I think I would like to add my 2 cents worth (Oops, the Canadian
government is getting rid of pennies!) to this subject.  I have been
a fairly new organ grinder and have also been a North American rep for
Deleika organs in Canada and the USA.

Let's cover the main subject.  I have tried to get hired by a variety
of sources.  The crank-organ being a somewhat German instrument,
I approached the Provincial German-Canadian Association and regional
associations about the possibility of playing at some of their venues.
The biggest one is the Alberta Heritage Festival, the largest of its
kind in this province.

I have been turned down twice in favour of a two-piece band.  I also
offered to play at one of the German clubs for my supper and was turned
down.  I even offered to play for free at the Heritage Festival in
return for lunch and a parking space and never got the courtesy of a
reply.

I have contacted just about every major Edmonton and Calgary German
make car dealer -- VW, Porsche, BMW, Mercedes Benz -- and offered my
services for any fall Oktoberfest of Savings event they may have.
Not one reply!

There were five main German/Austrian restaurants I sent info to as
they also have entertainment during Oktoberfest and at other times of
the year.  Nothing, and one of them is a well know eatery/lounge where
everyone dresses up in Lederhosen and Dirndls.

Speaking of which, I bought my own black embroidered Lederhosen and
a grey pair, along with several Tracht [traditional costume] shirts, the
grey socks with the green tops and a couple of genuine German hats and
red Alpine ties just so that I look the part.  Try buying this stuff --
it isn't cheap!

So in order to get out there and get not only get hired to play but
hopefully enough exposure to those who know what a street is, I turned
to places where large groups gather: farmer's markets.

The biggest one is the outdoor St. Albert market which annually sees
over 100,000 people attend.  They don't pay for entertainment but will
allow you to "busk".  Well, first of all I was put on a schedule to
attend and over the course of the summer I attended at maybe eight of
them, dressed to the nines in Bavarian Tracht.  Some days I barely made
enough coin to cover my gas and supper, and other times I came home
with $75 to $100 in my pocket after four hours of driving and five
hours of playing.

I got a lot of good comments and some welcome smiles and a few people
stopped because they hadn't heard a street organ "since I was stationed
in Europe" or "since I grew up in the old country!"  A few asked what
I would charge to attend at various functions around the area, and when
I told them what my for hire rate is, they responded by saying that it
was out of their budget range.  Most budgets were "expenses" for a
charity organization.  They don't realize that some of us have eight
to ten thousand dollars invested in this.

I also tried other big markets, like the one in Red Deer where they
have over 120 vendors each Saturday.  Also a busking deal and the same
typical response from attendees.  That is a four hour drive from here
and they start at 8 a.m. so I drove down the night before and stayed in
a cheap motel so I could get to the market and hopefully a prime spot.
I did worse there than I did the other place.

I also tried several other well known farmers markets and at two of
them they at least shelled out $50 so that my gas was covered, but they
were all a four-hour drive away from me, and in communities of less
than 2000 people.

Locally I played at a German event on Canada Day.  I offered my services
again because of the function and the hopes of recognition.  It was only
fifty miles away and earned less than $20 in "tips" and a "thank you"
for coming.   Nothing else came of it.

I even applied to the Calgary Stampede and to the Oktoberfest event at
the Spruce Meadows Equestrian place.  Nice thank you but no thank you
replies.  I spent the last two years with ads in the German language
newspaper.  Notta.

So I did all of that because I was committed to try and sell some of
these organs here.  That hasn't happened yet.  The economies as stated
in other responses make things tight, especially for clubs and
associations who rely on membership fees and attendance at functions to
survive, and some of them are just holding their own.  They don't have
the extra dollars to shell out for a luxury item.

Ordinary people don't have that type of money to buy something that
will sit in their play rooms at home.  The car dealers and the
restaurants don't want to lay out anything that hasn't been tried yet
and will cost them money.

I don't know about you, but the well runs dry at home too and it's
costly to drive to places in hopes someone will take advantage of your
donated time.  I'm going to try again this summer, and after that,
well...

Good luck to those who try to get hired and if something works, let me
know, I've still got a summer ahead of me.

Carlo Klemm
Alberta, Canada
chklemm@telus.net.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]