This is the story of an American woman Lyndahere (@lyndahere) or Lynda Elstad following a Canadian musician/singer Alan Doyle and the
band he plays with Great Big Sea from Newfoundland. It is a story of
a woman who has followed the singer/musician and the band for over 12
years writing, photographing and filming about her efforts with
little regard for the privacy and rights of the singer/musician and
band or the integrity of their work. The aim of this page originally
was to raise awareness of music piracy, stalking or “criminal
harassment” laws, copyright and privacy laws in Canada, and to
raise awareness of the obsessive fan behaviour associated with Alan
Doyle, Great Big Sea and other celebrities in Canada. Hopefully
Canadian news and current affairs shows will also pick up this
research and do stories to raise awareness of some the issues facing
their artists around the world.
My first introduction to Great Big Sea
was through the Australian actor Russell Crowe. I followed Russell
Crowe on Twitter and he regularly talked about the Canadian band
Great Big Sea and the singer/musician Alan Doyle. The movie Robin
Hood introduced me to the brilliance of Alan Doyle and Great Big Sea.
To be honest I fell in love with them through watching illegally
recorded videos on Youtube and most probably those of @lyndahere. I
saw an illegally downloaded recording of the song ‘Where I Belong’
by Alan Doyle about his native Newfoundland and I was a fan. I have
since brought albums, gone to concerts and met the members of the
band. I also listen to other Canadian bands such the Barenaked Ladies
and The Once Band and a range of other music.
But for every fan like me won through
illegally recorded poor quality homemade videos how many are lost and
how much money do artists lose. I don’t particular enjoy videos of
live recordings where women scream and talk and love the sound of
their own voice more than the artists they pay to watch. They
continually breakdown and the sound is poor and I am out of there. I
have become fussy about what I watch with limited time and money. It
is has only recently that I have begun to gravel with the moral and
ethical implications and the impact that illegally recorded videos
can have on creative artists including financial lose. It is not just
financial lose but spending time away from their family and their
children as they have to travel more. In my research I found that
Canadians are the biggest computer pirates in the world. The fact
that Canadians are among the biggest computer pirates in the world
downloading billions of dollars of illegal material including music
makes Great Big Sea’s success with traditional music more
remarkable.
In the seven months since I started this blog I have read a lot articles on the Internet, books and viewed other sources. They have included information on subjects that arise for example ticket scalping, trading in bootlegged material, cyberbullying, blogging, the paparazzi and others stated in the original introduction on music piracy, copyright and stalking. I have also included some responses to posts on Twitter from @lyndahere.
I have recently started reading research articles on celebrity worship syndrome and different types of fan behaviour including trolling, fandom, groupie behaviour, bootlegging in the movies, and phone hacking. Some topics for example, how musicians communicate with fans via social media such as Facebook were started and I have to return. I have also explored a range of resources including songs, photographs and some very old yet fascinating articles from magazines like the Rolling Stone, Time and the New York Times that provide a historical context for examining fan behaviour. Recently a range of rock and roll stars have released their biographies which provide a look at fan behaviour from their point of view some of which I am currently reading.
The topics are endless as well as fascinating. While the initial blog was started to raise awareness of negative fan behaviour it has extended way beyond that. It has extended way beyond the fan behaviour of @lyndahere with her words and actions inspiring further research only for me to find that she is part of range of people who are involved in my opinion a range of behaviour not always positive towards musicians and celebrities they profess to love. I want this story on the record.
