Genevieve Simms
Good intentions and poor communication make up the March Music Series
In November of last year four established Calgary bands were asked to travel to Toronto to perform as part of an initiative that would eventually become the March Music Series a festival that encompasses virtually every local music event in Calgary during the month of March. Conceived by the Calgary Host Committee for the Juno Awards under the brand name “Music Lives Here” the series’ unofficial function is of course to build anticipation for the 2008 Juno Awards this April and the many star-studded events that will accompany it. Its two official objectives however are far more interesting.
First Music Lives Here is attempting to open Calgarians’ eyes to a vibrant music community that’s been gaining momentum in the past years while providing artists with opportunities to reach those newly alerted ears. There are a myriad of events scheduled to get the public all fired up the most heavily advertised being Matt Masters’s “30 Gigs in 30 Days” challenge which dares local musicians to play everywhere and anywhere they possibly can over the month from public spaces to corporate barbecues. According to Masters whose “100 Gigs in 100 Days” tour for Alberta’s centennial provided the pretext for the challenge the goal is “to get the word out that there are lots of gigs encourage bands to play gigs at weird places to try to help advertise them and to get audience members out and reward them for coming out.”
Second the committee has begun to establish the “Music Lives Here Legacy Program” a promise from the Juno Awards and the Calgary Arts Development Authority to Calgarians that their blossoming city will not be left feeling used once prom night is over. Having compiled a crack team of community arts professionals to provide feedback (including Fast Forward publisher Ian Chiclo) the sub-committee aims to create long-term programs for continual arts development expected according to Calgary Host Committee co-chair Terry Rock to come complete with funding.
“I got Andrew Mosker [of the Cantos Music Foundation] and Kerry Clarke [artistic and marketing director of the Calgary Folk Music Festival] together and I said ‘What do we need? What would the legacy look like?’” Rock explains. “This is what they came up with: promote the scene get some resources to help get [artists] out of town and do tours and showcases. I’m talking now to corporate leaders in Calgary and saying ‘Help us build this legacy’ and they’re helping us do it.”
Both Rock and communications co-ordinator Erica Mattson seemed optimistic for the success of Music Lives Here at the official Juno launch press conference on February 27 though the speeches offered few new details as to what the overall experience the “branding initiative” would provide. To date they have produced a staggeringly long list of events to be included in the March Music Series (estimated by Rock to be over 300). Many are gigs scheduled independently of the Host Committee such as CJSW’s music industry seminars which have been successfully up and running since mid-2007. Though not originally organized by the Host Committee these events help keep the emphasis on helping local artists along with their careers.
Some in the arts community question exactly what the Host Committee intends to accomplish by attaching the Music Lives Here name to venues and acts that have entertained and maintained audiences on their own steam for some time especially when you consider they have the resources to organize massive events like the free outdoor concert planned at Olympic Plaza on April 3. These artists are worried that Music Lives Here is trying to create a grassroots image that’s not entirely accurate. The best explanation for the March Music Series’s lack of definition seems to be the absence of dialogue between those fully immersed in Calgary’s music scene and the industry that sincerely wants to support them.
“It’s weird because it feels like it’s being presented as a very informal grassroots initiative but anyone I know on the ground is not involved” an individual active in the Calgary arts scene tells Fast Forward . “I was really excited about how passionate [Calgary’s Host Committee] seemed and how excited they seemed…. Now I think ‘Wow they’re really well intentioned but they’re not in touch with the day-to-day.’”
Though there are those who feel disillusioned by the March Music Series’ incapacity to properly shine a light on Calgary’s diverse music scene the series will hopefully provide the opportunity for Calgary music fans to participate in a community many never even knew existed. For others it may mean nothing more than going about business as usual. As one local artist says at the very least this experience will motivate those involved in Calgary’s arts and music to take matters into their own hands.
“There’s this sort of do-it-yourself ethic that’s in all the people here” he says. “I feel like [Music Lives Here] is going to galvanize me; that if this doesn’t live up to what I think it should be then I’ll be motivated to do something or to bring people together and see what we can’t do.”
THE EVENTS
• Matt Masters 30 gigs in 30 days challenge: In addition to playing 30 gigs in every nook and cranny around town over March Masters is challenging other Calgary artists to play as many shows as they can muster – with free show promotion as part of the incentive.
• Music Lives Here workshops: CJSW and Fast Forward stalwart Myke Atkinson continues the Radtastic music industry workshop series every Wednesday night this month at the Cantos Music Foundation. A valuable tool for any working musician.
• Big Rock Untapped: Strange as this sounds multiple Big Rock-sponsored local talent showcases will be happening at the Calgary International Airport in addition to regular artist spotlights on CityTV’s Breakfast Television.
• World Record-breaking high school band performance: Over 2000 high school musicians will come together for two magical numbers and the Canadian national anthem. Location TBA.
• Free outdoor concert to kick off Juno weekend: April 3 will be the Music Lives Here piece de resistance a free concert at Olympic Plaza featuring Bedouin Soundclash Finger Eleven Sloan The New Odds and Calgary’s very own dudes The Dudes — 20000 music fans are expected to attend.
For more info on these and the rest of the 300-plus planned events visit www.musicliveshere.ca .
