Alan Doyle is paying close attention to this federal election campaign.
The lead singer and founding member of Great Big Sea recently sat down with Tom Clark to talk about an issue he feels is not getting the attention it deserves from the three major parties: support for the arts.
“The thing that I’m trying to hear from each of the leaders in each of the parties is what their stance is on supporting the arts, and in particular, you know, again from my background, the live performing arts and in particular, music,” Doyle said.
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“I think it’s one of the things that’s very undervalued and underestimated in our country … sometimes it’s really tough to make the argument to government that a healthy music industry … but a healthy music industry in particular, is a huge economic engine for a place.”
In a town like St. John’s, he added, the music industry is an enormous tourist draw, and local musicians also give back to the community by participating in charity events.
“Imagine two cities that you probably know well: Imagine St. John’s Newfoundland and just to pick a foreign one, pick New Orleans, Louisiana,” Doyle noted. “Imagine those two towns without music. I mean, would you go?”
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