Responding to daily revelations of corruption and scandal with the AIG bailout, an estimated 10,000 Americans are hitting the streets tomorrow, March 19, in more than 100 public demonstrations across the country. These public displays of mass outrage will surely force accountability and oversight that decades of litigation and lawsuits could never produce.
A DMA (Denver Musicians Association) member called me yesterday asking if it was necessary to buy liability coverage for his band. He was offered a gig to provide lunchtime entertainment in a public square for a downtown business. This is the first time he’s been asked to show liability coverage, so he was curious how to respond.
This mornings email blast from the Colorado Council on the Arts (CCA) contained disturbing news about anticipated stimulus grants. We should be very concerned that 1) only a handful of employers are even eligible to apply for these funds, and 2) if utilized, may only enhance a travel getaway for musicians who summer in Colorado.
Legislative, Local Discussion, National Discussion, Pete Vriesenga, Symphonic/Classical
On this day (March 3, 2009) representative AFM members from across the U.S. are meeting with members of the House and Senate to lobby in support of the Performance Rights Act, H.R. 848 and S.379. Denver Local 20-623 members’ Bob Montgomery and Tom LeRoux are among the AFM contingent. This effort is made possible through contributions to the AFM’s Legislative Action Fund (formerly TEMPO).
Electronic Media, Legislative, National Discussion, Pete Vriesenga
It wasn’t until 1938 that the 40-hr. work week, along with minimum wage guarantees, child labor protections and more, were signed into law with the passing of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Credit for this historic effort goes first and foremost to generations of workers who held out principle before their personal livelihood.
Labor, Legislative, National Discussion, Pete Vriesenga, The Denver Musician
One Aurora Marine’s request that his mom send a guitar to him while he was posted in the Iraq desert resonated so deeply with other Colorado musicians that hundreds of guitars have been shipped - or soon will be - to waiting soldiers.
“Some are just instruments that have just been lying around the house,” Pete Vriesenga with the Denver Musicians Association said. “Some are prized family collections…To have an instrument in your hands and just turn that fear or boredom into productive creation of music is really what this is about,” Vriesenga said.
The digital revolution has been “taking a bite out of (the paychecks of) orchestral musicians for 20 or 30 years now,” observed Pete Vriesenga, head of the local musicians union. Not that there’s anything that can be done. “We’d be laughed at if we picketed movie theaters. Most people don’t know the difference, or don’t care. All we can do is educate the public and make them aware.”
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