[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2jZQRzKuI0]YouTube - Dan Sheridan - Big Money - Aspen, CO[/ame]
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Stewart Oksenhorn, The Aspen Times
Big Money Gets Folk Singer Fired
On his 2003 album Recycle, Aspen singer-songwriter Dan Sheridan included a song of his, Big Money, that took aim at the damaging effects that wealth has had on Aspen: mini-castles protected by impenetrable fences, the pushing out of the working class. After patron requested he sing Big Money, Sheridan was summarily dismissed from his job as an après-ski entertainer at Sneaky's Tavern, a Snowmass Village spot owned by the Aspen Skiing Co. It just so happened, an executive of Ski Co. was in the audience and he didn't appreciate the sentiment of the song. [The Aspen Times]
Mr. Sheridan was fired for singing about a truth that cannot be denied. Anyone who has spent longer than a week in a mountain town knows how devastating wealth is to the local population. And, it should come as no surprise to any big spender how much locals love to hate how the beauty of their natural surroundings is also the cross they have to bear. However much wealth supports the very basic lives most ski town people live, wealth takes away far more in higher property taxes, higher costs of living, destruction of the environment, restricted access to formerly public land, and community. In Aspen, real estate has become so expensive that the city provides subsidized housing for people who work regular jobs in town. Nonetheless, it's a cycle that will never be broken. Money will always be welcomed by local governments and the simple needs of their citizens will always play second fiddle to the almighty dollar.
The addendum to this story is that the outrage over Sheridan's firing led to a blizzard of press from news articles to interviews which put enough pressure on Ski Co. to relent and offer their apologies for having him dismissed. He has been allowed to return to Sneaky's Tavern, but has not taken them up on the offer.
Mr. Sheridan, as a former ski instructor and displaced ski bum, you have my everlasting respect
~S~
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Stewart Oksenhorn, The Aspen Times
Big Money Gets Folk Singer Fired
On his 2003 album Recycle, Aspen singer-songwriter Dan Sheridan included a song of his, Big Money, that took aim at the damaging effects that wealth has had on Aspen: mini-castles protected by impenetrable fences, the pushing out of the working class. After patron requested he sing Big Money, Sheridan was summarily dismissed from his job as an après-ski entertainer at Sneaky's Tavern, a Snowmass Village spot owned by the Aspen Skiing Co. It just so happened, an executive of Ski Co. was in the audience and he didn't appreciate the sentiment of the song. [The Aspen Times]
Mr. Sheridan was fired for singing about a truth that cannot be denied. Anyone who has spent longer than a week in a mountain town knows how devastating wealth is to the local population. And, it should come as no surprise to any big spender how much locals love to hate how the beauty of their natural surroundings is also the cross they have to bear. However much wealth supports the very basic lives most ski town people live, wealth takes away far more in higher property taxes, higher costs of living, destruction of the environment, restricted access to formerly public land, and community. In Aspen, real estate has become so expensive that the city provides subsidized housing for people who work regular jobs in town. Nonetheless, it's a cycle that will never be broken. Money will always be welcomed by local governments and the simple needs of their citizens will always play second fiddle to the almighty dollar.
The addendum to this story is that the outrage over Sheridan's firing led to a blizzard of press from news articles to interviews which put enough pressure on Ski Co. to relent and offer their apologies for having him dismissed. He has been allowed to return to Sneaky's Tavern, but has not taken them up on the offer.
Mr. Sheridan, as a former ski instructor and displaced ski bum, you have my everlasting respect
~S~
