The semi-annual Membership Meeting for Local 1000 will be held on Saturday, Nov. 13th, at 4:30 pm at NERFA, the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance in Kerhonkson, NY (Location at the conference TBD).

The election of two open seats for the Executive Board will be on the agenda for that meeting.  The positions of Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer will be open.

Those members wishing to nominate themselves or another member-in-good-standing may do so by submitting these names to the Secretary-Treasurer by mail or email, to be received no later than 5 pm EST on Nov. 12th.  Nominations from the floor of the meeting are also accepted.

Local 1000 will be hosting a panel at 11:15 am on Saturday at NERFA entitled:  ”Navigating the Music Business Through Hard Times” to be hosted by Ken Whiteley, John O’Connor, Tret Fure and Spook Handy.  Thanks to Debra Cowan for organizing this.

The Showcase Free Zone (SFZ) will be hosted during the Private Guerilla Showcase hours as well.  Many times we hear that the SFZ is “the highlight of the conference” for participants.  Tret Fure will organize this.

Brothers and Sisters,

We have lots of ways to help us build our pride and membership in our union and one of those ways it to celebrate together!

Some great news to pass on:

Local 1000 members Sue Passmore, Caroline Brooks and Keri Ough (The Good Lovelies) won a JUNO for Best Roots Album and Group!  High Five!

Faith Petric, Peggy Seeger, Greg Artzner & Terry Leonino (Magpie), President John McCutcheon and Holly Near are all quoted in Part II ofSingOut! Magazine’s 60 for 60 (60 people reflecting on the folk world in honor of SingOut!’s 60th anniversary.

Members Jeni & Billy (Longing for Heaven), Si Kahn (Courage), Elise Witt (Valise) and Carrie Newcomer (Before and After) all have garnered great reviews in SingOut!’s Summer 2010 issue.

Local 99 in Portland, Oregon, has begun a campaign that has some exciting possibilities for the rest of us.

FAIR TRADE MUSIC is a campaign that utilizes a database to collect the experience of musicians who play in Portland, Oregon to help create an atmosphere of affordable music venues to support both the arts climate and the livelihood of musicians who create that climate.

http://www.fairtrademusicpdx.org/

(from their website:)

“We are asking venue owners in the Portland Metro region to partner with the Fair Trade Music campaign and agree to pay equitable wages to performers. There are five levels of participation, so every venue — from the large nightclub to the corner coffeehouse — can join at the level that suits its size and budget. Participation will earn the venue a Fair Trade Music logo to proudly display in a visible location, promotional listings on the Fair Trade Music website directory, and a reputation as a Fair Trade Music Venue.

“One of the problems with playing club gigs is negotiating the standards and practices of each different club. There is no standard business model.” – Dave Fleschner

As our campaign builds, you can support the right of working musicians to receive equitable wages by supporting those venues that have signed on and display the Fair Trade Music logo. Just as fair-trade programs raise the standard of living for otherwise impoverished workers, patronizing Fair Trade Music clubs will help Portland musicians, and help maintain Portland’s vibrant music community.

Well paid, happy, healthy musicians enhance the venue’s atmosphere, customer satisfaction and revenue, ultimately creating an improved music scene, stronger economy and higher quality of life in Portland.”

Go to the Highlander Center Retreat Page for information about his event at the Historic Highlander center outside of Knoxville, Tennessee.

Executive Board member, Debra Cowan, has created a new Facebook Page for Local 1000.  The change in Facebook’s Groups pages led to the move to create a Business Page our our union.

Click the Facebook link above to “like” the page and make it one of your page’s “favorites” in order to help get the word out about Local 1000.  Doing so will let our news posts feed your pages as well.

Congratulations to

DEBRA COWAN and ERIC ERICKSON

on becoming Vested in the AFM Pension!

Welcome new members!

Brodie West

Tom Kaszulanis (Kastle)

Meredith Bates

Tesser (Theresa) Call

Greg Royal

Salvatore Rosselli

Nicolas Cazares

EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND

One of the ways that Local 1000 can work for its members when times get tough is through our Emergency Relief Fund (ERF).

