The Evolution Of A Classic Rock Band

September 16, 2019 Keith Sharp

On Saturday, September 21st, Kingston’s The Glorious Sons will unveil their latest studio release, `A War On Everything’ with a sell-out headline concert at that city’s Jack Richardson Stadium before 14,000 rabid fans. To band members Brett Emmons (lead vocals), brother Jay Emmons (guitar), Chris Koster (guitar), Andy Paquette (drums), Chris Huot (bass) and Josh Hewson (keyboards), the concert not... Read More

Money And Ocasek Become Rock’s Latest Casualties

September 16, 2019September 17, 2019 Keith Sharp

Rock Music lost two of its iconic figures over the weekend with the deaths of Cars’ vocalist/guitarist Rick Ocasek and solo artist Eddie Money. Ocasek was found deceased (cause of death, natural causes) Sunday morning September 16th in his New York apartment by ex-wife and former supermodel, Paulina Poritzkova, while Money passed away Thursday, September 13th from esophageal cancer, Ocasek... Read More

Correcting A CARAS Travesty

September 12, 2019September 18, 2019 Keith Sharp

Saturday, August 17th,2019 and more than 3,000 spectators are crammed into Little Current, Manitoulin Island’s Flatrock Event Centre to witness Vancouver’s Trooper bring the two-day Rockin The Rock music festival to a frenzied conclusion. Not a bad turnout for a community which boasts a resident population of fewer than 1,800 souls. And although the likes of Platinum Blonde, Glass Tiger,... Read More

Grande Prairie Native Steals CCMA Awards Spotlight

September 9, 2019September 10, 2019 Keith Sharp

On a night when the 2019 Canadian Country Music Awards returned to Calgary after a 14-year absence, it was fitting that Alberta performer Tenille Townes stole the spotlight. Langley B.C’s Dallas Smith, who co-hosted the show with Billy Ray Cyrus, claimed two major awards as Top Male Vocalist and Top Entertainer plaudits but it was 25-year old Grande Prairie native,... Read More

Ice Queen Still Thriving As A Blues Guitar Icon

September 9, 2019September 9, 2019 Keith Sharp

Scroll down any online list of the world’s greatest rock guitar players and you’ll find the usual suspects; Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Brian May, Eddie Van Halen et al, but you won’t find any prominent female players. Sue Foley just shrugs when this information is brought to her attention. A nominee for this year’s Guitar Magazine’s... Read More

De Keyzer Defies Shrinking Toronto Club Scene

September 5, 2019September 8, 2019 Keith Sharp

Toronto used to be the centre of a vibrant blues community with the likes of the Brunswick House, Silver Dollar, Jeff Healey’s and the Cadillac Lounge all playing host to major blues artists like Downchild Blues Band, Jeff Healey, King Biscuit Boy, Jack de Keyzer, Colin James, Sue Foley, Matt Minglewood, Dutch Mason et al performing regularly at these downtown... Read More

London’s Block Party Is Now A Park Jam

August 24, 2019August 24, 2019 Keith Sharp

London’s Park Jam Festival By Keith Sharp The city of London Ontario is currently enjoying a boom as a hotspot for Canadian music with the recent staging of The Juno Awards and Canadian Country Music Awards and entertainment promoter Demetri Manuel is helping to stimulate this growth by expanding his annual two-day Block Party to a seven-day Park Jam Festival... Read More

Raising Hell In Rainbow Country

August 21, 2019August 24, 2019 Keith Sharp

Rockin’ The Rock Manitoulin Island August 17th, 2019 By Keith Sharp The tee shirt said it all. “Arrive. Raise A Little Hell. Leave.” This was the profound effect Vancouver’s Trooper had on the 3,000 plus audience who packed into The Flatrock Event Centre in Little Current, Manitoulin Island, Saturday, August 17th to attend what was the second annual Rockin’ The... Read More

Iron Maiden’s Concerts Are A Religious Experience

August 14, 2019August 14, 2019 Keith Sharp

Over two nights at Toronto’s Budweiser Ampitheatre, over 30,000 disciples assembled to worship at the Temple of Iron Maiden. You can only describe these concerts as a religious experience as the bond between the five-member British band and their devoted fans are much more complex than your average rock crowd extravaganza. Iron Maiden is so much more than just a... Read More

Hall Of Fame Honours Give Gilder Fresh Motivation

August 7, 2019August 13, 2019 Keith Sharp

On Tuesday, June 18th of this year, Nick Gilder was inducted into the Canadian Song Writer’s Hall Of Fame in recognition of his song “Hot Child In The City” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 back in 1979. With his current wife, his mother and both his son and daughter present during the ceremony, staged by SOCAN at the BMO... Read More

