A VERSION OF THIS APPEARED IN THE KW RECORD NOVEMBER 23, 1999 By Nick Krewen Jim Johnston may not be a household name, but he’s ready to rumble. Last week, he bodyslammed Mariah Carey‘s Rainbow to the mat and placed Foo Fighters‘ There’s Nothing Left To Lose in a Tongan Death Grip. He drop-kicked Counting Crows‘ This Desert Life out of the ring and bulldogged Choclair‘s Ice Cold…
PUBLISHED IN THE TORONTO STAR, SUNDAY AUGUST 22, 1999 Impact of recording-industry merger has Canadian acts scrambling as new Universal Music super-label downsizes…and independent distributors beckon By Nick Krewen Special To The Star Margo Timmins didn’t see it coming. The Toronto singer of Cowboy Junkies was busy laying down tracks of her cloudless voice for the band’s Miles From Our Home album when word came down that Jim Powers…
Far from the madding crowds, sound hunters search the wilderness for an elusive ingredient for their recordings — absolute silence Nick Krewen The Ottawa Citizen Sunday, July 25, 1999 It’s another long, sweltering day in the tropical rainforest, and Kevin O’ Leary is on safari. With an assistant who doubles as photographer at his side, and more than 30 kgs of gear each strapped to their backs, they…
Max Hutchinson one of 300 pros still in there pitching tunes to artists By Nick Krewen Special To The Star Wednesday, April 21, 1999 NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Max Hutchinson may not be Roger Clemens, but he knows how to pitch. As one of Nashville’s 300 song pluggers, the middlemen who lob songs to recording artists for prospective album and single cuts, the Vancouver-born Canadian is starter, reliever…
Nashville In A Tizzy Over Sluggish Album Sales And Radio Airplay By Nick Krewen Special To The Star Saturday, April 17, 1999 NASHVILLE: Music Row is in turmoil. As the heart of the country music business, this eight-block community of record companies, radio stations, music publishers, recording studios and management offices, located in central Nashville, Tennessee, is on the verge of panic. After enjoying a decade of unprecedented…
