As 2010 winds down, the blog will be getting a bit of a facelift. Please excuse this UNDER CONSTRUCTION lay-out for the time being; January brings a breath of fresh air.
In the meantime, have a happy holiday, and please enjoy one of the best videos to cross our desk in quite some time:
What could be better than having the news serenaded to you? Well, a lot of things, really. This, however, is very much worth your time and attention. Click the bellow link to see Shotgun Jimmie & B.A. Johnson announce Stereophonic’s line-up… in the form of a song.
Stereophonic Lineup Announcement! from This Camera on Vimeo.
P.S. For everyone too old fashioned to head over to Vimeo, feel free to rejoice. The upcoming festival features a bevy of East Coast talent, including Pat Leopoidevin, Cousins, Jon Mckiel, The Slate Pacific, Olympic Symphonium, Gianna Lauren, Julie Doiron, and more!
Courtesy of Fredericton News Channel:
Slouching comfortably on his padded bar stool, Ryan Barton checks his Facebook on one computer screen, before doing a quick read through of the playlist that’s open on the other monitor. The radio personality hovers over a high tech board of bright red buttons, and freezes for a moment as the song that’s playing through the luxurious stereo speakers begins to wind down. As soon as the last guitar riff cuts out, he pounces on the button labelled “Mic,” and dives into a recap of the last few songs. After hyping up the station’s name, Barton then pulls out a cue card and tells listeners about something called Operation: Keep The Change. While his lavish surroundings may not reflect it, the disc jockey has just delved into a very serious issue.
In a year where the lines at the Fredericton Food Bank have already gotten 3% longer, Executive Director Elizabeth Thurber and her volunteers are bracing for yet another increase on the chalkboard behind her. It tracks the number of people who use the Food Bank monthly, and it appears as though each time the calendar flips, more and more families are in need of their help.
“Our numbers in 2010 have been between 800-900 families a month,” said Thurber, twiddling a green pen between the fingers of her left hand. “Last year we were serving 750-800 families, so there has been that increase from year to year.”
Cluttered is a word to describe the organization’s modest work space; boxes are piled down the length of one wall, while a nondescript desk with an outdated computer perched on top, and with a mess of papers and envelops around it constitutes an office. Thurber puts the pen down and turns to the bristolboard schedule at the other side of the room. Her glasses and the wrinkles that adorn her eyes give the middle aged woman a look of wisdom beyond her ears, as she explains what she expects to be another rise in the number of Fredericton families who depend on the services provided at 860 Grandame Street.
“The significant increase has been coming since the 2007 year, when the recession hit,” said Thurber. “So from 2007 when we were doing 650 families, to now, where we’re doing over 900 – that’s the trend,” she said. “Trying to keep food is very, very difficult.”
It becomes even more difficult during the holiday season, especially with initiatives like Christmas hampers and turkey dinners in addition to the usual order. According to their own records, the Fredericton Food Bank helped an average of 825 families a month in 2009, but December of that year produced a figure of 1068. Despite a rise of roughly 29%, Thurber says the Food Bank doesn’t need to worry “until January,” thanks to the efforts of some smaller groups within the community. One of those groups is the city’s tightly knit musical scene.
Keep The Change
After finishing his PSA and restarting the music, Barton fills me in on the station’s holiday initiative, Operation: Keep the Change. Now in its fifth year, the project puts dozens of spare change jars in the hands of businesses, teams, and groups, pooling all of the collections on the weekend before Christmas. According to the station’s website, Keep The Change has raised over $100,000 for the Salvation Army, Fredericton Food Bank and Community Kitchen.
“It’s a real community effort, and it’s uplifting to see people come together like this,” said Barton. “As nice as it is to receive gifts at Christmas, it’s a whole other feeling to give a gift that someone truly needs and appreciates.”
The clean cut, twenty-five year old disc jockey says that the reason members of the Fredericton music community have stepped up is rooted in a sort of universal balance.
“I think that it’s simple,” said Barton. “If you want people to support your efforts, whether it be by going to a show or buying a CD, etc, I think you have to support theirs as well,” he said. “Call it Karma, or whatever, but if you help when your community is in need, your community will help when you’re in need.”
For Barton, the motivation resides in the feeling of belonging that the initiative gives him – both to the music community and the city at large.
“Keep the Change is a chance for me to give back to a community I very much enjoy being a part of,” he said. “The best stories, for me, are when kids come by to throw in whatever change they have – whether it’s their allowance or otherwise,” he said. “When I was kid, anytime I got a couple bucks, all I could think of was what I was going get at the store.”
He says that facing adversity is natural, but efforts like this put things in perspective.
“Something like Keep The Change helps keep me grounded and reminds me of what really matters,” Barton said. “Because people in the music community are often times all too familiar with what it’s like to struggle, it’s easy to relate.”
“A heavy time of year”
A peak through the windows of The Capital Complex on Queen Street reveals a very empty space. Aside from a couple of wooden high chairs by the bar, some extension cords on stage and the eerie glow of a floodlight, the room is still and bare. On December 16, however, the hardwood floors and brick mortared confines of the Capital will become significantly less vacant, as six local musical acts assemble to play the bar’s annual Christmas benefit show.
Rob Glencross and Jon Bowie make up half of one of those bands, the Westerberg Suicides. Glencross, a shaggy looking twenty-something, says the importance of the show is in helping out the less fortunate in the area.
“This can be a very heavy time of year for a lot of people – especially those who don’t have a lot themselves, and even less to give to others,” said Glencross. “We look at the show as an opportunity to have a good time with friends, and to give something back to the community,” he said. “It’s important for me,” Bowie added, “because my wife and I have volunteered at the food bank in the past, and we’ve seen firsthand that people need help all year round.”
The two are no strangers to the commercial aspect of the holiday season, but Glencross feels that shows like this are the best way that he, as a musician, can help overcome that outlook.
“Whenever I head into the malls, it seems like the spirit of Christmas is lost,” he said, a sad looking glow now resonating in his quizzical eyes. “I see so many frustrated people, but then I think about the folks that can’t even put a half decent meal on their own table sometimes.”
As members of the local music community, both men feel an obligation to step in and use their own talents to help out the Fredericton community at large – especially at this time of year.
“I believe that one owes their community a certain amount their time or talent,” said Bowie. “If what you do is play music, than when a call comes out to play music for a charity or a group in need, well, why wouldn’t you? It’s a no-brainer,” he said, a smile creeping through the five o’clock shadow that dominates his face. “For me,” Glencross added, “putting together a show that we can send out to people who aren’t thinking about the big things of Christmas… If they can get some potatoes and carrots and turkey for Christmas, it’s amazing,” he said. “It’d be great if we could do that every day, every week, but Christmas… Christmas is big.”
“There are interesting dynamics in the community,” said Thurber in regards to the efforts of groups within Fredericton’s population, like the city music scene. Long after the volunteers of Operation Keep The Change stop collecting, and the last chord is struck at the annual show at the Capital bar, groups like the Food Bank will still need the community’s support. In the meantime though, some selflessness and good music are working to ease the “heavy” feeling out of the Holiday season.
