Last year at St Patricks Day I ran into JD Weathervain in a little Irish pub. Except he was semi-retired. In the guise of an old beatnik (there are no young beatniks of course) named Harvey, who happens to have practically owned the music business in Ottawa for forty years or so. He owned the legendary Le Hibou coffeehouse from the late 50's through early 70's, owned a chain of record stores which have long since disappeared, and a concert-booking business which brought major rock acts to this city. Then in the late 70's he started an initially progressive FM rock station, which has been a very formatted classic rock station for about ten years, and he sold it to a large media conglomerate a few years back.

So, in short, he went from being a folk music impresario to a retailer, rock music businessman, then media mogul and finally "retro sellout". I've met him several times, some when I was a cab driver, and also because he is a friend of a friend of mine. I'm inclined to cut him some slack for some reason, probably because he is a rather pleasant person with no top hat or pretensions. The only thing I really hold against him (I don't know the inside story) is that in the mid-90's he fired his old friend Brian Murphy, who as a guy that had worked with him as a DJ and concert emcee since the 60's (maybe 50's for all I know), who was the heart and soul of the radio station with his great knowledge for 60's/70's rock and blues which made his Sunday radio show a must-listen. Guess Brian didn't fit the demographic anymore.

Anyway, I was chatting with Harvey, who has been so involved with the music scene without ever being any kind of a performer, and he told me he's taken up Irish whistle in his old age!

Haven't seen him at a session yet, but I don't go to many.

The pub we were in, by the way, provides one free pint per player (scrupulously monitored) on session night. Which is what might be called a minimum standard for civilized behaviour. One thing in common with Piers' scenario is that you can't negotiate free beer with the bartender, you have to go to the owner.