Canadian born Diana Krall not welcome in Quebec?

June 16, 4:59 PMSwing and Big Band ExaminerRick Busciglio

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   DIANA KRALL

Hard-line Quebec nationalists are trying to stop anglo performers from singing in English at Quebec venues. Here is one current case;

"The acoustic bluegrass music of Montreal's Lake of Stew may be short of fans in the French speaking Quebec province in Canada . The group are being attacked by Quebec hard-liners because the lyrics to most of their songs are in English." The National-Post of Toronto reports that the band has been thrust into the middle of the province's endless language debate, with French-language defenders demanding its removal from a concert next week celebrating Quebec's Fete Nationale.

"After reports on the weekend that Lake of Stew and another anglophone performer, Bloodshot Bill, had been uninvited from the June 23 show, the event's producer said yesterday that no final decision has been made. In an admirable display of backbone, Pierre Thibault, president of C4 Productions, said he is not prepared to feed the anglos to the yapping language zealots.

"One thing is sure. If we are going to hold the event, it will be with the current lineup," Mr. Thibault said. If Lake of Stew and Bloodshot Bill do not take the stage, neither will popular francophone performers Malajube, Vincent Vallieres, Les Dales Hawerchuk and Marie-Pierre Arthur, he said. A final decision on whether the concert goes ahead will be announced tomorrow.

But even though it amounted to about 40 minutes of English music over the course of a six-hour show --and even though Lake of Stew perform some songs in French -- it was too much for the nationalist Societe Saint-Jean-Baptiste.

"Anglophones have been among us for 250 years," she told the Presse Canadienne. "They are Quebecers." It was that sentiment that inspired the organizers of L'Autre St-Jean to invite Lake of Stew and Bloodshot Bill, and it would be wrong if an intolerant few spoiled the party. "The organizers reflect the reality, they reflect the climate here in Quebec, and that's a climate of tolerance," Mr. Rigby said. "We might speak different languages, but culturally we're the same."

What next? Ban Diana Krall? 

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