Now that I'm in the B.C. Entertainment Hall of Fame, anybody who wants to talk to me must bow or curtsy first.

I'm still coming to terms with the honour. It hasn't changed my life but it, and several other related episodes, has caused me to look back on my career, to the extent I now know when I've asked rock musicians what it's like to enter the Juno Hall Of Fame how it feels.

The most recent inductee was Loverboy, whose singer, Mike Reno, was ambivalent at best. On the one hand, he was flattered by the recognition. On the other, the implication is that your career is over and you might as well be dead. Any creative person believes their best and most important work is still ahead of them, not behind.

Realistically, circumstances have forced me to think that maybe my best and most important work IS behind me. To a certain extent this isn't my fault, but the way society has changed.

When told I was inducted to the B.C. Entertainment, I asked what this meant. Among the answers were, "You're being recognized for a body of work ," and for "your perspective," and one of the recurring sentiments of many cards, emails and other sorts of congratulations, was that I was a supporter of local music.

This last wasn't a crusade on my part. When I started in the 70s, there was independent recording and local music was becoming an industry with bands touring, managers emerging and recording studios beginning to get a reputation.  I was in the right place at the right time and grew with the community. I felt there was a lot going on that people should know about. It seemed natural to use whatever position I had at the Georgia Straight and then The Province to report on this activity. Eventually, it became a priority and I embarked on a few things (battles of the bands, the Demolisten and Soundproof shows) that attempted to promote local music and give it exposure.

It is as important today as ever, perhaps moreso. There are more bands, more recording, more touring, more options. At the same time, it's getting harder to get exposure. Thus my reasoning remains the same: People should know about this.

At one time, record reviews performed a different purpose. Now, their main value is exposure. Anybody can hear any band's music through iTunes, the band's own website or other options and make up their own mind. They don't need a review. Yet, if the review makes the record sound interesting, it might lead the reader to look up the record. With so many records out now, the review serves the purpose of a guide.Without it, the reader might have never known the record existed.

There are two reasons why I've been relatively quiet the last decade. One is that my stroke has caused me to concentrate on recovery. The stroke has robbed me of the energy I might have put into incentives for local music. Sorry.

The other is that the nature of music has altered. Rock or pop music isn't the saviour it once was thought to be. It's become our environment rather than the soundtrack. Most of the history has been written. The last really big event driven by rock was Live Aid and that was in 1985. There have been events since but these follow the blueprint of Live Aid and haven't had as great an impact.

Everyone knows how to make a record, a concert tour has predictable production values, and so, if there is a shake up due, it'll have to be earth shattering to upset a world in which technology rules and everything has been researched thoroughly. There isn't room for history.

Nobody wants to be a cultural leader.  Who'd want to be? The media scrutinize every move and are quick to see hypocrisy. Politicians have as much understanding of rock as they ever did. The nearest figures to be galvanizers or motivators are U2 and Bruce Springsteen, both now having a 30 year career. For them, the Hall Of Fame awaits.

To his credit, U2's Bono is using his power to make a positive difference, but at the risk of alienating fans. Springsteen similarly is a power but he isn't a force. When he speaks, people listen, but he doesn't sway them.

To anyone wondering about the cause of all this reflection, the B.C Entertainment Hall Of Fame simply is a form of recognition for long service. In my case, music reviewers burn out regularly. Too much responsibility, too much pressure. I've outlasted a lot of them. I have no particular secret for lasting 35 years. Partly, I'm stubborn. If I like something, I stick with it. Maybe I lack imagination.

Everyday is different to me even if the challenges are the same. Writing a story is a little like writing a song. It's creative. Like writing a song, some stories are better than others, but you always try to instill them with insight and experience.

The Hall induction took place April 19 at the Orpheum. We inductees, 10 of us, and "pioneers" or their survivors, were seated on an Orpheum stairway. From there, each inductee, was introduced, made a speech, was given a plaque, a rose and a pin. We posed for a photograph, to be hung in the Orpheum hall, and when the Granville street work is done, each inductee's star will be planted on the street next to the 189 or so previous inductees and the public can butt out cigarettes on us. Dreams are made of this.