Iron Maiden Brings Video Game To Life With Legacy Tour

August 3, 2019August 14, 2019 Keith Sharp

To paraphrase a certain saying, “there are only three certainties in life; death, taxes and Iron Maiden playing Toronto.” Friday, August 9th and 10th, Iron Maiden hits the Budweiser Amphitheatre stage as part of their 44-date North American leg of their current Legacy Of The Beast Tour (which also features dates in Montreal, Quebec City, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver).... Read More

Maritime Music Festivals Cater To All Tastes

July 30, 2019August 20, 2019 Keith Sharp

Maritime music festivals may be defined by the crowd-pulling Cavendish Beach Music Festival staged every July at this scenic Prince Edward Island venue (this year July 5-7 featuring the likes of Carrie Underwood, Eric Church, Russell Dickenson and Co) but even as Cavendish takes aim at 2020, there’s still a number of key festivals to be staged in the coming... Read More

Former Sheepdog Lends Credibility To League Of Wolves

July 29, 2019August 12, 2019 Keith Sharp

During his many sorties into Saskatoon, Dillon Currie and his musical pals often bumped into former Sheepdogs’ guitarist Leot Hanson. Whether it was hanging around Lydia’s Pub or later The Capitol Music Club (which Hanson co-owned), Currie’s band, soon to be known as League Of Wolves, made a connection with Hanson. Initially, it was just informal jam sessions where they’d... Read More

`Rochdale Zulu’ Succumbs To Cancer

July 18, 2019July 20, 2019 Keith Sharp

Johnny Clegg, one of South Africa’s most famous and popular musical exports, died Tuesday, July 16th after a four-year battle with pancreatic cancer in Johannesburg, he was 66 years old. The frontman for Juluka and Savuka during the 1980s and 1990s, Clegg defied South African apartheid laws by performing with black musicians in open defiance against that country’s Group Area... Read More

Deppe Enjoying Best Of Both Worlds Playing For Two Iconic Bands

July 15, 2019July 22, 2019 Keith Sharp

By his own admission, The Spoons’ Gord Deppe is not a prolific songwriter. He is not one to churn out a stack of new material for pure vanity sake, preferring to re-release anniversary editions of previous records like the band’s debut `Stick Figure Neighbourhood’ (1981) and their break-through `Arias & Symphonies (1982). The band’s previous studio album, `Static In Transmission’... Read More

Exhibition Lineups Strong On Domestic Talent

July 5, 2019July 13, 2019 Keith Sharp

Danielle Bourre can remember when headline talent at Toronto’s Annual Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) or (The EX) meant the likes of The Rolling Stones, The Who, Elton John, Van Halen, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen all sharing the spotlight at the main CNE Stadium. Yet those halcyon dates of Michael Cohl’s Concert Productions International attractions changed when the Molson Amphitheatre, later changed... Read More

The Strumbellas: Pop Music Done Wrong!

July 4, 2019July 5, 2019 Keith Sharp

According to the band’s biography, The Strumbellas’ vocalist/guitarist and chief songwriter, Simon Ward was motivated by the juxtaposition of balancing global touring activities with commitments to his wife and three children in small-town Lindsay Ontario when he penned the lyrics to the band’s fourth recording effort “Rattlesnake”. Certainly, based on the success of their last album “Hope” and the chart-topping... Read More

Hart’s National Tour A Love Affair With His Audience

July 1, 2019July 1, 2019 Keith Sharp

Corey Hart is about to vacate his hotel room in Vancouver and head out to the airport for a flight to Japan where he and his band are set to perform concerts in Tokyo and Osaka before an insane schedule which sees everyone fly back to Quebec City July 4th just in time to headline at the Festival d’été de... Read More

Pure Country Provides A Fresh Coat Of Paint To Canadian Country Music

June 27, 2019June 28, 2019 Keith Sharp

Canada’s Radio landscape just got more countrified with the partnership of 13 regional Country Music radio stations under the iheart logo. Pure Country is the banner that links a network of key regional stations together with a new syndicated programme hosted by Shannon Ella airing four hours a day on each station. Each segment will feature all the latest country... Read More

Cuddy Turns On Creativity With New Album Recorded In Just Three Days

June 25, 2019June 25, 2019 Keith Sharp

Jim Cuddy is a creative songwriting tour-de-force. He is so overloaded with song ideas that he needs two bands; Blue Rodeo and his own Jim Cuddy Band to contain this outflow of creativity. And even then, he has achieved additional co-writing and performing outlets with the likes of Corey Hart and Barney Bentall. If you don’t believe me, take a... Read More

Author: Keith Sharp