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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"

The Return Of Small Festivals Provide Economic Lifeline

Keith Sharp
The Return Of Small Festivals Provide Economic Lifeline
Lucknow’s Music In The Fields – Summer 22 By Keith Sharp As COVID restrictions are lowered sufficiently enough to allow for concert festivals to be re-introduced this year, many smaller communities can once again benefit from the influx of spectators to attend these events and, in doing so, provide a much-needed injection into local economies and the charity foundations which... Read More

The Sheepdogs Find Favourable European Response To New Release

Keith Sharp
The Sheepdogs Find Favourable European Response To New Release
By Keith Sharp When the pandemic ground the entire global music scene to a screeching halt, Saskatoon’s The Sheepdogs were in advance preparation for another major European tour. So, according to the band’s lead vocalist/guitarist Ewan Currie, the band did what comes naturally to them, record another album! Now amid a major makeup tour of Western Europe which is responding... Read More

Stampeders Continue To Roll

Keith Sharp
Stampeders Continue To Roll
By Keith Sharp One thing you cannot say is that The Stampeders take themselves seriously. On stage on April 8th at Oshawa’s Regent Theatre, guitarist, vocalist Rich Dodson, drummer, vocalist Kim Berly, and bassist/vocalist Ronnie King cheerily announced themselves as being “Seventy From The Seventies” about their ages. During their entire 90-minute set, the former Calgary trio poked fun at... Read More

It’s All About Persistence – An Interview With Strange Advance

Keith Sharp
It’s All About Persistence – An Interview With Strange Advance
Strange Advance Releases 4 2022 By Keith Sharp “Just like getting back on a bike, it was so great to play in front of a live audience again,” enthused Strange Advance keyboardist/vocalist Drew Arnott after finally getting to parade his reconstituted line up which now features six musicians; including vocalist/guitarist Sean Dillon, keyboardist Rob Bailey, guitarist Ian Cameron, drummer/vocalist Russ Friesen... Read More

A Call To Arms – Jesus Jones in Toronto, May 15th.

Keith Sharp
A Call To Arms – Jesus Jones in Toronto, May 15th.
By Keith Sharp Even those of you who are not familiar with the progressive British rock band, Jesus Jones, will identify with their mega 1990 hit “Right “Here, Right Now” which was written as an acknowledgement of the ending of the Cold War in Europe and the breaking up of the Berlin Wall. Some thirty-three years later and lyrical message... Read More

Two More Canadian Pop Stars Lost

Keith Sharp
Two More Canadian Pop Stars Lost
Susan Jacks Photo from The Music Express Archives 2013 by Keith Sharp The past couple of weeks have been rough ones for the Canadian Music Industry, with Poppy Family vocalist Susan Jacks (aged 73) passing away from kidney failure at a Surrey, B.C hospital) April 25th and Montreal session guitarist Walter Rossi (succumbing to lung cancer May 1st in Montreal) following the departure... Read More

Legendary Guitarist Jerry Doucette Succumbs To Cancer

Keith Sharp
Legendary Guitarist Jerry Doucette Succumbs To Cancer
Photo by Ted VanBoort By Keith Sharp Canada lost another music legend with the passing of Jerry Doucette April 18th who succumbed to cancer at the Irene Thomas Hospice in Delta B.C at the age of 70.Known for his 1977 hit single, “Mama Let Him Play” and the debut album of the same name, Doucette was born in Montreal before moving... Read More

Rough Trade’s El Mo Performance A Practice Run For Future Stage Production

Keith Sharp
Rough Trade’s El Mo Performance A Practice Run For Future Stage Production
By Keith Sharp If Carole Pope & Rough Trade‘s sold-out performance at Toronto’s El Mocambo Tavern Friday, April 29th seems to take the form of a Broadway musical, that’s because the concert is being set up, partially as a dry run for the music that will eventually form the basis of a new musical which is being created by Pope and... Read More

Advice Chat Turns Into Envy OF None Album Debut.

