Me and mine… a few words by and about the proprietor…
For almost 40 years I have been a full time worker in the creative music and performing arts mines. For 17 years, beginning with its founding in 1978, I ran the Vancouver Folk Music Festival Society. In that capacity I programmed a bunch of festivals and produced hundreds of concerts. I also created a record distribution company (Festival Records) and a record label (Aural Tradition). In the mid-eighties I presented the breadth and depth of Canada’s traditions, old and new, in 5000 shows at the Folklife Pavilion of Expo 86. In 1994 I left Vancouver and festival organizing for Ottawa where I spent six years working at the Canada Council for the Arts handing out money to deserving projects. There I helped open Canada Council to new genres of music, particularly ‘world music’ and new forms of support to artists and those who love them. I was also the founding president of the first union local there. I returned to Vancouver in 2000 to write a book about folk music in English Canada and to work with artists whose music I love. I continue to do that, along with occasional programming contracts, a three day workshop on touring for the “commercially challenged” artist and a major teaching commitment at Capilano University. In fact my teaching has now overtaken my other work. At my age I feel it is important to help form the next generation of cultural workers. So… that’s what I do.
This autobiographical detail is not intended to impress you with what a fine fellow I am but rather to let you know that I have been on different sides of the music business equation as buyer, funder, teacher and seller, and know a bit about how it all works.
The artists I work with are as good as it gets in their respective styles of music- World, Jazz, Folk and the undescribable. They represent the enormous diversity of the music being created in this country, music that draws from every part of the world and music that is uniquely our own. They believe in what they do and I believe in them. If you want to find out more about them, check out their web sites or ask me to send you their recordings and other information. If you think they fit into your presenting plans, get in touch with me. I’m happy to discuss how your needs and the talent of the artists I work with might complement each other
Gary Cristall
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