Uncategorized January 30, 2025

Welcome to Octopus Media Ink: Home of writer-for-hire Nick Krewen, his archives and professional services…

Hi there! My name is Nick Krewen (octopus@rogers.com.) I’m a Toronto-based writer, editor, content-and-solution provider and voice artist who has been working as a professional since God wore short pants. If you have a project you need some worry-free assistance with and that needs clear, concise messaging, I’m here to help. For a no-obligation conversation, you can reach me at the number below or at the e-mail listed just above…

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Uncategorized January 30, 2025

This acclaimed Toronto singer says she’s getting a raw deal from the Junos

A technicality that prevented Lori Yates from submitting her album Matador for consideration exposes the conflict between what an indie artist needs and an industry behemoth requires. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star In a move that illustrates the conflict between what a musician feels may be best for her career and standard music-industry practices, a veteran Toronto recording artist’s album has been denied entry for Juno Award consideration…

Americana, Arranger, Blackie & The Rodeo Kings, Bob Dylan, Canada, Canadian Music Hall Of Fame, Grammy, In Memoriam, JUNO, Producer, Robbie Robertson, Rock, Rock 'N Roll Hall Of Fame, Songwriter, Stratford, Toronto, United States January 23, 2025

Music insiders on the extraordinary legacy of Garth Hudson and the Band: ‘It was unlike any other music I’d ever heard’

Colin Linden, Rob Fraboni and John Simon, all of whom worked with the Band, offer remembrances. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star In 1968, when Colin Linden was eight years old, he heard a song on the radio that boggled his young mind. He was at Alexander’s department store in White Plains, N.Y., when rock radio station WNEW-FM played “The Weight” by a Canadian-American band simply called The Band….

Alt. Rock, Canada, Canadian Music Hall Of Fame, Cinema, Country, Country Pop, Country Rock, JUNO, Rock, Toronto January 23, 2025

What do Blue Rodeo and Broken Social Scene have in common? Both are celebrated in new documentaries premiering in Toronto

Blue Rodeo: Lost Together and It’s All Gonna Break will screen at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star In the next 10 days, new documentaries on two beloved Canadian bands will have their Toronto premieres at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema. They promise to be music to your eyes. On Jan. 24, Stephen Chung’s 89-minute It’s All Gonna Break, the story of Toronto indie collective…

Accordion, Americana, Arranger, Blackie & The Rodeo Kings, Bob Dylan, Canada, Canadian Music Hall Of Fame, Engineer, Grammy, In Memoriam, JUNO, Piano, Robbie Robertson, Rock 'N Roll Hall Of Fame, Saxophone, Stratford, The Band, Toronto January 21, 2025

Garth Hudson, founding member of the Band, dead at 87: ‘He was always all about the music’

The Windsor-born multi-instrumentalist was part of the Canadian contingent of the famous band. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star The last living charter member of The Band has died. Keyboardist, saxophonist and occasional trumpeter Garth Hudson, perhaps best known for his powerful, blasting Lowrey organ intro for the classic Band song “Chest Fever,” passed away peacefully in his sleep after a lengthy illness Tuesday morning at a nursing home…