beachesbluesfest.com

History

Bussin's Blues Hits Bad Note With Beachers
By Leroy St. Germaine

Why has city councilor Sandra Bussin always been "difficult" when we have worked so hard, year after year, to put together a great Blues Fest?

Maybe it was her association with former councilor Tom Jacobek who also was "difficult", to the point of telling us that there were no three-day special event permits, even though we knew that there were. Heck!!? That was back in 2000, and Tommy's still shooting it faster than the bull makes it.

Sandra Bussin is as likely to act on the wishes of her constituents, as Tom is likely to be Toronto's next mayor. After all, this is the same Sandra Bussin who wanted a large maple tree, well loved by the neighbourhood, removed from the Danforth Avenue property of a resident who had the audacity to support a political opponent of hers.

Allow us to recount the roadblocks and hurdles that kept getting higher and higher along a hidden highway of sweetheart deals, cronyism, secret cabals and favors owed:

YEAR ONE

I, Leroy St. Germaine, am a lover of the blues. I was approached by the Blue Day Network, a supposed charity that had been approved and granted an event permit by City Hall. But City Hall didn't do its homework and it was we that uncovered the questionable past (Ya don't wanna know!!) of this so-called "promoter." I picked up the pieces and ran with the beach ball to create our beloved Beaches Blues Fest.

YEAR TWO

I loved this one! In the street! Barrels of food for the Food Bank! Blues you can use!!! We wanted to do it along Queen St., but Jacobek told me I had to check with the producer of the Jazz Fest? (Whoa! Hang on Sloopy! Who be running the joint up in here???). We soon realized that Queen Street in the Beaches was "sewn-up" by this aforementioned cabal. Nevertheless, after a slew of runarounds and fancy footwork from Toronto Parks and Recreation honcho Pat Profiti and our cagey councilor Tom, we transformed Kingston Road into a rockin' Blues Street Fest. Organized in just four weeks, the second annual Beaches Blues Fest was a rocking success, no thanks to Tommy and his "cronies". We knew the hurdles would be raised even higher in the future.

YEAR THREE

This year we inquired to Metro Parks and Recreation instead of Toronto Parks and Recreation after learning that Metro, as opposed to Toronto, would issue a permit to a private citizen, providing there is no profit. (No Vendors, no souveniers, no bands selling C.D.'s, and ?gulp!? no beer garden!!!) Of course, T.O. Parks and Recs' Pat Profiti or Tom could have made these policy distinctions clearer to us, but failed to do so. Anyway, we brought in the Food Bank so we could again support a great cause. It rained and was kind of windy, so four bands had to cancel their performances. I guess that's why they call it the blues.

YEAR FOUR
Enter Branch #1 Royal Canadian Legion, who has helped our community in countless ways for many years. But that didn't stop Pat Profiti from later informing us that there had been complaints. We requested copies of these so-called "complaints", but to this day, they have not materialized. Not to mention that somebody at City Hall tried to discourage the Legion from participating. Nice Try!!! This time we rented ten generators and spread the bands around Ashbridge's Bay, 1,500 feet from any residence. All had a fantastic time! That's why we were surprised when we were put on notice by City Hall about noise complaints. We knew that the tons of citizen complaints about the Jazz Fest always fell on deaf ears. Why the double standard? Read on. The plot thickens.

YEAR FIVE

Welcome to the new MEGACITY!!! Ashbridges Bay Park now falls under the jurisdiction of Toronto Parks and Rec and its Pat Profiti. He immediately reminded us about last year's noise complaints from the Yacht Club. Complete Balderdash!!! We had witnesses at the Yacht Club who stated that they heard nothing. We were then informed that we will share the beach with another event named the Beaches Celebrity Bash, which would include many vendors and guest speakers such as Pin Ball Clemons and other sports celebrities.

YEAR SIX

A two-day Fest? Wanted three, but more about that later.
DAY ONE- The Sky is Crying. Rained-out.
DAY TWO- Blue Skies, Nothin' But Blue Skies.

The CC55 Jazzers opened the show. These kids were great and exemplify the best in community spirit. And then Juneau Award winner Cheryl Lescomb exploded onto the stage in an amazing performance that caught the audience by surprise. Thousands of music lovers were present when Wildechilde hit the stage. Wildechilde spent the next two hours signing autographs and her CD was the hottest selling item at the Fest! Everybody had a great day dancing to the sounds of rockin' blues. The DAY ONE "rain-out" really soaked the Blues Fest financially, so we were hellbound to stage a three-day fest next year. Hellbound indeed.

YEAR SEVEN

Muddy Waters once said," The Blues is an exorcism", and that's just what we could have used to drive away the unwanted spirits that haunted us in Year Seven. Being reasonable, we requested three days down at Ashbridge's Bay Park AND a Street Fest on Queen Street. Tommy, who now shared office with our current councilor, Sandra Bussin, told us that we didn't need to take up a petition on Queen Street, as we had to for the Kingston Road Street Fest in Year Two. He sent us straight over to the Ashbridge's Bay Merchants Association, because we had enlisted the Hep-C Society of Canada to be the benefactor of the 7th Annual Blues Fest. (250,000 Canadians were affected by the tainted blood scandal, including my brother Ken, who eventually succumbed to the disease). Well, the Merchants Association sent us back to Tom, who, in turn, sent us back to them. We were trapped in a "mug's game". And our request for three days down at Ashbridge's Bay? Tommy busted us down to two days, and he wanted the concert time reduced from 12 hours a day to six hours a day. One final screeching note: Mayor Mel, who has blamed many of his follies, foibles and gaffes on his Hep-C, had little interest in helping the Hep-C Society of Canada.

YEAR EIGHT
EXTRA! EXTRA! BUSSIN AND BROOM LAND ON BEACHES BLUES FEST!

