[mplpost] Col. Tom's excellent points

[Richard Flohil]

My point was that this event WAS/IS being sold as an "Oh Brother" 
tribute.  Of course there's nothing wrong with being a cover band, 
esp. if you're drawing from a roots tradition - and the Good Lord 
knows that the Backstabbers are destined to play Celestial Halls in 
40 or 50 years, because they're that good!
	But, hey, I'm still a little off-put when I get e-mails 
telling me I should book Shania Twin ot the Dixie Chicklets. 
Obviously these are so-called "tribute acts" that are capitalizing on 
the success of their near-namesakes.
	My unwritten point, perhaps, was that the people Lillian is 
bringing into her church venue are all fine artists, but that the "Oh 
Brother" tag does them no favours. One supposes, however, that it's 
called "marketing" and I suppose if it brings some more punters in 
the door to hear some fine artists, I guess it's okay.
	But my response wasn"t knee-jerk - it just expressed the 
ambivalence I feel about what Tom called "bandwagonism."  Surely 
nobody re-readling my original post (reprinted below) believes that 
I'm criticising the excellent artists Lillian is presenting.

Cheers


Richard

And here's what I wrote originally:

I'm a bit mixed about the news that an "O Brother Where Art Thou" 
tribute band is apparently doing the rounds in Toronto - with lots of 
familiar and VERY good players.
	Having said that, I feel a bit like a grinch when I say that 
the real thing just can't be duplicated.  The pop and country live 
music fields in Canada are littered with "tribute" bands covering 
everything from The Eagles  to Rod Stewart. We have a singer who 
calls herself Shania Twin, and Dottie Cormier was once asked to 
audition for a group called The Dixie Chicklets.  There's a Garth 
Brooks cover band, and another one that covers The Tragically Hip. 
Not to mention sundry musicians who cover Rush, Britney Spears, 
Christine Aguillera, Madonna, and anyone else who's successful.
	This works, to some extent when the real thing ain't 
available - and I have to confess that I've done publicity for two 
Ontario tours with Bjorn Again, and you can guess who they cover.
	Be advised, though, that I'll be announcing a Toronto event 
tomorrow, featuring the REAL thing when it comes to the folk who made 
Oh Brother Where Art Thou such a roaring success.  Enough at this 
time to say that the cast includes Emmylou Harris, Ralph Stanley and 
many, many others.
	Keep watching:  We'll call it Down from the Mountain!

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