Blackie & The Rodeo Kings

Bass, Blackie & The Rodeo Kings, Canada, Canadian Music Hall Of Fame, Cinema, Composer, Drums, Festivals, Garage Rock, Guitar, Indie, Producer, Rock, Rock 'N Roll, Songwriter, The Tragically Hip, Toronto, Voice September 5, 2024

Revisiting his brother’s death for a Tragically Hip docuseries was the hardest but also most fulfilling thing Mike Downie has ever done

“It wasn’t uncommon for me to have a good cry,” says Mike Downie about making a documentary about brother Gord Downie and his band. The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal debuts at TIFF on Sept. 5. by Nick Krewen Special to the Star Mike Downie’s labour of love was also his toughest assignment. As the director and producer of the superb four-hour-plus documentary The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal that…

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Americana, Blackie & The Rodeo Kings, Canada, Composer, Country, Guitar, Hamilton, Joni Mitchell, k.d. lang, Leonard Cohen, Producer, Songwriter, Toronto, United States February 4, 2024

Toronto’s legendary Matador club is gone, but Lori Yates hasn’t forgotten

The veteran singer writes about the place that played host to Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash and Leonard Cohen on her new album Matador. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star Who remembers the Matador? Lori Yates does — and she’s put it to song. The legendary after-hours country music watering hole at 466 Dovercourt Rd. is long gone — only the marquee remains — but Toronto singer-songwriter Yates has rekindled some…

Americana, Arranger, Blackie & The Rodeo Kings, Bob Dylan, Canada, Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame, Canadian Music Hall Of Fame, Composer, Country, Folk, Guitar, JUNO, Music Industry (Trade), Neil Young, New York, Producer, Record Labels, Robbie Robertson, Songwriter, Television, The Band, Toronto, Video, Voice, Willie Nelson November 4, 2023

‘I just thought it was time’ — Sylvia Tyson on ‘At the End of the Day,’ her (maybe) final album

If anyone thinks Sylvia Tyson at 83 is any less authoritative an artist, hearing “At the End of the Day” will quickly quell that notion. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star Her singing voice is a little more weathered, but no less formidable; her lyrics are incisively sharp. If anyone thinks the legendary Sylvia Tyson at 83 is any less authoritative an artist, hearing her newly released 12-song album At…

Blackie & The Rodeo Kings, Bruce Cockburn, Business, Canada, Gordon Lightfoot, Guitar, Instruments, Luthier, Toronto October 2, 2019

How Toronto’s master guitar maker brings a new instrument to life — and why she worries

By Nick Krewen Special to the Star October 02,  2019 “Whoo-oo! Would you look at that?” Pleased as punch, musician Stephen Fearing is leaning moon-eyed over an open case, cooing over his latest custom-built, flat-top, six-stringed guitar, its European Spruce surface kissed by the slightest toasted-sunburst finish and adorned with a mother-of-pearl replica of Fearing’s signature on its fingerboard. Linda Manzer, the world-renown luthier who spent more than a year crafting…

Arranger, Beach Boys, Blackie & The Rodeo Kings, Bob Dylan, Canada, Composer, Engineer, Guitar, Joni Mitchell, Liner Notes, Los Angeles, Montréal, Pop, Producer, Québec, Songwriter, Voice April 15, 2018

Liner Notes: Hard Won, John Cody, ole red dot, 2017

JOHN CODY HARD WON   LINER NOTES: APRIL 4, 2017   Nick Krewen     It was a race against time. The circumstances behind the recording of John Cody‘s fourth album, Hard Won, may sound panicked and urgent, but there’s a reason for it: they were. In May 2016, the Montréal-based singer and songwriter received the news that no one wants to hear, especially if you’re a musician: his larynx,…