Support for a Blues only radio station!

[Hamstrung]

Below is a letter recently circulated by the Grand River Blues Society (Kitchener/Waterloo/Guelph)...


Hello Folks,


DAWG FM
Is Canada's first ALL BLUES radio!

The Grand River Blues Society supports DAWG FM's efforts to bring Blues formats to commercial radio across Canada. DAWG FM has applied to the CRTC for FM Radio stations in Ottawa/Gatineau, Kawartha Lakes/Peterborough, Abbotsford Chilliwack , Vancouver, Edmonton and Guelph.

Calling all Blues fans, particularly those in Ontario.

It has finally happened: After years of being shut out of the music industry by a lack of airplay -- and the subsequent lack of distribution -- the blues is finally getting its due.

A Canadian company, Skywords, has applied to the Canadian government to open six FM stations in major markets, all 100% blues.

But it needs the public's help, and given that it will be available south of the border as well on the internet, pretty much anyone's help would probably be appreciated. There are several ways to support the venture -- and its license application to the government -- available at www.bluesincanada.com (http://www.bluesincanada.com/)

If you think this is worthwhile, please circulate this letter to any other newsgroups or boards you post on.

You can help bring the blues off the satellites and into commercial conventional "free" radio by writing an email of support. Just click on one or more of the markets below and make sure to fill in your name and address.


www.bluesincanada.com (http://www.bluesincanada.com/)

You will find a sample letter at the above link for you to endorse and distribute to the CRTC.

Keep Your Soul On (the Radio)
Bruce Hall

Here's the letter.


Name:
Address:
Telephone:
Email:
Date:
Mr. Robert A. Morin,
Secretary General
CRTC
Central Building, 1 Promenade du Portage
Hull, Quebec
K1A-0N2
Re: Intervention in support of an application by Frank Torres (OBCI) for a licence to carry on a new FM radio undertaking in Guelph, Ontario.
Dear Mr. Morin,
I would like to give my support to this application for a Blues radio station in Guelph.
I enjoy The Blues, and feel that this genre is extremely underserved on Canadian FM airwaves. It would be great to have a local radio station that plays a Blues format.
The only place that I can get Blues music is on the internet and on Satellite. If a radio station were available I would spend more time listening to radio
As well as providing a radio station where we could listen to Blues, it would be of great help to established and developing artists in getting their music out to large numbers of people. Also, it would no doubt help propel many Canadian careers and help the growth of the local Blues scene in Guelph.

Sincerely,

[Geek]

I'll support anything that isn't top-40 or oldies all dang day >.<

[suttree]

they're gonna have a bit of competition in alberta, CKUA is the best damned radio station in the world. other than that, i hope it works!

[Robboman]

they're gonna have a bit of competition in alberta, CKUA is the best damned radio station in the world. other than that, i hope it works!

+1 for CKUA, but though they play a lot of blues, they're not "All Blues". So maybe this will find a niche.

Interesting development for canuck radio, I'm all for it!

[zontar]

they're gonna have a bit of competition in alberta, CKUA is the best damned radio station in the world. other than that, i hope it works!

CKUA was instrumental in my blues education. I rarely missed Natch'l Blues during my latter high school days and early 20's. Unfortunately I rarely catch it these days. Life changes.

But Holger Peterson either introduced me to many blues artists and added to my knowledge of others.

Now if that Edmonton station broadcasts far enough to be heard down in Southern Alberta--I'm sure they'll broadcast on the internet, but my computer is not always handy.

[RIFF WRATH]

Thanks for the link. just "signed up". better than via sattelite on my pos TV. listen to blues in the house every sun. am. (and Q in the shop for now) should come in load and clear from Guelph to my place.
Gerry

[Paul]

It's an idea, but I would guess that this has bankruptcy written all over it. I like the blues as much as the next guy, but I don't think I could handle 24 hours of it. I don't think I could handle 24 hours of music of any style for that matter. 20 minutes of radio and an hour or so of practice/rehearsal per day is about all I can commit.

We do need radio with a wider range of programming. Typically that niche gets filled by CBC, and College/University stations. A for-profit broadcaster has to play the music that delivers ears to the advertisers. That's what radio does, right? Radio stations sell our ears to the advertisers.

Sooooo, if you want a 24 hour Blues Radio station, what are you prepared to do? Will you buy the products and services sold by the advertisers?

[suttree]

i dunno, toronto has a great all jazz station. unless i miss my guess, blues outsells jazz as a genre... i'd think it has a good chance of succeeding in a couple of major markets (toronto and montreal especially.. vancouver maybe... edmonton i'm guessing would be a tough one).

[Hamm Guitars]

Hamilton has a Jazz station 94.7 Jazz FM - but I don't think that it is doing so well.

I used to do IT work for a large radio conglomerate - there is no money in radio - or everyone that works in the industry seems to think so. It is like an industry where everyone is working for the love of radio, and does whatever they have to to keep the ship afloat.

[Paul]

...unless i miss my guess, blues outsells jazz as a genre...

Live music, I'd give it to you. Recorded....I think jazz would win. That's my SWAG.

