Award Winners

Beach Boys, Beatles, Elton John, Grammy, Metallica, Nicki Minaj, Oscar, Pearl Jam, Piano, Pop, Rock, Rock 'N Roll, Rock 'N Roll Hall Of Fame, Songwriter, United Kingdom, Voice October 16, 2021

Elton John talks about the magic of collaboration and his new album The Lockdown Sessions

By Nick Krewen Special to the Star Sometimes no plans are the best plans.  According to British pop superstar Sir Elton John, his star-studded, upcoming 32nd studio album, The Lockdown Sessions,  out October 22, wouldn’t have happened without an invitation from Charlie Puth, the L.A.-based singer and songwriter of the hits “Marvin Gaye,” “Attention” and “How Long,” to write in his studio.  “I had no plans to make any music at all,…

Arranger, Bob Dylan, Canadian Music Hall Of Fame, Composer, Emmylou Harris, Engineer, Grammy, Hamilton, JUNO, Los Angeles, Neil Young, Producer, Québec, Robbie Robertson, Songwriter, Soul, The Band, The Tragically Hip, Toronto, United States, Willie Nelson March 16, 2021

Choir Director Johnny Shepherd Brings Gospel-Infused Soul to Daniel Lanois Project Heavy Sun

By Nick Krewen Special to the Star For his new,  brilliant gospel-flavoured soul album Heavy Sun, seven-time Grammy winner Daniel Lanois had to convince a Shepherd to leave his flock. Describing himself as a “now-and-again” guitarist for the Hallelujah Train band at the Shreveport, Louisiana-based Zion Baptist Church run by Brady Blade Sr., the Hull, Québec-born artist and award-winning producer of blockbuster albums by Peter Gabriel, U2 and Robbie Robertson says…

Canada, Guitar, JUNO, Music Industry (Trade), Pop, Producer, Record Labels, Songwriter, Therapeutic, Toronto, Voice March 12, 2021

Serena Ryder on touring, living hard and the mistakes that aren’t mistakes

By Nick Krewen Special To The Star        Serena Ryder knows all too well about the art of falling apart.        As a recording artist who used to tour relentlessly, the six-time Juno Award winner found the incessant grind of the road personally damaging, as she relied on a steady diet of drink, drugs and cigarettes to cope and carry on. “Being a touring musician can be one of the most draining…

Aubrey "Drake" Graham, Canada, Grammy, Hip-Hop, JUNO, Songwriter, Spoken Word, Toronto, Voice March 5, 2021

Drake still at top of his game in Scary Hours 2 – plus addresses the upcoming Certified Lover Boy

Nick Krewen Special to the Star Drake not only dropped a new three-song EP called Scary Hours II at midnight: he also dropped a new video and – to top it all off – a new 24-hour fully curated radio channel. With short notice on Thursday night, the man who has been  setting hip-hop trends for the past 11 years shared on his Twitter and Instagram feeds that he’d appearing on…

Blues, Delta Blues, JUNO, Montréal, Polaris, Québec, R&B, Soul, Voice February 12, 2021

Singer Dominique Fils-Aimé finds inspiration by looking to Black history

By Nick Krewen Special to the Star There’s a reason every Dominique Fils-Aimé album has been released in February: Black History Month. “I wanted to underline the link between Black history and music genres,” the Juno Award winner and Polaris Music Prize finalist recently explained from her Montréal home.  It especially makes sense when you consider the trilogy of 2018’s Nameless, 2019’s Stay Tuned! and this year’s Three Little Words,…