. It’s not that even TMAC was unaware of the issues; going through their material, it’s clear those concerns were identified (small venue solvency, “noise” regulations, music taken for granted as “free”), but these are difficult problems to solve and no one on the political level appears to have the vision, time or energy to take it on meaningfully. And perhaps that is not a reasonable thing to ask of our politicians. If so, then the vacuous pronouncements should stop, and the advisory council folded as it does not have the confidence or represent the interests of grassroots club musicians who are ultimately the foundation of the musical community. I get the sense this is where things are headed anyway, as neither councillor is responding to follow-up emails about the issues Rob Greenway and I raised at our February meeting, and the anemic attendance at the TMAC meetings.
This is likely a problem musicians will have to solve for themselves, hopefully.
This week at The ABC Songwriters’ Circle
I am considering retirement after this actual windfall tip donation for four of us at a recent show, shown here. Some will go towards guitar picks and the rest I am considering as a charitable donation to the Toronto Musical Indifference Society.
This is a short one as there are family celebrations today, namely a birthday for a certain loved one, pictured much younger on the right (and me too it seems). So a lot of housekeeping awaits. Still, there are a few things to briefly touch on, so here goes.
I have kept my head down and my nose to the grindstone this week as, although I am officially retired, I take on occasional work to help with expenses, like the new (used) car recently purchased and mentioned in last week’s blog.
After six years of relying on public transport and car sharing services, I am back to owning a vehicle. This was brought about by a sudden opportunity and a realization that with more gigs for me, and garden visits for the lovely Mrs. FatC, we had reached a point where it once again made sense. The picture on the left shows the alternative: on the cart is the gear hauled down by TTC to the 
I also was able to catch a few sets on Saturday night by cover band 
Now, anyone who follows this blog knows I use the stage name Félix, which is actuality my middle name (this came about due to having 3 Roberts in one band back in the 80s). I have always known that name was given to me as a traditional reference to my paternal grandfather, pictured on the right with my mémère Atala. According to my father, he was a decent fiddler himself, although I only have a dim recollection of seeing him play.
felixandthecats.com 
