My late father Earl I. Turner (1918-92) on a trip he made to the Canadian Rockies, 1982. He went by himself and had a great adventure. On the back of the photo is written in his familiar printing, “10 Peaks, Moraigne Lake, July 1982”. Dad loved dramatic scenery, maybe one of the reasons I’ve always been partial to landscapes like this one in Canada, as well as Scotland, the Southwest, and New Hampshire’s White Mountains, where I went to Franconia College.
With my friend Steve Conte–owner of FunnyBooks, the comics store in Lake Hiawatha, NJ–we are today announcing the launch of R3NYNJ, a fan group in the NYC metropolitan area to celebrate Canadian indie rock n’ roll, borrowing our name from CBCRadio3, the fabulous Internet radio station based in Vancouver that is such a rich portal for the work of 100s of great Canadian musicians, many of whom have international followings, or will have fans worldwide. Under the banner of this new logo (inspired design by Steve), and the Twitter hashtag, #R3NYNJ, we will
* promote upcoming live shows, post showtimes & info;
* spread word of US releases of new albums by Canadian artists;
* share coverage from The Great Gray Bridge blog of shows we’ve attended;
* invite new fans–denizens of Gotham and Canadian transplants–to join us in the group and at live shows;
* be a rallying point for Canadian artists touring in the NY area;
* cover the venues where the bands often play;
* inform Canadians in the NY area who want to stay connected with all the great music now being made by the seriously great bands, singer-songwriters, and performers of our dear neighbour to the north.
More details on #R3NYNJ will follow in coming days. We’re starting to use the hashtag and logo today. For contact with us, please follow me personally on Twitter and contact me there. My handle’s @philipsturner. This would be a big help, as I will naturally be using Twitter to make the hashtag hum and grow. [Please note, this is an “unofficial” group, not formally affiliated with the CBC.]
Great live power pop show by Arkells last nite in NYC. Catch @arkellsmusic tonite in Allston, MA. bit.ly/TN51K5 twitter.com/philipsturner/…
— Philip Turner (@philipsturner) January 10, 2013
Hanging w/Max Kerman, charismatic lead singer of the Arkells, after the band’s great live show in NYC Jan. 9, Webster Hall. Please click here to see four more photos from their show.
Subscribers of this blog who read my report yesterday, Spirited NYC Demonstration Supporting First Nations Rights & #IdleNoMore, will also be interested in indie journalist @Stopmotionsolo’s comprehensive report on the demo, with good pictures and video, including a brief interview he did with me. Viewing that footage, I realize now how cold I had become after hours outside, as my speaking on camera seems to have been slurred by my cold lips.
The response to my post since I put it up last night has been extraordinary, with tons of retweets on Twitter and shares via the Internet. Thanks for reading and sharing my report, and the new one from Stopmotionsolo, who tweets here and livestreams here.
Here’s a favorite picture of mine from yesterday and the handbill that organizers handed out:
Saturday Morning Update: Below I’d written about indie journalist Matt H., of Stopmotionsolo who was livestreamning yesterday’s #idleNoMoreRally. Here’s his comprehensive report on the demo, with good pictures and video, including a brief interview he did with me. Viewing that footage, which can be viewed via this link, I realize now how cold I had become after hours outside, as my speaking on camera seems to have been slurred by my cold lips.
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A hunger strike in Canada by First Nations leader Chief Theresa Spence in Attawapiskat, a scandalously impoverished native village in far northern Ontario began 18 days ago, but the issues of indigenous peoples’ rights and environmental justice that it’s stirring up are now spreading throughout the continent, and across the continental border, into New York City where I live. This afternoon I participated in a rally organized by native Americans of NY State in support of and in solidarity with Chief Spence. As shown in the photos below, they brought placards proclaiming their support for her, and for her opposition to the onerous new Canadian law, Bill C-45. It was promoted by the government of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and passed by the Canadian senate on December 14. A few days earlier Chief Spence began her hunger strike and asked Harper to meet with her and other First Nations leaders before the law is implemented. She is determined to explain her objections to the law and talk with him directly about the issues currently facing her people and many native groups. He has refused thus far and his government ministers have mostly been trying to ignore her. The rising crescendo of vigorous protests all across Canada, and in NYC today, are being mounted daily to show Harper he cannot hide from this selfless leader. Here is an up-to-the-moment report on Day 18 of her hunger strike at a link from CTV.
For about an hour in today’s freezing temperatures amid bright cold sunshine the spirited crowd of well over 100 people chanted, struck drums, sang, and danced in a circle around the central fountain in the center of Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. During the rally I met a young journalist who was livestreaming the event. He interviewed me briefly, giving me the chance to tell him how the opposition to Bill C-45 had been building in Canada for months, and that it has now found a powerful catalyst in Chief Spence and her hunger strike. This indie journalist goes by the handle Mr Solo; streams at www.stopmotionsolo.tv; and tweets at @Stopmotionsolo. He gave his audience my name and that of this blog, so I hope that his viewers will find this post through the Internet and social networking. I also made audio and video of the demo, and will try to get some of that up as soon as I’m able.
