Guitar

Americana, Arranger, Blackie & The Rodeo Kings, Bob Dylan, Canada, Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame, Canadian Music Hall Of Fame, Composer, Country, Folk, Guitar, JUNO, Music Industry (Trade), Neil Young, New York, Producer, Record Labels, Robbie Robertson, Songwriter, Television, The Band, Toronto, Video, Voice, Willie Nelson November 4, 2023

‘I just thought it was time’ — Sylvia Tyson on ‘At the End of the Day,’ her (maybe) final album

If anyone thinks Sylvia Tyson at 83 is any less authoritative an artist, hearing “At the End of the Day” will quickly quell that notion. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star Her singing voice is a little more weathered, but no less formidable; her lyrics are incisively sharp. If anyone thinks the legendary Sylvia Tyson at 83 is any less authoritative an artist, hearing her newly released 12-song album At…

Bass, Canada, Canadian Music Hall Of Fame, Country, Country Rock, Drums, Guitar, Indie, JUNO, Piano, Pop, Rock, Rock 'N Roll, Songwriter, Toronto, Voice August 24, 2023

A look back at Blue Rodeo’s ‘Five Days in July’ — ‘We had no idea that it would be as important as it ended up being’

As Blue Rodeo’s bestselling album celebrates 30 years, Jim Cuddy recalls how it was made on Greg Keelor’s farm and what it meant. by Nick Krewen Special to the Star Hard to believe that the classic Blue Rodeo album Five Days In July has accumulated three decades of memories. Recorded in 1993 on band co-founder Greg Keelor’s Clarington farm, the effort ended up becoming the group’s all-time bestseller, moving 600,000 copies…

Arranger, Canada, Composer, Experimental, Guitar, Joni Mitchell, Pearl Jam, Prince, Producer, Rock, Songwriter, Toronto July 26, 2023

Donna Grantis, a former guitarist with Prince’s 3rdeyegirl, is putting her music to work for the planet, alongside Brian Eno’s EarthPercent initiative

By Nick Krewen Special to the Star It was initially a Prince of an idea. Toronto’s Donna Grantis, the ace guitarist who was a member of the Minnesota wunderkind’s 3rdEyeGirl before his tragic death in 2016, said it was a question that the iconic singer-songwriter posed to the band while they were in a Paisley Park studio that set her on the path to becoming a climate change activist. “Prince…

Art Rock, Bass, Canada, Drums, Guitar, Literary, Piano, Rock, Rush, Synthesizer, Toronto, Voice July 8, 2023

The band Max Webster, almost Canada’s Next Big Thing in the 1970s and ’80s, gets the coffee table book treatment

From 1972 until 1981, the band created five wonderfully idiosyncratic studio albums and toured incessantly — even headlining Maple Leaf Gardens three times within 18 months. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star Up until very recently, Kim Mitchell had forgotten that day in Indianapolis in 1981 when he performed “Battle Scar” with his Toronto rockers Max Webster and a man wearing a mask of ex-U.S. president Richard Nixon snuck…

Garage Rock, Grammy, Grunge, Guitar, Guns N' Roses, Hard Rock/Heavy Metal, Los Angeles, Metallica, Rock, Songwriter, United States April 13, 2023

Metallica’s Kirk Hammett loves Toronto – but he won’t be playing here anytime soon

Hammett and his metal band mates are limiting their time on the road but not the music itself. New album 72 Seasons is out Friday. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star Metallica fans, there is some good news and some bad news. First, the positive stuff: to support 72 Seasons, the San Francisco heavy rock band’s 11th studio album and first since 2016’s Hardwired…To Self-Destruct, the tandem of singer…