Keith Sharp
Advice Chat Turns Into Envy OF None Album Debut.
The Envy of None features singer-songwriter Maiah Wynne, guitarist Alex Lifeson of Rush fame, bassist Andy Curran formerly of Coney Hatch, and multi-instrumetalist Alfio Annibalini. Photos by Jaden D, Richard Sibbald, and Troy William Dunn By Keith Sharp As an A&R rep for established Canadian Record Label Anthem Entertainment, Andy Curran was asked to be an online judge for an Alabama songwriting contest four years... Read More

Chalk Circle Finds Performing Fun Again

Keith Sharp
Chalk Circle Finds Performing Fun Again
By Keith Sharp Toronto’s Chalk Circle find themselves facing a unique challenge when they take the stage Sunday at Mississauga’s Classic Bowl facility to perform two shows as part of Ed Sousa’s Pop-Up Concert Series to a limited audience.  Known for classic techno-pop hits like “April Fool”, “Me Myself I” and “This Mourning”, guitarist and band co-founder Chris Tait noted... Read More

Good Luck Getting A Ticket To This Hot Charity Gig

Keith Sharp
Good Luck Getting A Ticket To This Hot Charity Gig
Mississauga McBowl Classic An Instant Sell Out! By Keith Sharp McBowl charity concert organizer, Ed Sousa didn’t have to worry about selling tickets for his annual Ronald McDonald House event which runs over two nights, May 13th and May 14th at Mississauga’s Classic Bowl venue – he virtually sold the show out two years ago. To say Sousa’s annual fund-raiser... Read More

Eighties’ Techno-Pop Renaissance Allows Men Without Hats To Flourish

Keith Sharp
Eighties’ Techno-Pop Renaissance Allows Men Without Hats To Flourish
By Keith Sharp It started out as a vocal/piano exercise with Men Without Hats’– Ivan Doruschuk utilizing time off during the COVID-19 pandemic, and deciding to re-record an EP of some of his favourite songs. “It was when I was recording a version of The Tragically Hip’s “Blow At High Dough” as a vocal/piano track that I thought, `what would... Read More

Dallas Good Succumbs To Coronary Illness

Keith Sharp
Dallas Good Succumbs To Coronary Illness
By Keith Sharp The Canadian Music Industry is in mourning with the passing of The Sadies’ co-founder Dallas Good who died from natural causes on Thursday February 17th. As announced on the band’s website “It’s with unfathomable sadness that we announce the sudden passing of Dallas on Thursday, February 17th. Forty-eight years old, he died of natural causes while under... Read More

What We Like About Mike Skill

Keith Sharp
What We Like About Mike Skill
Mike Skill – Photo By MeredithLordEcole By Keith Sharp Romantics guitarist/vocalist Mike Skill constantly hears his band’s two biggest hits; “What I Like About You” and “Talking In Your Sleep” being played on North American classic radio but it constantly bugs him that the full potential of those songs were never fulfilled. Skill performed a pop-up show Sunday, February 27th... Read More

James Faces Liberating Challenge With Buddy Guy U.S. Tour

Keith Sharp
James Faces Liberating Challenge With Buddy Guy U.S. Tour
By Keith Sharp Think of Colin James and you focus on the Regina native being the consummate Canadian blues artist. Someone who has won a staggering 27 Maple Blues Awards and no less than seven Juno Awards while releasing a total of 20 studio albums during his 34-year career. So, it’s strange then that James finds himself in a position... Read More

Canadian Music Industry Mourns Passing Of Music Pioneer Mel Shaw

Keith Sharp
Canadian Music Industry Mourns Passing Of Music Pioneer Mel Shaw
Mel Shaw – Producer – Photo Courtesy of the Stampeders. By Keith Sharp – Music Express Canadian Record industry pioneer Melvyn James Foster Shaw, who passed away Wednesday, January 19th, 2022 in Regina Saskatchewan at the age of 82 years old was directly involved in the establishment of Alberta Music Express back in October 1976. Trying to avoid being assigned... Read More

Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson Invites You To A Unique Spoken Word Event

Keith Sharp
Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson Invites You To A Unique Spoken Word Event
By Keith Sharp If one were to look at this guy’s CV, one would wonder what Bruce Dickinson can’t achieve. Frontman for the world’s biggest rock band, Iron Maiden, commercial airline pilot, Olympic status fencer, brewmaster, published author, solo recording artist, and oh, yes throat cancer survivor, Dickinson has now established himself as a top-notch motivational speaker. Based on the... Read More

HARKNESS Stirs Up A Creative Concoction

Keith Sharp
HARKNESS Stirs Up A Creative Concoction
HARKNESS By Keith Sharp Take a scan at the bio shot of HARKNESS and what springs to mind is one of those costumed assassins from The Squid Game. Now maybe this Toronto musician does not kill people for playing a game of marbles but his ubiquitous 11-track debut album, `The Occasion’ is certainly designed to create a stir with anyone... Read More