[suttree]

Live music, I'd give it to you. Recorded....I think jazz would win. That's my SWAG.

yah? hmm i wonder what the figures are. i did a quick google search but didn't turn up anything clear.

[Robboman]

It's an idea, but I would guess that this has bankruptcy written all over it.

That's what I was thinkin, but I didn't want to say it. As much as I'd love to be able to tune in to blues radio 24/7, I know I'm in the minority. I don't think anyone has gotten rich off of Blues since BB King.

It is like an industry where everyone is working for the love of radio, and does whatever they have to to keep the ship afloat.

Sounds like where the music industry in general is headed!

[suttree]

I don't think anyone has gotten rich off of Blues since BB King.

SRV
robert cray
johnny lang
john mayer (ok, he's stretching it)
kenny wayne sheppard
colin james
derek trucks
etc etc

i mean, i don't think these guys are/were getting mega rich, but they're doing pretty good for themselves at least

[Paul]

yah? hmm i wonder what the figures are. i did a quick google search but didn't turn up anything clear.

There is this:

http://www.infoplease.com/ipea/A0921835.html

[fraser]

SRV
robert cray
johnny lang
john mayer (ok, he's stretching it)
kenny wayne sheppard
colin james
derek trucks
etc etc

i mean, i don't think these guys are/were getting mega rich, but they're doing pretty good for themselves at least

dont know about any of the other guys, but srv's assets at the time of his death were $173,000 in bank accounts, 34 guitars, 31 amps, 12 cabinets, a 75 chevy caprice, a cd player and a strobe tuner. thats after pretty much a decade of near constant touring- id hesitate to call that rich. all those vintage guitars and amps of his were not expensive or worth much at the time either- but your right, he made a decent living i guess.

id love to be able to hear a blues only station, but its unlikely id be interested in one that just plays stuff like bb king, srv, colin james, etc.
just not into those kind of slick blues sounds.
(and i hate horns)
make it pre-war blues, charlie patton, fred mcdowell and any of the blind guys, and im in.

[suttree]

There is this:

http://www.infoplease.com/ipea/A0921835.html

i saw that, but it seems that blues is lumped in with R&B on that chart, hence my saying i couldn't find anything clear.

[suttree]

dont know about any of the other guys, but srv's assets at the time of his death were $173,000 in bank accounts, 34 guitars, 31 amps, 12 cabinets, a 75 chevy caprice, a cd player and a strobe tuner. thats after pretty much a decade of near constant touring- id hesitate to call that rich. all those vintage guitars and amps of his were not expensive or worth much at the time either- but your right, he made a decent living i guess.

is that a fact? i would have to ask how much he spent on drugs (a LOT at the least). also, you're certainly right, that's not rich. that's doing "ok", about the same assets as a middle level management type (if you trade the guitars in for a mercedes)...

considering that his albums sold very well, i'd also have to ask how badly he got taken by the record label? what a shame that is. i certainly didn't think he was a multi-millionaire, but i'd have expected a decent home, a nice bus and a mil or so in the bank..

[Paul]

i saw that, but it seems that blues is lumped in with R&B on that chart, hence my saying i couldn't find anything clear.

I was kinda hoping that my meager googling would trigger something in your googling, and we'd find an answer.

I found a British site, but the information is subscription only. I @mailed them with the question, perhaps, they'll answer for free.

[Paul]

is that a fact? i would have to ask how much he spent on drugs (a LOT at the least). also, you're certainly right, that's not rich. that's doing "ok", about the same assets as a middle level management type (if you trade the guitars in for a mercedes)...

considering that his albums sold very well, i'd also have to ask how badly he got taken by the record label? what a shame that is. i certainly didn't think he was a multi-millionaire, but i'd have expected a decent home, a nice bus and a mil or so in the bank..

EVERYTHING is an advance against royalties. Staying in the Hilton instead of the Holiday Inn costs you money, not the label. Many bands of moderate success, (SRV & Double Trouble are moderate, compared to Guns 'n' Roses, or The Crue), will live waaaaaay beyond their means, until the means run out. How much money did MC Hammer make, and then declare bankruptcy only a year or two later?

Bruce Allen's deal with Loverboy gave him the first 50%. Loverboy paid all expenses from their 50%, and then split what was left over. The same was true for New Kids on the Block.

Skill on guitar is by no means predictive of good personal financial management.

[suttree]

i know that everything is an advance against royalties, and i also know that the labels are about scrupulous enough to hire drug dealers to overcharge their addicted signees, in hopes of forcing more output.

MC hammer made a TON of money, he spent it all on stupid stuff, mansions and IIRC his "entourage" was costing him a couple of hundred thousand dollars a month.

i'm not actually all that surprised that stevie died with so little, but it still saddens me..

[Wild Bill]

I forget where the lines come from, but it was said long ago that:

"Some I spent on whiskey,
Some I spent on women
And some I just wasted!"

:food-smiley-004:

[Geek]

Bill, you just summed up the spending habits of us guys in three lines :D

[RIFF WRATH]

what happened to SRV's Dumble...should have been worth a lot of $........

oh yeah....sex & drugs & R&R....just thinking about it gives me the blues...