JUNO

New Directions In “Dangerous” Jazz

Story by Nick Krewen | October 28, 2014 For SOCAN’s Words and Music “There’s a way of playing safe, there’s a way of using tricks and there’s the way I like to play, which is dangerously, where you’re going to take a chance on making mistakes in order to create something you haven’t created before.” The late Dave Brubeck wasn’t Canadian, nor was he a SOCAN member, but the quote…


GRAMMY HALL OF FAME RECORDINGS – The Songs Of Leonard Cohen

GRAMMY HALL OF FAME RECORDINGS Songs Of Leonard Cohen     Songs Of Leonard Cohen Columbia Records Released: December 26, 1967   Nick Krewen GRAMMY.com August 25, 2014 Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the year the world was introduced to Leonard Cohen, songwriter and recording artist, Canada was celebrating its first century as a nation. For both Cohen and Canada, 1967 marked new chapters filled with rebirth, hope and a…


Canadian country music star Brett Kissel performs Thursday in Bowmanville

Singer with eight CCMA nominations kicks off Boots & Hearts Festival Thursday night Nick Krewen Music, Published on Wed Jul 30 2014 When Canadian country star Brett Kissel hits the road for a nationwide tour with headliner Brad Paisley in October, the eight-time Canadian Country Music Award nominee will be financing the trek by selling a few of his cows. Seriously. The 23-year-old Kissel, who was raised on a 100-year-old…


The Drake Effect

Story by Nick Krewen | July 24, 2014 For SOCAN Words and Music.   “Started from the bottom, now the whole team here.” So says Drake in “Started From the Bottom,” and that’s exactly how his big-bang explosion on the worldwide hip-hop scene has affected the fortunes of his whole team – more than 60 Canadian, Toronto-based songwriters, beat-makers, producers and other collaborators. Drake has almost single-handedly created an entire…


Nashville Expands

Story by Nick Krewen | March 21, 2014 For SOCAN Words And Music.   Name any gigantic country hit of the last two decades or so and there’s a better-than-average chance that it was generated from Nashville, Tennessee. Sure, Texas factors into the mix, and maybe there’s a touch of Bakersfield in there, too. But for the most part it’s a 30-block-or-so chunk Southwest of downtown Nashville, nicknamed Music Row,…