FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 1999. All Rights Reserved
| Music by Martin Kemp Laura Love with guests For a very long time I used to think that history was kind of boring. At Redneck High in rural Alberta, the subject of history seemed little more than the non-analytical memorization of dates that, well, had already happened. So what’s the point? Ah, Antarctic’s Great Toilet War took place in 1905, not 1906. That explains everything. Later, the subject became much more fascinating when I realized that history is something we own. It may be no Great Toilet War of 1905 (or was it 1906?), but our personal history is something that, rich or poor, belongs to each of us. During a recent telephone conversation with multi-faceted folk artist Laura Love, it became clear that although we each have our own pasts, some history can’t be escaped, while some history will do its damnedest to avoid us. For Seattle-based Love, its been a bit of both. As she and her band prepare to play an April 24th show at MacEwan Hall, she reflects back to a year-and-a-half ago, to an ill-fated Calgary show that history itself cancelled. Love explains that a "nasty little marijuana bust in 1991" compelled officers to turn her away from the Canuck border in the autumn of 1997, on her way to Calgary. "I was growing pot in my basement to make ends meet," she reflects. "I said to myself, ‘I’d really like to make a living at music, but right now I’m making a living in my basement.’ I looked at all my starving musician friends and I said, ‘God, there is no money in music; I don’t think I could ever pay the rent with that.’ So I was growing some pot and got busted. "It’s a damn shame – I was a great grower of pot," bemoans Love. "I never was a consumer – I was a failure at smoking pot – but I was very good at growing it. I felt like I was really providing a valuable service to my friends who liked it. I grow all of my own vegetables, and it is just another one of the plants in the garden as far as I’m concerned." Love maintains she "has always been forthcoming" about her conviction when crossing the border. "They asked me when I was coming over if I’d ever had ever had any convictions, and I said ‘Yes.’ And they just decided that I was inadmissible." Since then, Love has obtained a Federal Minister’s Permit, which makes it easier for her enter the country. "It just says I’m not a risk and I’m not going to peddle pot in Canada," she says. "And you can damn well bet I’m not going to peddle pot in the United States either, for what it cost me." History again caught up with Love, or perhaps it was the other way around, when she found her mother this past fall after not being able to locate her since 1982. "It turns out she has been living in Colorado Springs for the past 14 years," she says. "She had a hard life and was homeless for a couple of years, living outdoors. My sister had just bought a computer and did a search for my mom, with all the dates and things she remembered. One match came up and it was my mother. I wrote immediately and got a letter back immediately. I went down there and there she was." Finally, Love and her band re-visited history by returning to their roots as an independent act, after they were released from Mercury’s roster when Seagrams bought the label. They band was dropped just after releasing their latest effort, Shum Tickey, a wild romp through a wide range of musical styles, from world music to rap. Love is optimistic about returning to her independent roots. "I was just so sick of hearing people from this new corporation talk about numbers and demographics," she says. "What the hell does that have to do with music and having an exchange with people? Those things work out just fine if you’re not completely driven by them. "Of course I want to take care of my band the best I can and make them as comfortable as possible, but for God’s sakes, we’re not all about chasing the buck all the time. I mean, if that’s their job, then they need to do it without us. And now I feel like, ahhh, this is wonderful." Finding herself without a label, Laura Love feels just as successful as when she was first signed to Mercury. After putting down roots of her own on the West Coast, she sees the ability to have a life outside of music as a big indication of success. "Because we are obscure in the big picture, we do have a lot of time at home with the family and the cats and the gardening and the bees. To me, that is quality of life and the definition of success." |
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