ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE SIXTH EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM AUGUST TO DECEMBER 2005.
The Juno Awards were held in Winnipeg this past April. I have lots of comments about that:
Before the show, I had heard an announcement would be forthcoming from CARAS concerning previously-announced Juno Award performers and presenters that would now be dropping out of the awards show as they had just realized the Junos are being held the same night as Wrestlemania 21. Some of these celebrities were thinking of coming to Winnipeg anyway and just watch it at The O.C. (formerly The Beach, formerly Scandals, formerly Haggar's) at the Norlander Inn with Joe & Cyrus. Yes, I'm kidding around, although if that did happen, I wonder what matches they would have chosen to miss when it's time to spend a few minutes in the outdoor smoking compound, unless they had TVs set up out there. And there's no truth to the rumor that Neil Young was at first denied access to watch the Junos at the Canadian consulate in New York because Pamela Wallin's staff wanted to watch Wrestlemania 21, either. I wonder if Neil wanted to see W21, though? Now, how about Chantal Kreviazuk? Cancelled her appearance due to pregnancy? A likely story. She just wanted to see W21! Maybe she wanted to cheer on her fellow Winnipeg hometown hero Chris Jericho.
On a more serious note, since I couldn't get around to this comment at the time of Northern Lights, Northern Stars, the opening show at our new arena, the MTS Centre, here it is now as it pertains to the Junos: I predicted someone will say to Burton Cummings or Randy Bachman that night, "I bought your first record/I bought my first record by you right here in this building when it was Eaton's!"
And too bad Bryan Adams didn't come. When/if he does show up at MTS Centre to perform, where the stage is located is pretty damn close to where A & A Records was at Eaton Place when he did an autograph signing there when he was in Winnipeg opening for Loverboy at Winnipeg Arena in 1982. Wonder if he'd remember. I got his autograph on his "Lonely Nights" picture single. There were about 15 people in line, I think. Wow. I asked him if he'd do "Let Me Take You Dancing," a Saints Roller Rink fave. I didn't think he would but I thought I might hear an interesting story about that oddball disco song with chipmunk vocals that came out before his first album did and has never been on any album. Instead, he just said, "No." Oh, okay. Man of few words, I guess.
Me during the broadcast of "Much On Demand" outside in front of the Muchmusic building in Toronto, ON on September 25, 2003.
Showing posts with label Neil Young. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Neil Young. Show all posts
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Canadian Musicians Moving To The U.S.
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE FOURTH EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM DECEMBER 2004 TO APRIL 2005.
Rob Williams did a writeup in The Winnipeg Sun recently on famous Winnipeg drummer Brent Fitz, who played with ex-Kiss member Bruce Kulick in Union (meeting Bruce through Lenita Erickson) and has since gone on to play with everyone from Vince Neil of Motley Crue to ex-Ratt lead singer Stephen Pearcy. That writeup inspired me to send Rob an e-mail and to post a version of that e-mail here on something I've always wondered about - just how do unknown Canadian musicians like Brent manage to cross the border legally (or illegally) to join rock bands in the United States?
In Rob's article on Brent, he interviews him and quotes him as saying, ".....so I did the old illegal alien thing....."
That sounds intriguing. Canadian musicians like Brent, who at the time he first crossed the border, are not stars with H1 visas, but are basically just working Canadian musicians. How do they avoid crossing the border illegally as a visitor to play gigs or live in the U.S. without being deported permanently?
I read somewhere Neil Young went through the same situation. When he left Thunder Bay to go to California where he eventually hooked up with Buffalo Springfield, he told Customs at the border he was a visitor.
Obviously the ruse caught up with him at some point, and I can't find any mention of how he got out of it in any of his biographies. (That's just me skimming in the store, in case it's there and it's just me missing it.) His situation at the time he crossed the border would be roughly comparable to the point in Brent Fitz's career when he did it, i.e. no one knew who either of these guys were at their respective times. Remember, Neil Young was not anywhere near a star when he crossed the border, just a working Canadian musician.
So how do Canadian musicians, if they choose not to do things legally from the get go in this regard and just cross the border as a visitor illegally to work as a musician in the U.S., get out of it? Obviously lawyers are involved, but laws are laws, and they have been broken. Have Neil Young, Brent Fitz, or any other names we can think of paid hefty prices for what they've done? How do they get to the point where they can cross the border as a working musician legally without any hassles, as I assume Neil Young does today?
That was my story idea for Rob to tackle for The Winnipeg Sun. Maybe he could even do a MARIA seminar on it. But nothing yet. Hopefully in the future.....
Rob Williams did a writeup in The Winnipeg Sun recently on famous Winnipeg drummer Brent Fitz, who played with ex-Kiss member Bruce Kulick in Union (meeting Bruce through Lenita Erickson) and has since gone on to play with everyone from Vince Neil of Motley Crue to ex-Ratt lead singer Stephen Pearcy. That writeup inspired me to send Rob an e-mail and to post a version of that e-mail here on something I've always wondered about - just how do unknown Canadian musicians like Brent manage to cross the border legally (or illegally) to join rock bands in the United States?
In Rob's article on Brent, he interviews him and quotes him as saying, ".....so I did the old illegal alien thing....."
That sounds intriguing. Canadian musicians like Brent, who at the time he first crossed the border, are not stars with H1 visas, but are basically just working Canadian musicians. How do they avoid crossing the border illegally as a visitor to play gigs or live in the U.S. without being deported permanently?
I read somewhere Neil Young went through the same situation. When he left Thunder Bay to go to California where he eventually hooked up with Buffalo Springfield, he told Customs at the border he was a visitor.
Obviously the ruse caught up with him at some point, and I can't find any mention of how he got out of it in any of his biographies. (That's just me skimming in the store, in case it's there and it's just me missing it.) His situation at the time he crossed the border would be roughly comparable to the point in Brent Fitz's career when he did it, i.e. no one knew who either of these guys were at their respective times. Remember, Neil Young was not anywhere near a star when he crossed the border, just a working Canadian musician.
So how do Canadian musicians, if they choose not to do things legally from the get go in this regard and just cross the border as a visitor illegally to work as a musician in the U.S., get out of it? Obviously lawyers are involved, but laws are laws, and they have been broken. Have Neil Young, Brent Fitz, or any other names we can think of paid hefty prices for what they've done? How do they get to the point where they can cross the border as a working musician legally without any hassles, as I assume Neil Young does today?
That was my story idea for Rob to tackle for The Winnipeg Sun. Maybe he could even do a MARIA seminar on it. But nothing yet. Hopefully in the future.....
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