This is funding that has been set aside to provide up to $1000
in a no-interest, pay-it-back-when-you-can loan to members who
demonstrate financial need.

Learn more on the webpage.

By John O’Connor

The June AFM convention brought big changes to our union. Ray Hair, President of the Dallas/Fort Worth Local was elected president of the American Federation of Musicians in a contested election against incumbent Tom Lee. Hair has been a supporter of Local 1000 from its beginnings and is an enthusiastic champion of the organizing model of unionism.

Elected Vice-President in a contest with incumbent Harold Bradley was Bruce Fife from the Portland, OR Local. Fife pioneered the Fair Trade Music campaign in Portland which encourages venues to sign agreements to treat musicians fairly.

Elected to the 5-seat International Executive Board (IEB) were Tino Gagliardi, president of Local 802 in New York City, with a proven record for fighting for democracy and openness in the union and David Pomeroy, who successfully ran a reform ticket to unseat a long-rooted power base in the Nashville Local.

The newly-elected IEB has a majority of members who support organizing and who are likely to lend a helping hand to Local 1000’s agenda, where for the last 9 years the Local stood alienated against the Federation’s leadership, largely due to Lee’s animosity.

In past years there have been upward of 100 resolutions and recommendations that have come to the convention floor. This year there were only 25 recommendations and a paltry 18 resolutions. Among the recommendations was one to raise dues. Both the recommendation and a substitute recommendation failed to pass muster of an unimpressed delegation wary of more-of-the-same.

A tax on special payments which was voted on several conventions ago was lifted. A compromise dues resolution was passed only after new leadership elected, which would reach into the pockets of recording musicians who reached a particular level of income. But any dues increase would have to be ratified by the players affected.

The AFM moves forward with serious financial woes and continued membership decline. But with new leadership who understand that change for the Union in the way of presenting a completely new face to musicians in North America, there is much to be hopeful for.  Local 1000, as the Local that has represented such a face, is likely to have its voice heard by the Federation leadership for the first time in years.

Message from President McCutcheon

Earlier this month, following heavy rains in the Southeast, Tennessee’s Cumberland River rose seventeen feet above flood stage.  It is in one of the largest non-hurricane weather disasters in US history.  The flooded area in and around Nashville, according to Local 1000 member Janis Ian, is “the size of New Jersey.”  Thirty people died. The Grand Old Opry’s stage was under two feet of water.  The Country Music Hall of Fame was flooded.  Symphony Hall was decimated losing not only its performance space but countless instruments.  And, in the wake of the Times Square bombing and the Gulf oil spill, little has found its way into daily news reports.  Some of this is due, undoubtedly, to the extraordinary local efforts at recovery and relief.  But more is needed.

AFM Local 257 in Nashville recently underwent a remarkable shake-up in leadership.  The result is a very new Nashville Local, one that has reached out to Local 1000 in hopes of forging important and fraternal alliances to help create a very new AFM International.  President Dave Pomeroy and I jointly hosted our booth at the International Bluegrass Music Association conference in Nashville last year.  He signed on as a co-sponsor on to our AFM Convention recording resolution.  The ties between the Nashville Local and Local 1000 are more than ones of union solidarity, they are close, they are personal.  We have many members living in and around Nashville.  This disaster is our own.

Local 257 has set up a relief fund at: http://www.nashvillemusicians.org/?pg=news&newsId=36.  We encourage all Local 1000 members to be generous and compassionate in their support of this fund.  Our sisters and brothers in Nashville need our help.  They’ve always been there for us.  Now it’s our turn.

Hi, Here is my playlist for my initial substitute DJ show on WPRB,

I did a special segment on local 1000, talked a little about the local and directed folks to the website.

As it stands now, I will be doing about 4-5 shows including the Sunday night Labor Day Show where 90 percent of the artists will be local 1000 members. Solidarity. Andyblue  (Questions?  andyblue@verizon.net)