Councilor Sandra Bussin squashes, vetoes, preempts and crushes any chance for the Beaches Blues Fest from seeing one grain of sand. A real slap in the face to the local charities that have benefited from these events. That didn't stop us from staging the Eighth Annual Beaches Blues Fest at the magnificent Church at Berkeley, the best venue in the East End. The prolific Michael Hasek really set the mood as his Dobro guitar echoed through the chapel. A religious experience. But we still haven't exorcised those forces that have plagued us over these eight years. Keep the faith.

YEAR NINE

MISSION STATEMENT: The Beaches Blues Fest is a local non-profit corporation dedicated to producing performing arts festivals. The purpose is to educate and advance the public's understanding and appreciation of the arts while funding worthy causes. Years three, four, five and six were blessed with the warmth of the sun at Ashbridge's Bay, but "empty suit" Tom Jacobek and our "bewitching" current councilor, Sandra Bussin, would have no more of this fun event because I'm not one of their "cronies". (Heck, I'd rather hang out with Ricky and Bubbles). We got down on our knees and prayed at the Church at Berkeley for the 7th and 8th Annual Beaches Blues Fests. In this Ninth year, the hurdles were raised so high that we decided to stage the Fest at East Lynn Park, which is on the Danforth near Woodbine Ave. All of the merchants in the area were thrilled to sign our petition and a Street Fest was also seriously discussed. The councilor from East York (North side of the Danforth) approved of the Fest, but had to wait for Sandra Bussin's approval. (South side of the Danforth). Guess what? Sandra eventually had some lackey call to inform us that the event was "inappropriate". THE CAULDRON HAD FINALLY BOILED OVER!!!

YEAR TEN

Mission accomplished!! A THREE DAY Outdoor Event! Check back later for more details.

The Beaches Blues Fest would like to thank all of the individual musical artists and bands that have contributed their time and talent to make the Fest a success in our first ten years.

They are:

* Cheryl Lescomb

* Thunder Cannon

* Karen Lee Wilde

* Rusty Zipper

* Michael Hasek

* Handsome Devils

* Frank Wilkes

* Heavy Wood

* Funken' Hippies

* RattleSnake Shake

* Alek Clawson

* More Gravy

* CC55 Jazzers

* Johnny Humor

* Dave Davies

* Derek Atherton

* Snookie Tynes

* Dave the Cat

* The Professionals

* Blue Willow

* Martin Fisher

* Simon Genest

* Brendan Burdick

* Lee Van Leer

* Wayne St. John

* Throwaways

* Red Rain

* Midnite Walk

* Full House

* Carson Downey Band

* Big Trouble

* John Bell

* Nationals

* Buzz Upshaw

* Booze Brothers

* Crossfire

* Danny Blue

* C.C. Ryder

* John Wilkes

* Spandex Jay

* Loco Zydeco

* Mad Housewives

* Ursula Hickey

* Sadie-T

* Ashley MacIsaac

* Michael Pickett

* Robbie Rox

* Cindy Booth

* Kim Dolittle

* Liz Tilden

* Kenny Forde

* The Spy

* Meltdown

* Tynes 4

* Rick Washbrook

* Soulmouth

* Norm Hacking

* Vice Lords

* Danny Brooks

* Jam Sandwich

* Rob Livingstone

* Peter Hasek

* John Bell

* Mike McKenna

* Slidewinder

* Da Blooze

* Three Ton Truck

* The Aces

* Funky Funk Band

* Blue Dragon

* Stone Melodies

* Frank Russell

* Chris Hume

* Frank Cosentino

* Jake Jacobs

* Bobby Cleveland

* Sandy Lee

* Jim Heineman

* Jono Grant

* John Erlendson

* Michel Ploude

* John Erlendsen

* James Carroll

* John Huntley

* John Kirkley

* Bob Erlendsen

* Laura Hubert

* Bob Sheppard

* Benny Saunders

* Johnny Wright

* The Elites

* Dark Hollow

* Julien Fouth

* Oil Can Harry

* Swampdawgs

* Patrick Kerr

* Frank Ross

* Bob Cats

* Jani Lauzon

* Bob Milne

* Rocket 88

* King Biscuit Boy

* Earrl

* Vox Violins

* Jake and the Blue Midnights

* Dave Aplin

* Chris Watson

* Mark Clifford

* Beth Bartley

* Don Bowles

* David Bacha

* Doug Norquay

* Straight Ahead

* Brian Cober

* Paul McNamara

* Nick Kent

* Wailin' Wally Modesti

* Jugmilk Juice

* Kobi Akwaa

* Bo Bosiak

* Burning Squirrel

* Muddy Guys

* Jay Vettro

* Hidden Agenda

* H To Oh!

* Benny Saunders

* Randy Dawson

* Bob Jenkins

* Simon Katz

* Shady Blues

* Greg Pilo

* Franco Ross

* Belke Fray

* Adam and Quincy

* Derick E. Lindo

* Earshot

* Byron Barwick

* Wedgie the Clown

* Darlene van Zweeden

* Scarecrow

* Gord Wilkes

* Steve Spring

* Terry Benoit

* Pat Ryan

* Kenny Barker

* Earshot

* Monarch Park Jazz Choir

* Jake and the Blue Midnights

* Hugh Brockey Band

* Nick Fothergill

* Shawn Flannigan

* Patrick Kerr

* Truth

* Pete Fariger

Some bands are not on this listing. Fortunately, this is not the completed list, and will be updated soon. If your band is not listed here and should be, you can contact us or wait patiently until we update this site on our own.

If scanning this list seemed long and exhausting, try being the poor sap that had to compile this list from 10 years of programs. On that note, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff of Beaches Blues Fest for their tireless efforts over the last ten years.

Ryan Lee,

Office Manager.