I hope you can catch the spirit of the event from my pictures and a scan of the flyer handed out during the rally. To amplify all this, if you’re on Twitter please note that the hashtag #IdleNoMore has been trending all over North America this week, so please use it if you tweet on this topic. I also met Kevin Tarrant, Deputy Director of American Indian Community House in NYC. I told him that I thought he and his group had done a great job of representing the issues from Canada, right down to the copy on their signs, not typical in a demonstration crossing borders like this one. He explained that they had read carefully on the Idle No More website and taken their cues from it. But of course, Kevin and his group really have no border separating them from Chief Spence, with whom they share bond and blood. He was pleased when I told him and a few of his fellow drummers and chanters that word of the rally was already traveling across the continent as I’d tweeted during the demo to an activist friend in Vancouver, British Columbia, Cameron Bode, known on Twitter as @vanboders. Here are Idle No More’s social addresses and connections:
Web: idlenomore1blogspot.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IdleNoMoreCommunity?fref=ts Twitter: https://twitter.com/IdleNoMore
Listening to/loving my new LP of @cufftheduke‘s album, “Union,” from @paperbagrecords, pressed in pretty green vinyl. twitter.com/philipsturner/…
— Philip Turner (@philipsturner) December 22, 2012
In “Censoring Myself for Success,” a strikingly candid Op-Ed published yesterday in the NY Times, Somali-Canadian poet, rapper, singer, and songwriter K’naan laments the influence of his label A&M/Octone on his latest album “Country, God and the Girl.” Coming after the worldwide fame that attached to him when his first hit song “Wavin’ Flag” became the anthem of the 2010 World Cup, K’naan writes that his early songs drew directly from his childhood experiences of a country trapped in continuous conflict, but then:
“A few days before I was to record [my third album], which was released in October, I received a phone call saying my record label wanted a little talk—before the songs were written. (I like to write in the moment.) For the first two albums, there were no such talks. But that was before my name was familiar. So let me start my story there.
In 2005 I found cheap recording space and sang about the killing ground of Somalia:
‘We begin our day by the way of the gun… you don’t pay at the roadblock you get your throat shot I walk with three kids who can’t wait to meet God lately, Bucktooth, Mohamed and Crybaby.’
In 2008, with a recording budget, I went on my own to Jamaica, to Bob Marley’s old studio, and sang of a lovely, doomed young friend:
‘Fatima Fatima, I’m in America, I make rhymes and I make ’em delicate, you woulda liked the parks in Connecticut… Damn you shooter, damn you the building, whose walls hid the blood she was spilling, damn you country so good at killing, damn you feeling, for persevering.’ …
Over breakfast in SoHo, we talked about how to keep my new American audience growing. My lyrics should change, my label’s executives said; radio programmers avoid subjects too far from fun and self-absorption.
And for the first time, I felt the affliction of success. When I walked away from the table, there were bruises on the unheard lyrics of my yet-to-be-born songs. A question had raised its hand in the quiet of my soul: What do you do after success? What must you do to keep it?
If this was censorship, I thought, it was a new kind—one I had to do to myself. The label wasn’t telling me what to do. No, it was just giving me choices and information, about my audience . . . who knew little of Somalia. How much better to sing them songs about Americans. . .
And there I was, trembling between doubt and self-awareness. I had started . . . striving to make (and please allow room for grandiosity here) my own ‘Natty Dread’ or my own ‘The Times They Are a-Changin’.’ But now, after breakfast, another voice was there, whispering how narrow the window of opportunity was. . .
So I had not made my Marley or my Dylan, or even my K’naan; I had made an album in which a few genuine songs are all but drowned out by the loud siren of ambition. Fatima had become Mary, and Mohamed, Adam.
I now suspect that packaging me as an idolized star to the pop market in America cannot work; while one can dumb down his lyrics, what one cannot do without being found out is hide his historical baggage. His sense of self. His walk.”
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Later, I found this posted by K’naaan on his Facebook page:
“After your overwhelming response, I’m inclined to write you all a quick note. Starting with the question: WHERE DID YOU PEOPLE COME FROM?!!! What an amazing and articulate bunch you are. You should know, I’ve read every single word in every single post underneath my essay, and, I am deeply moved. Have no fear, whatever you hear coming from me next, good or bad, will only be born from the intention to express. No other voice shall ever trespass into the sovereign continent of my words. I really do, from the bottom of my heart, thank you all. For gathering around me, like you did. I feel energized. Let it be a wondrous journey, thank you for riding along.
So much love to you guys,
K’naan”
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In K’naan’s Op-Ed, I was struck as much by his self-criticism as by his critique of the execs who suggested he change his artistic approach. I suggest you read his whole Op-Ed for yourself, and note that the NY Times web page also includes a nice spoken word by K’naan, talking about Somalia and poetry. Finally, if you haven’t heard K’naan here is a video of his performance of “Wavin’ Flag on the CBC program “Q”:
As mentioned in my last post, ManitobaMusic.com held its annual showcase in Manhattan last night, at Arlene’s Grocery on the lower east side. It was a great night of live music, with four talented acts taking the stage–The Magnificent Sevens, JP Hoe, Chic Gamine, and Greg MacPherson–and a good crowd in the comfortable venue. Happy to share some photos I took during the showcase. Please click here to see all photos.