Thanks to all who have made me feel so welcome - I'm feeling cozy already! Julius, I'm not sure there is a name for people who are interested in Canadian music, but do keep in mind that, like the music of any nation, a lot of it is crap. There is Celine Dion to contend with on the airwaves, after all, Alanis Morrisette and a whole roster of other unmentionables.
The sad fact about Canada is that in order to be truly famous and recognized, even in Canada, they have to conquer the U.S. and international market - otherwise we don't take them seriously. Canadians have a very hard time with fame. We hate Canadians who are famous in Canada, but if they're famous in the U.S. we LEAP to their defence and proclaim our pride: "She's CANADIAN, you know!" Read: "She's ours, not yours - nya-nya na-boo-boo." We suffer from a collective inferiority complex thanks to living next to the most powerful and noisy nation on the planet, and we need validation from the world in order to feel okay about ourselves. We're the nation that looks in the mirror and asks other nations, "Do we look fat in this?" Having said that, Canada has consistently been kind to Joni Mitchell. Even in the beginning. Oh sure, she has her detractors here, like anywhere, but the general consensus seems to be that she is one of the most important Canadian people, right up there with Leonard Cohen, Neil Young and Oscar Peterson. She is honoured by our governments, provincial and federal, and the arts community never misses an opportunity to celebrate her, whether it's at the Mendel Gallery to exhibit her paintings or small-time theatre groups organizing Joni theatre, like the Prairie Theatre Exchange's "Joni Mitchell: River" and the Great Canadian Theatre Company's "When All The Slaves Are Free," here in Ottawa. CBC is also usually quite kind. Last year for Joni's birthday on a CBC radio program there was a day-long celebration of her work, playing such songs as "Goodbye Porkpie Hat," "Sisotowbel Lane" and "Comes Love" on FM radio! To make it all the more glorious, each song was introduced by a Canadian personality: Jane Sieberry, Carol Sheilds and the like. There are always people in Canada who feel betrayed by artists who "defect" to the U.S., but they don't have much choice. There is no such thing as "star maker machinery" in Canada. This keeps Canadians real and grounded - we don't idolize people the way a lot of Americans do; we're more likely to be comfortable meeting a celebrity, calmly and rationally, since the idea of hyperventilating in front of them and gushing about our undying love for them would be tasteless and rude - that's our mentality. "Hey, they're just like us except they've got money and they're on TV a lot. No biggie." But not having that kind of support for the arts also prevents truly talented artists from achieving wide recognition in our country without the help of the American system. In any case, Julius, anyone who knows about the introspective Canadians understands that we're always overjoyed by a bit of positive attention from our great and powerful neighbours to the south! As Sally Field would say, "They like us! They REALLY LIKE US!" -Andrew Yahoo! Web Hosting - Let the expert host your site
