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Author: Keith Sharp

Former Calgary Herald sportswriter, Editor in Chief of the original Music Express Magazine and follow-up ACCESS magazine. Published author of a book about the Music Express years - "Music Express Rise And Fall Of A Canadian Music Icon"

McBowl Concert Series Has North American Appeal

Keith Sharp
McBowl Concert Series Has North American Appeal
Photo by Andrew Clowater By Keith Sharp The 6th Annual McBowl Concert, in support of Ronald McDonald House promoter Ed Sousa can usually tell how well his annual concert festival is doing by how many tickets are sold nationally and throughout the United States. “Last year, we sold tickets to 20 U.S. states and every province in Canada. So far... Read More

Big Sugar Revisits Classic Release With New Tour And Band Lineup

Keith Sharp
Big Sugar Revisits Classic Release With New Tour And Band Lineup
By Keith Sharp Big Sugar’s Gordie Johnson isn’t prepared to idly sit back and play out a pandemic. Even during an enforced two-year layoff, he was releasing his GJ SoundShack video series and was even able to execute a One Man Big Sugar Show. So as soon as he was able to get back on the road, Johnson jumped at... Read More

Coney Hatch’s UK Tour 40 Years In The Making

Keith Sharp
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

Blakk Turns Traumatic Childhood Experience Into Moving Emotional Vignettes

Keith Sharp
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

Steve Norman Keeping Spandau Ballet’s Legacy Alive

Keith Sharp
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

Love Of Spaghetti Westerns Spawn Novel Single

Keith Sharp
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

Barney Bentall’s Cariboo Express Puts A New Twist On Fundraising

Keith Sharp
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

Bedouin Soundclash Returns To Their World Beat Roots With New Release ‘We Will Meet In A Hurricane’

Keith Sharp
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

Monster Truck’s Warriors Spearhead Arena Rock Revival

Keith Sharp
Monster Truck’s Warriors Spearhead Arena Rock Revival
Photo by James Heaslip Interview By Keith Sharp Suggest to Monster Truck bassist/guitarist Jon Harvey that classic arena rock music is virtually extinct, and he’ll invite you to listen to his band’s latest release titled `Warriors.’ At a time when Ozzy Osbourne’s ‘Patient Number 9’ sits atop Billboard’s North American album charts and even Nickleback has released an incendiary new... Read More

“I Melt With You” Is Modern English’s Calling Card

Keith Sharp
“I Melt With You” Is Modern English’s Calling Card
By Keith Sharp Think of England’s Modern English band, and you inevitably get drawn to one song, “I Melt With You,” which is the featured track off their 1982 second album, ‘After The Snow.’ Band bassist Gary Conroy is well aware of that fact, and phoning in from New Jersey confirms that track has been a constant calling card for... Read More

Heart’s Ann Wilson Forges Her Own Legacy

Keith Sharp
Heart’s Ann Wilson Forges Her Own Legacy
By Keith Sharp The legacy of Heart may be well documented since the release of their classic debut album Dreamboat Annie in 1975, but lead vocalist Ann Wilson is now determined to establish her own legacy. With the album release of `Fierce Bliss’ earlier this year, Wilson has assembled a band of top-notch Muscle Shoals Studio musicians and has launched... Read More

Harlow’s PRiSM Quest To Keep Their Legacy Alive

Keith Sharp
Harlow’s PRiSM Quest To Keep Their Legacy Alive
Al Harlow of PRiSM – Photo by Debbie Albrough By Keith Sharp An examination of PRiSM’s personnel timeline on Wikipedia reveals that no less than 24 musicians have featured in the band since two other Vancouver-based bands; Seeds Of Time and Sunshyne, merged together in the early 1970s as a studio project producer Bruce Fairbairn was assembling, eventually developing into... Read More

