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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"

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

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