Bruce Cockburn

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…

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Linda Manzer

PUBLISHED IN THE TORONTO STAR Friday, October 17, 1997 Nick Krewen The Toronto Star Friday, October 17, 1997 When jazz guitarist Pat Metheny performs at Massey Hall November 18, Toronto’s Linda Manzer will be sharing the stage with him. You won’t see her as much as hear her: through the ringing tones of Metheny’s classical fretless guitar as he performs the title track of his self-described “Chinese opera fretless blues”…


Bruce Cockburn: Fencing Fancies

PUBLISHED IN THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR ON AUGUST 7, 1997 TO ADVANCE CONCERT AT THE FESTIVAL OF FRIENDS, GAGE PARK,   BRUCE COCKBURN : FENCING FANCIES   By Nick Krewen     Songwriter Bruce Cockburn has rattled a lot of sabres over the years with his politically-driven music. So it should come as no surprise when he reveals that his most recent Hamilton visits involved a favorite pastime: fencing. “For a…


Ron Sexsmith reveals his Secret Heart

NICK KREWEN Hamilton Spectator Thursday, March 2, 1995       “Secret Heart What are you made of? What are you afraid of?”   — from “Secret Heart”, written by Ron Sexsmith, © 1995 Ronboy Rhymes Inc./Interscope Pearl Music/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI.   French fries. When I first met Ron Sexsmith, his two favorite foods were French fries and Yorkshire pudding — mainly because they were British. At the time,…