Fond Memories of a Meeting with Olivia Newton-John by Keith Sharp

Keith Sharp
Fond Memories of a Meeting with Olivia Newton-John by Keith Sharp
Olivia Newton-John was the first legitimate superstar artist this writer had the privilege of interviewing. Newton-John, who lost her courageous battle with breast cancer on August 8th at the age of 73, had already established herself as a major recording artist in July 1976 when MCA Canada’s Western Canada regional office in Calgary presented her with a slew of gold... Read More

Revitalized Streetheart Launches Eastern Invasion

Keith Sharp
Revitalized Streetheart Launches Eastern Invasion
By Keith Sharp Since Streetheart last played at Toronto’s legendary El Mocambo Tavern, much has happened. You need to go back in time by 43 years to 1979. The Winnipeg-based band had just released their second album, ‘Heaven Over Hell,’ John Hannah had just replaced Paul Dean on guitar (who moved on to help form Loverboy), and they were about... Read More

NEW FACES: Fracassi New Face Of Coalition Music

Keith Sharp
NEW FACES: Fracassi New Face Of Coalition Music
Sophia Fracassi releases her debut six-song EP ‘Marathon’ – Photo by Wendy Wei By Keith Sharp Think of Coalition Music, and you would think of the Toronto-based music incubator operation, which has successfully nurtured careers by the likes of Our Lady Peace, Simple Plan, The Tea Party and, more recently, Scott Helman. So, when Rob Lanni’s company starts to promote... Read More

Kenora Harbourfest Re-Established As Region’s Top Festival

Keith Sharp
Kenora Harbourfest Re-Established As Region’s Top Festival
Harbourfest Committee 2022 – Photo by Cory McCrindle, Northern Exposures Photography & Communications By Keith Sharp Heather MacMurphy claims the cancellation of the past two Kenora Harbourfest allowed her the luxury of spending the August long weekend with her family and friends…but you get the idea she Is being totally facetious. The 29th anniversary of the Kenora Harbourfest (plus two!)... Read More

Lee Aaron Revisits The El Mocambo And Her Metal Queen Roots

Keith Sharp
Lee Aaron Revisits The El Mocambo And Her Metal Queen Roots
By Keith Sharp Lee Aaron has vivid memories of her first and only concert appearance at Toronto’s legendary El Mocambo Tavern. March 31st, 1984, with a performance which debuted her Metal Queen album. On Friday, July 22nd, Aaron and her band, comprising of husband/drummer John Cody, guitarist Sean Kelly and bassist Dave Reimer will return to the newly revamped facility... Read More

Country Thunder Bounces Back From Pandemic Disruption

Keith Sharp
Country Thunder Bounces Back From Pandemic Disruption
By Keith Sharp Thursday, July 14, sees the return of Country Thunder – Craven, Saskatchewan, with the likes of Morgan Wallen, Lee Brice and the legendary Tanya Tucker joining forces with domestic talent Chad Brownlee, Washboard Union and Lindsay Ell for the first of three Canadian festivals that will also feature the official début of Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose... Read More

NEW FACES: Introducing ‘Grease Coast Rock ‘N Roll’ Andre Pettipas And The Giants

Keith Sharp
NEW FACES: Introducing ‘Grease Coast Rock ‘N Roll’ Andre Pettipas And The Giants
By Keith Sharp With all the new artists arriving on the national (and international music scene), due to the advent of social media, The Music Express is launching a new editorial feature spotlighting some of these “new faces” Our spotlight will include artists and groups from all over Canada, the only criteria being is that they have an interesting story... Read More

Acoustic Approach To Classified’s Music Broadens His Musical Scope.

Keith Sharp
Acoustic Approach To Classified’s Music Broadens His Musical Scope.
Classified Retrospected – Photo by Dave Hamilton By Keith Sharp About three years ago, rapper Classified (a/k/a Luke Boyd) started to re-interpret songs from his vast catalogue of music as acoustic tracks with his guitar player. He soon discovered that a new audience was tuning in to his music. That devoid of the drum/bass arrangements of previous rap-based arrangements, people... Read More