East Coast Music Awards conference sessions available today online

It was not a 'talk' you would fall asleep to.
The keynote address for the 2010 East Coast Music Awards in St. John's was delivered this morning (Saturday), with the standard one-man-and-microphone speech being dropped in favour of an interview and Q&A session.
Canadian music journalist Larry LeBlanc, who acted as Canadian bureau chief for Billboard (the United States trade magazine) before stepping down in 2007, lobbed a series of questions to the keynote speaker - BBC personality Bob Harris.
While "keynote address" is a label that strikes fear in the hearts of easily bored conference goers everywhere, Harris, kept things fun, yet relevant, to his audience of would-be internet broadcasters, musician managers, programmers and (albeit few and far between) musicians.
LeBlanc, whose current gig is as a columnist for the online site CelebrityAccess (www.celebrityaccess.com), began the session by asking Harris about playing Canadian artists on his radio programs.
"The first single I ever bought was 'Diana' by Paul Anka," said Harris, recalling. "I started my first radio program in 1970 and the first artist I ever played on my first radio program was Neil Young."
"I've made a commitment, absolutely, to Canadian music from day one," he said. Of note, Harris has created two one-hour specials on Canadian music for (BBC) Radio 2.
Even today, reaching 13 million people a show, Harris highlights Canadian musicians, although his focus has shifted to artists who might be receiving national and international play for the first time.
"As we've experienced here in Sydney for the last few days, Canadian weather can be brutal," said Harris. "To me, that determination to get to the venue and to play in front of those eight people or whatever it is, characterizes Canadian music.
"It's one of the reasons, so much, that I love Canadian music," he said.
There was a message in the conference Q&A: there are international names (like Harris) looking for artists with talent. If those artists are from the East Coast of Canada, fine. Location is no barrier if the talent is there.
"One of the first groups I saw when I got here was the Cottars. I didn't even know the Cottars," said Harris. "So I'll be taking them back to play back home."
While the event included fun moments, such as Harris' reflections on the sea of new music or on interviewing stars like John Lennon, out of 300 seats set out in the Membertou Trade and Convention Centre for the event, only about 150 were filled. The number did not go unnoticed by interviewer LeBlanc, who spoke with The Telegram following the Q&A.
"I will say one thing that has to be rectified down here is - this person is a world leader and I don't see a lot of other artists in this room," said LeBlanc, who re-stated Harris' 13 million listener audience.
"It's a lack of discipline. It's the discipline and, to my mind, anyone that is showcasing here or say is in a songwriters' circle, other than say Gordie Sampson, people like that... every one of them should have been in this room."
"The Maritimes is an interesting place. You can put a guitar pole here or you can put a songwriter's circle and you'll have 600 people in this room. I'm sorry- what needs to built here is an infrastructure. There's no infrastructure in Atlantic Canada. There's no infrastructure of managers, there's no infrastructure of agents. I can go on and on and on and on. Until that changes, nothing is going to change down here," LeBlanc said.
He added that he did feel the East Coast Music Association organizers had done their part for the artists and industry representatives and deserved congratulations for their level of work.
While the room may not have been full, there was more than an audience of 150. The keynote Q&A, as well as select conference events throughout the weekend, are being broadcast live online at: www.marcatodigital.com/ecma.
Meanwhile, Harris said he doesn't regionalize in his listening and could not say if he had taken in any Newfoundland and Labrador while attending ECMA events. However, he did say he had heard of The Once and was hoping to take in some of their music, as well as some Amelia Curran.
As for a recommendation from his side of the pond, Harris suggested audiences here have a listen to 19-year old Terry Emm and see what they think. He also welcomed all East Coast artists to send their albums to Bob Harris at the BBC.
afitzpatrick@thetelegram.com

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Online ECMA Conference Sessions (Saturday)

10:45 a.m. - Keynote Address Presentation - Bob Harris, BBC 2 - Membertou Trade and Convention Centre

3 p.m. - DIY Indie Town Hall - 10 Things An Indie Band Should Be Doing Right Now - Membertou Trade and Convention Centre

4:30 p.m. - Touring Down Under 'Sydney Meets Sydney' - A Case Study on Australia - Membertou Trade and Convention Centre

All listed conference sessions are available to watch live online at: www.marcatodigital.com/ecma.

Please note that some sessions (including this morning's keynote address) have been late in starting. If you go to the broadcast page and the event is not streaming, it may be due to a delay, so it is recommended you wait a few minutes and then try the site again.

Weblink:
www.marcatodigital.com/ecma
www.ecma.ca
www.youtube.com (Search: Ole Grey Whistle Test for clips featuring artists from David Bowie to Bob Dylan)