Gordon Lightfoot

Gordon Lightfoot’s new album, like his recent biography, is a little too revealing for some

Nick Krewen Special To The Star “It ain’t gonna stop now!” a feisty Gordon Lightfoot declares at the conclusion of a 30-minute interview about the state of his six-decade-plus career. We’re sitting at a table at his record company headquarters north of the 401, and it’s obvious that at 81, the fire still rages in the Orillia-born troubadour’s belly. He’s not interested at slowing down in the slightest. Lightfoot, who resumes touring…

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Hugh’s Room Live forced out at month’s end due to rent hike

Nick Krewen Special to the Star While Hugh’s Room Live is being forced to shutter its doors at the end of the month, the venue’s Board of Directors has vowed to find it a new home and continue operations. Considered by many to be Toronto’s premier music listening room, the club that has hosted such folk legends as Gordon Lightfoot, Pete Seeger, Tom Rush and Odetta will vacate its present…


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…


Massey Hall’s Massive Revitalization

Story by Nick Krewen | December 13, 2017 The Grand Old Lady is not only getting a facelift, but a makeover. Massey Hall, originally built in 1894 by Canadian industrialist and philanthropist Hart Massey at a cost of $152,000, is in the midst of a $139 million revitalization that will see the iconic, downtown-Toronto, 2,765-seat music venue shutter for a little over two years, starting July 30, 2018. When it…


Chuck Berry was the true king of rock ‘n’ roll

Berry’s songwriting, guitar playing and legendary dance moves inspired scores of celebrated musicians and music lovers alike. Nick Krewen Music, Sun., March 19, 2017 The true king of rock ’n’ roll has died. Post 1955, you can list any number of stratospheric acts that followed Chuck Berry — Elvis . . . the Beatles . . . the Rolling Stones . . . the Beach Boys — and as much…