Year: 2022
Coney Hatch’s UK Tour 40 Years In The Making
By Keith Sharp The invitation came right out of the blue. When Coney Hatch bassist Andy Curran touched base with Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris during his band’s Toronto and Hamilton dates (as part of Maiden’s global Legacy Of The Beast tour), Harris mentioned he would be taking his British Lions’ side project on a brief but intense 11 dates...
Read More
Fleetwood Mac Loses Christine McVie
By Canadian Press Christine McVie, the British-born Fleetwood Mac vocalist, songwriter and keyboard player whose cool, soulful contralto helped define such classics as You Make Loving Fun, Songbird, Everywhere and Don’t Stop, has died at 79. Her death was announced on the band’s social media accounts. No cause of death or other details were immediately provided, but a family statement said she “passed away peacefully at hospital this morning”...
Read More
Canada’s Loverboy Opens For Foreigner Farewell Tour 2023
Foreigner – Photo by Karsten Staiger copy “I Want To Know What Love Is”, “Cold As Ice,” “Hot Blooded,” “Juke Box Hero,” “Urgent,” and no less than five more Top 10 hits. FOREIGNER, the band behind these iconic songs announced the launch of their Farewell Tour. The tour is set to launch on July 6, 2023, at Atlanta’s Ameris Bank...
Read More
Blakk Turns Traumatic Childhood Experience Into Moving Emotional Vignettes
By Keith Sharp Considering Forest Blakk’s traumatic childhood upbringing, it would have come as no surprise if his musical influences had been Thrash Metal or Gangsta Rap. Yet his third EP, ‘Every Little Detail’ contains eight emotional introspective compositions which rank highly on wedding musical theme lists, an image which belies his gruff, tattooed physique. Blakk grew up in Montreal,...
Read More
Workaholic Hugh Dillon Balances New Album And Tour With High Profile TV Roles
Sound Of Music 2019 – Photo by Corey Kelly By Keith Sharp The big question is where the Headstones’ Hugh Dillon finds the time to record a new album,`Flight Risk,’ and plan a 17-date Canadian tour (with two dates in Buffalo) while at the same time completing the second season of The Mayor Of Kingstown TV series with season five...
Read More
Country Thunder Announces Lineup For The Ages Featuring Headliners Keith Urban, Tim Mcgraw, And Jon Pardi!
Following the triumphant return of summer’s country music extravaganza in August of 2022. Country Thunder Alberta returns with a jam-packed, all-star lineup featuring Keith Urban, Tim McGraw, Jon Pardi & so many more. The show returns to Fort Calgary next August 18th to 20th, 2023. “The hiatus from one of our favourite places in the world to play was too long,...
Read More
Steve Norman Keeping Spandau Ballet’s Legacy Alive
By Keith Sharp When you are the co-founder of a supergroup, it’s hard to let the project go, especially when there have been serious reformation attempts throughout the years. So, Spandau Ballet tenor saxophonist Steve Norman continues the band’s legacy, performing band classics like “True,” “Gold,” and “Through The Barricades” which were staple hits during the band’s peak popularity in...
Read More
Madeline Merlo Rides High With ‘Slide’
by Roman Mitz for Open Spaces. Raised in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, near Vancouver, Madeline Merlo has been on a fast track after being discovered on YouTube and signed to a record label at only 18. Radio success, tour dates and awards quickly followed, and she was honoured with the Canadian Country Music Association’s Rising Star Award in 2015. In...
Read More
Love Of Spaghetti Westerns Spawn Novel Single
By Keith Sharp On Saturday November 26th at Toronto’s El Mocambo Tavern and on Sunday November 27th at Mississauga’s Classic Bowl venue, Boys Don’t Cry will open for Spandau Ballet saxophonist Steve Norman. Most musicologists may not recognize the name Boys Don’t Cry or its principal member, Nick Richards but possibly the band’s debut 1986 single; “I Wanna Be A...
Read More
CARAS to induct Nickelback into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at The 52nd Annual JUNO Awards, live on CBC
The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) and CBC announced today that globally renowned rock band Nickelback will be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame as part of The 2023 JUNO Awards. The news was shared during a press conference at Rogers Place in Edmonton, where next year’s award show will be held. Taking place in Nickelback’s home province of...
