Oh it can tiresome, as an artist and fan of the arts, that so many opportunities are now based on a voting process. Festivals, events, awards, tours that would have previously been programmed or awarded by an artistic director, jury and/or peers are now often subject to the popularity contest model.
I’m all for showing support, but it’s not hard to see the flaws in a system that isn’t basing its selections on merit anymore. A lot of artists are just too busy touring and making music to always be online, campaigning for the latest pick-me opportunity, which ultimately, often, really only serves as advertising for the event. Some great artists do also happen to be great at rallying the vote. But some shitty artists are even better at it.
I could rant further. But you know.
THEN comes the CBC and Green Couch Productions with Tracks on Tracks, their modern day version of Festival Express, and they’re selecting artists from the West Coast how? By a voting process!
Since this one is for the CBC (<3) and involves trains for goodness sake (also <3) I am putting it forward. Yup, this by-vote opportunity gets my vote. The good thing here is that you can pick three artists, and the long list they’ve compiled, that I am grateful to be on, is a fine list indeed.
So please do vote for me, if you could, and two others that you’d like to see enjoy this musical adventure!