Musical Border Crossing

[Doug Francis]

Our high school seniors took a class trip to Toronto a few years ago, and
ran into some ill tempered Mounties at the border, and the situation was not
helped by the fact that the trip planners had been given some wrong
information regarding exchange students and their legal documents. You would
think that people who regularly cross the border like this would be well
versed in filling out the paperwork.

-----Original Message-----
From: cbmusic-bounces at locals.ca [mailto:cbmusic-bounces at locals.ca] On Behalf
Of Dan MacDonald
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 9:38 PM
To: cbmusic at locals.ca
Subject: Re: Musical Border Crossing

This has become a continuing pain for most artists, on both sides of the 
border.  I could be wrong but I believe that Canada has applied the same 
rules in response to the US rules.

Such a shame.



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike LITTLE" <mike.little at ns.sympatico.ca>
To: <cbmusic at locals.ca>
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 7:09 PM
Subject: Musical Border Crossing


[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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