Read More
Finger Eleven Breaks Records With Quintuple Platinum Certification For Smash Hit Paralyzer
The First Ever Canadian Rock Song To Receive This Outstanding Designation Paralyzer Has Surpassed 700 Million Streams Globally Acclaimed award-winning rock band, Finger Eleven, are celebrating yet another career high with the news of their smash hit single, Paralyzer, receiving a record-breaking certification of Quintuple Platinum. Undoubtedly the band’s most successful single to-date, Paralyzer is also the first ever Canadian rock song to receive Quintuple...
Read More
Barney Bentall’s Cariboo Express Puts A New Twist On Fundraising
By Keith Sharp It was one of those eureka moments. Barney Bentall and his son Dustin were watching a YouTube episode of The Grand Ole Opry when they heard the MC say, “and the next song by Mel Tillis is sponsored by Gillette.” Songs sponsored by corporations, what a novel concept! “It was 2006, we were planning on doing a...
Read More
Crown Lands Unleash Ferocious Cover of the Beatles’ “Come Together” at The Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022
Juno Award-winning powerhouse rock duo Crown Lands – Cody Bowles (vocals and drums) and Kevin Comeau (guitar, bass, and keys)—reveal a raw rendition of The Beatles’ quintessential rally song, “Come Together,” released in partnership with TSN as part of a campaign for the Canadian Men’s National Team as they gear up for the FIFA WORLD CUP QATAR 2022™ starting November 20. Starting today,...
Read More
Canadian indie-rock royalty Sloan releases their remarkable 13th studio album ‘Steady’
Canadian indie-rock royalty Sloan releases their remarkable 13th studio album ‘Steady’ through Murderecords/Universal Music Canada, the country’s leading music company. Steady follows Sloan’s 2018 record 12 and marks the 30th anniversary of their beloved debut record, Smeared, which came out in October 1992. Sloan are one of the rare bands to make it to their 13th album, with all four original members who are equally prolific songwriters and all still working at the...
Read More
Bedouin Soundclash Returns To Their World Beat Roots With New Release ‘We Will Meet In A Hurricane’
By Keith Sharp Like most musicians, the Bedouin Soundclash duo of Jay Malinowski and Eon Sinclair found themselves with time on their hands as they waited out the COVID pandemic, with Sinclair travelling to Malinowski’s Victoria B.C residence to see if they could recapture the World Beat spirit of previous releases. Their previous `Mass’ release in 2019 had seen Bedouin...
Read More
Gord Downie (The Tragically Hip) and Bob Rock (Metallica’s Black Album) release “Lustre Parfait”
More than a decade in the making, Gord Downie, the iconic late frontman of The Tragically Hip, and Bob Rock, the legendary producer perhaps best known for Metallica’s Black Album, today share “Lustre Parfait” – the first song of their long mythologized collaboration. Inspired by their brotherhood in rock n’ roll, “Lustre Parfait” is electrified and resplendent, created in reverence to the magnitude of music itself. Blending poetry and...
Read More
Lights Brings Her PƎP Tour Across Canada
Lights has announced a 13-date Canadian tour that will bring the alt-pop icon to fans from Victoria, BC, through to Montreal, QC, in Winter 2023. The tour supports her critically acclaimed new album PƎP, which arrived earlier this year via Fueled By Ramen. Joining Lights as support on the run will be world-class drag performer Tynomi Banks. Fresh from a headline run...
Read More
33rd SOCAN Awards: Canada’s Music Creators and Publishers’ Road to Gold
SOCAN Cultural Impact Award winner Tom Cochrane celebrated with a star-studded tribute performance. Lighthouse members were inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Drake, OZ, Boi-1da, Allison Russell, Murda Beatz, Keith Power, La Zarra, and High Valley were also honoured. – More than 500 of Canada’s most accomplished songwriters, composers, music publishers and industry leaders gathered tonight for...
Read More
Bryan Adams Premieres “Kick Ass” Official Music Video Featuring Comedy Legend John Cleese
“John was amazing on set; I’ve never worked with someone so woke.” – Bryan Adams Acclaimed singer/songwriter Bryan Adams has launched the new official music video for the song “Kick Ass” off his new studio album, So Happy It Hurts, released earlier this year via BMG. Directed by Adams, the video features an opening monologue by legendary British actor/comedian John Cleese (Monty Python’s Flying Circus). WATCH...
Read More