Country

Garth Brooks: The Next Bill Clinton?

Versions of this article appeared in The Hamilton Spectator and Country Weekly. but this particular feature was written for Toronto on-line magazine Magnet in 1995, which lasted only one issue.       by Nick Krewen   Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the future President of the United States Of America….Garth Brooks. Okay, I’m joking. Garth Brooks hasn’t declared his candidacy, nor did he mention any political aspirations whatsoever…


John Hiatt: Walking The Streets Of Humanity

This feature appeared in the late, lamented on-line magazine MAGNET     JOHN HIATT: Walking The Streets Of Humanity   BY NICK KREWEN   At an age where some people stop cold in their tracks, take a deep breath and reassess their lives, John Hiatt is just coming into his prime. There’s not a drop of mid-life crisis in his veins. “I really like what I’m doing, ” announces the…


Shania: From Pain to Fame

    NEED TO KNOW: Shania Twain at the Canadian Country Music Awards, at Hamilton Place, 9 p.m. Tonight. Sold out. Tune into CTV at 9 p.m.   BY NICK KREWEN Special To The Spectator September 18, 1995   Don’t let her dazzling beauty fool you. Beneath the glamorous exterior of Shania Twain beats the heart of a survivor. The 29-year-old Windsor-born singing and songwriting sensation, who leads the pack…


Lightfoot at 54: “I’m Not Worthy”

Nick Krewen The Hamilton Spectator November 8, 1993   If you could read his mind, what a tale Gordon Lightfoot‘s thoughts could tell. He’s a 16-time Juno winner, a Juno Hall Of Fame inductee and known for a string of songs over four decades that have helped develop and define Canada and our culture. He was awarded the Order Of Canada in 1970 and the Order of Ontario in 1988….


Keeping Owen Bradley in the Barn

    Nick Krewen The Spectator June 28, 1988     MOUNT JULIET, TENNESSEE:  In one corner of his luxurious recording studio, Bradley’s Barn – located approximately 35 miles outside of Nashville – there are five mounted posters representing record producer Owen Bradley‘s angels. They are the late Patsy Cline, Kitty Wells, Loretta Lynn, Brenda Lee – and Consort, Alberta’s k.d. lang. The 73-year old Bradley – who produced lang’s…