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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | "David Bash" <bashpop@earthlink.net> |
| Subject | Re: Why we will not be attending IPO again this year :-( |
| Date | Tue, 17 Feb 2004 15:09:11 -0800 |
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--- In audities@yahoogroups.com, "Jaimie Vernon" <bullseyecanada@h...>
wrote:
> Tuesday, February 17, 2004
>
> Cdn. musicians face border headaches
> By JOHN LEWANDOWSKI
> Canadian Press
>
> ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. -- Their music may transcend borders. But increasingly
> Canadian musicians are finding they do not.
>
> At least not without the right paperwork and even that's no guarantee.
>
> The new immigration and security demands imposed by a post 9-11 United
> States are making it harder for aspiring artists to build a profile south
of
> the border.
>
> "We found it incredibly difficult. It's really hampered us to a great
> degree," said Craig Mercer, whose Jimmy Swift Band has just lined up a
> couple of U.S. club dates.
>
> "We find it very strange that American bands, members of the same union,
can
> come up here with very little difficulty but bands from here are having a
> great deal of difficulty getting across the border," said the
Halifax-based
> guitarist and front man.
>
> While there's nothing straightforward about crossing the Canada-U.S border
> these days, officials from the American Federation of Musicians generally
> agree it's easier for Americans to play in Canada.
>
> As long as they've got signed contracts, their identification and criminal
> checks pan out, and Canadian officials don't feel they're taking work away
> from Canadian musicians, they're pretty much in.
>
> Corina Robidoux, a spokeswoman for the federation, works through the maze
of
> immigration paperwork for all Canadian artists heading stateside.
>
> "You have to first have signed contracts with employers in the U.S. six to
> eight months in advance before you can even apply for a P-2 (a
non-immigrant
> work permit)," she said from her Toronto office.
>
> Robidoux said even with the paperwork, which can take up to 150 days to
> process, there's no guarantee you'll get in.
>
> A lot of things factor in, not the least of which may be a border agent
who
> doesn't like the look of the applicant.
>
> Ignoring the rules and trying to play without approval could carry a heavy
> price.
>
> "You'll be considered an illegal immigrant," says Robidoux. "Fines levied,
> vehicles and gear impounded and a ban from ever entering the U.S. again.
> It's not worth the gamble."
>
> Work permits can be expedited through a 15-day process that costs $1,000
US
> over and above the $130 US fee for the P-2 application. But, again, all
the
> U.S. immigration service will guarantee is a response within that time
> frame.
>
> The problem has already caused headaches for booking agent Joan Kirby of
> LiveTourArtists in Oakville, Ont.
>
> "It's very arbitrary. And I don't know how to combat it. It's hard enough
to
> get the dates in the first place," she said, having just scrubbed some
shows
> for one of her bands because the paperwork wasn't done in time.
>
> Kirby said she recently had one act show up at the border, paperwork in
> hand, only to be held up for no explainable reason.
>
> "I guess the woman that met them was unhappy to be up at 7:30 in the
morning
> and proceeded to keep them there for four hours. They had all their
> paperwork. There was no reason to stop them," she said.
>
> One of Kirby's acts, blues artist Charlie A'Court, says it can be an
> attitude thing at the border.
>
> "You get there and maybe one of the customs officers is having a bad day
and
> that gives them the green light to be arrogant sometimes," he said at the
> East Coast Music Awards. "Maybe it's just the look.
>
> "You know a guy with long hair, looks like a pot smoker", he laughs, his
> long blond mane tied back in a ponytail.
>
> "I've never done drugs in my life. I don't know what pot's like, except
for
> maybe the smell of it at a Bob Dylan concert."
Yes, Jaimie, as you well know this issue has been of increasing concern to
Canadian artists, and in accord has caused an increased number of
last-minute cancellations of IPO shows by Canadian artists. One positive is
that FACTOR has sanctioned IPO as a fundable event, but even so, I've been
told that the channels bands must go through to receive this funding are a
bit confusing, often arduous, and are too time-sensitive.
It has been a bit of a crapshoot for several of the Canadian bands as they
come across the border. I have armed many of them with paperwork describing
IPO and the specifics, as they apply to Canadian artists. When they show
this to border officials, sometimes this helps and sometimes it doesn't. As
Mr. A'Court alluded to in the article, clean cut acts are more apt to get
through without a problem, which those who "look like musicians" will be
likely asked several questions, the answers to which will prevent them from
making it across. I've done my best to use bands' negative experiences to
optimal effect in coaching other bands, but the results still are equivalent
to spinning a roulette wheel.
To quote your countryman Burton Cummings, it's a "sad state of affairs".
Jaimie, I hope you know how much I already miss having you and all the
Bullseye bands down here!
David
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