Musical Border Crossing

[Mike LITTLE]

[this info is a blend of two sources]-Not Getting any better!!! worse!

Mairi Rankin concert at the Skye Theatre in Maine on Sunday was  
cancelled;
because she was refused admission at the border because of some  
stupid paperwork irregularities. I think she was also playing at a  
few house concerts too, which will now have to also be cancelled.  
What a crock! As the cancelled concert shows, she surely wasn’t  
putting anyone else out of work—on the contrary, two fine Maine  
musicians, Don and Cindy Roy, were also on the bill with her at the  
Skye and they now won’t be paid either.
  Cultural exchanges should be privileged, not penalized!

  Mairi was interrogated by US guards at the border and turned back,  
and her driving companion was banned for attempting to "smuggle an  
illegal alien" into the country.

Musicians are regularly hassled at the border crossing by U.S.  
guards.  Canadians welcome U.S. musicians but the US is not  
interested in Canadian musicians.  Even Americans are harrassed when  
returning to the U.S., often because the guards presume musicians  
might be smuggling drugs.

I'd like to contact our senators and congressman about returning the  
musician visa process to pre-9/11 status--let me know if you would be  
interested in signing on to a petition.

It used to take 30 days for musicians to get visas after the Canadian  
musician's union verified that the applicant was a bonafide musician,  
and musicians could adjust their itinerary to accommodate additional  
gigs.  Now it takes 4 months to process a visa request (unless you  
pay a $1000 rush fee, which doesn't always help), and musicians  
cannot alter their itinerary.  This, of course, favors large  
entertainment companies which plan major tours far in advance and  
have resources to process the paperwork.

Sorry to bother some of you about this, but enough people have asked  
that I thought I'd send info to everyone, and save someone the  
trouble of showing up at the cancelled events.

take care
Mike & Marg  www.cbchoices.com
mike.little at ns.sympatico.ca
cbchoices at gmail.com



On 24-Dec-08, at 12:11 PM, Will Richardson wrote:

A very Merry Christmas to everyone from down here in Texas.

Will Richardson
Allen, TX



-----Original Message-----
From: cbmusic-bounces at locals.ca [mailto:cbmusic-bounces at locals.ca] On  
Behalf
Of Mike LITTLE
Sent: Wednesday, December 24, 2008 5:50 AM
To: cbmusic at locals.ca
Subject: Re: universal season's greetings

And Season Greetings from the Western Side of Cape Breton Island


Mike & Marg  www.cbchoices.com
mike.little at ns.sympatico.ca



On 24-Dec-08, at 4:47 AM, marcello wrote:

I would like to spread my best whishes for a Merry Christmas and an
Happy
New Year
to all cbmusic friends!

Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo da Roma, Italia

Marcello


marcello.grillini at enea.it

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