Pop

Lisa Loeb Photo: Frances Iacuzzi

Award-winning ‘Stay’ singer keeps on moving

Lisa Loeb a triple threat as children’s musician, author and entrepreneur May 08, 2019   Nick Krewen Special To the Star   Though she’s known for her chart-topping hit “Stay (I Missed You)” and Feel What U Feel, her 2017 Grammy-winning collection of children’s music, “Renaissance woman” may be a more apt description of  singer and songwriter Lisa Loeb. Loeb, who is performing three shows at the Toronto Centre For…


‘Unknown band’ is opening for Cher in Toronto — but their leader is not worried

Nick Krewen Special to the Star April 18, 2019 Nile Rodgers is discovering during the Cher opening slot that Chic’s relative anonymity is working to his advantage. “We’re an unknown band opening for a big star,” he says over the line from New York. “We walk out onstage — most people don’t know who we are — but by the end of the show they go, ‘Jesus Christ, I know…


PledgeMusic troubles hit Canadian musicians like Dayna Manning and Amanda Rheaume

Nick Krewen Special to the Star Thursday, March 28, 2019 After singing the PledgeMusic blues, independent recording artist Dayna Manning is breathing a sigh of relief. Like too many other artists — L7, Fastball and Jesus Jones, to name a few — Manning is owed money donated by fans via the nine-year-old U.K. crowdfunding platform, which has all but suspended operations due to financial woes. Delayed payments dating back to…


What is it with music and clowns?

Puddles Pity Party and Mac Sabbath brought very different musical clown acts to Toronto, suggesting the modern fear of clowns might be exaggerated Nick Krewen NOW Magazine, Nov 20, 2018 PUDDLES PITY PARTY at Queen Elizabeth Theatre, November 8. Rating: NNNN MAC SABBATH at Lee’s Palace, Thursday, November 15. Rating: NNN Our music scene delivers new trends all the time, but over the past few weeks Toronto has played host to a…


Cape Breton’s Fertile Music Scene

Story by Nick Krewen | September 17, 2018 For SOCAN Words & Music On Cape Breton Island, the music flows like water. Despite its relatively modest population, at 132,000 residents, this Northeastern tip of Nova Scotia, spread over 10,311 square km, has launched a number of tuneful tributaries surnamed MacMaster, Rankin and Sampson: artists that have impacted lands and listeners far beyond its borders. The Island’s musicians are largely known…