Country

Cracker

PUBLISHED IN THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR AUGUST 25, 1998     NICK KREWEN Hamilton Spectator August 25, 1998   TORONTO:   Seems American rock critics can’t quite get it right when it comes to defining and describing Cracker, the sardonic Richmond, Virginia-based rock group led by singers and songwriters David Lowery and Johnny Hickman. So the band made it easy for them on their new album Gentleman’s Blues. “I had to…


Shania Tours!

AS PUBLISHED IN KNIX MAGAZINE, PHOENIX, ARIZONA,  MARCH 1998   By Nick Krewen   The lights dim. The crowd erupts in screams and whistles. And from somewhere within the bowels of a small, sweltering hockey arena in Northern Ontario, concealed by the twilight of promise, hope and anticipation, a sweetly familiar voice asks a big sultry question: “Are you ready for me, Sudbury?” The crowd is confused at first, as…


Robbie Fulks: South Mouth’s Gonna Do It Again

A version of this appeared in The Toronto Star on Monday, February 15   Robbie Fulks: South Mouth’s Gonna Do It Again   By Nick Krewen     At first glance, the pairing of Robbie Fulks and Ben Folds Five for Wednesday’s sold-out show at The Phoenix might seem odd. But it’s a mismatch made in heaven. On one hand you’ve got Folds, the piano-pounding wonder geek whose incisive, sonorous…


The Mavericks Bring Out the Horns for Trampoline

  NICK KREWEN The Hamilton Spectator February 6, 1998   The Mavericks are expanding, and Hamilton concertgoers will be among the first to notice the difference when the Grammy-winning Miami band hits Copps Tuesday, sandwiched between Tim McGraw and Charlie Major. “We have a four-piece horn section traveling with us, and we have a friend of mine by the name of Jamie Hanna singing harmony and playing rhythm guitar and…


Daniel Lanois on recording

PUBLISHED IN CANADIAN MUSICIAN IN OCTOBER ’97 DANIEL LANOIS ON RECORDING Nick Krewen   Over the years, Daniel Lanois has chosen some pretty exotic locales to conduct his business: a New Orleans mansion, a Mexican cliff side dwelling, and a converted Californian porn theatre among them. The reason for his choices, however, isn’t as scientific as one might presume. “Hey, you’ve got to keep yourself amused,” chuckles Lanois, whose multifaceted…