Award Winners

The Return Of Redneck Country

THE RETURN OF REDNECK COUNTRY Nick Krewen GRAMMY.com August 2004   Country music is getting rowdy again. As newcomers Gretchen Wilson and Big & Rich suddenly race up the charts with attitude-brandishing anthems like “Redneck Woman” and “Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy)” and outspoken veterans Toby Keith and Montgomery Gentry watch their fan base increase by leaps and bounds, country audiences have returned to embracing the genre’s ornery streak….


Farewell Fan Fair

Fan Fair Nick Krewen GRAMMY.COM   Farewell Fan Fair. When it wound down June 8 with a rare reunion of The Judds, the door closed on a 32-year tradition. Upon its return in 2004, the annual Nashville country music festival – which encourages fans to mingle with its stars – will be sporting a different name: the CMA (Country Music Association) Music Festival. More troubling to hardcore country music fans,…


Mike Wanchic strums for Mellencamp

NICK KREWEN Hamilton Spectator Thursday, August 18, 1994 Dance Naked, John Mellencamp‘s latest album that contains his hit remake of Van Morrison‘s ‘Wild Night’, didn’t only surprise the public — it also shocked his co-producer. Mike Wanchic, guitarist and co-producer in the Indiana singer and composer’s band since 1978, said he was astonished he received a phone call from his boss to head back into the studio within months of…


Still exotic after all these years

Nick Krewen For The KW Record September 21, 1999   It’s an ode with an oud. The Tea Party has accumulated an interesting collection of exotic instruments over the years, but singer, songwriter and guitarist Jeff Martin admits that their latest addition came out of the blue. A four-stringed instrument called the oud makes its debut on “Samsara,” a cut from the Windsor trio’s latest album Triptych. According to Martin,…


Endgame in Sight for The Tea Party?

  Nick Krewen For The  KW Record May 20, 1999     The clock is ticking for The Tea Party. Jeff Martin warns that the fat lady could be singing for his Windsor-born trio sooner than later. “Every record we do is getting closer to our vision,” said Martin last week, in Toronto to master his band’s latest opus Triptych, due in stores June 15. “But once we get there…