Windsor musicians long for border reopening, live indoor performances
Russ Macklem and Michael Palazzolo make up one half of the band, 'United.'
But right now, their performing options are limited.
"We're four world class musicians and we're busking in a parking lot. Like that's what we've been reduced to," says Macklem, who has a PhD in music.
In Step 2 of Ontario's reopening framework, musicians are permitted to perform outdoors to limited crowds.
But the pace of the steps is moving too slowly for the bandmates.
"I don't like how they can dictate everything about my life to the point of me making no money as a result of it," says Palazzolo.
The bassist has toured the world with famous jazz keyboardist Bob James and was playing four to five gigs a week in Detroit.
"I was on my way to quite a good living," Palazzolo recalls. "And then the pandemic hit and everything went downhill."
Along with that, Palazzolo says he’s suffered bouts of anxiety, depression and extreme loneliness – disconnected from his bass instructor stateside.
Not only does the quartet of Macklem, Palazzolo, drummer Kevin Venney and Kevin Grenier miss the money, they miss their friends and they miss entertaining.
"I miss everybody in Detroit. I miss everybody in America," says Palazzolo. "I miss playing gigs for people, I miss playing to people."
Their band has recently started playing again at the Phog Lounge parking lot -- for tips.
Macklem is anxiously awaiting Step 3 in Ontario, which will allow indoor performances.
But what he really wants is to get across the border.
"I'm getting calls to do gigs, I can't take them. The border's not open," Macklem says. "The government has no answers on when the border will be available for those who work in the United States in our industry."
Until then, the musicians will slug it out in the parking lot hoping for better times ahead.
"It feels certainly like we got the short end of the stick on this one," Palazzolo says.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
Doctors visiting a Gaza hospital are stunned by the war's toll on Palestinian children
An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was prepared for the worst. But the gruesome impact Israel’s war against Hamas is having on Palestinian children still left them stunned.
Premiers not being truthful about carbon tax, Trudeau says while sparks fly in Ottawa
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Conservative premiers across the country are 'not telling the truth' when it comes to the carbon tax. Trudeau's comments came as fresh sparks were flying in Ottawa at a recalled House of Commons committee.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
'Ninja,' Twitch's biggest streamer, is diagnosed with skin cancer
American gamer and Twitch superstar, Tyler 'Ninja' Blevins, revealed he was diagnosed with melanoma, a form of skin cancer.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Here's what Trudeau says the upcoming federal budget will offer renters
The federal government will create a new 'Canadian Renters' Bill of Rights,' which would require landlords to disclose their properties' rental price history to prospective tenants.