Canada

Arranger, Bob Dylan, Canadian Music Hall Of Fame, Composer, Emmylou Harris, Engineer, Grammy, Hamilton, JUNO, Los Angeles, Neil Young, Producer, Québec, Robbie Robertson, Songwriter, Soul, The Band, The Tragically Hip, Toronto, United States, Willie Nelson March 16, 2021

Choir Director Johnny Shepherd Brings Gospel-Infused Soul to Daniel Lanois Project Heavy Sun

By Nick Krewen Special to the Star For his new,  brilliant gospel-flavoured soul album Heavy Sun, seven-time Grammy winner Daniel Lanois had to convince a Shepherd to leave his flock. Describing himself as a “now-and-again” guitarist for the Hallelujah Train band at the Shreveport, Louisiana-based Zion Baptist Church run by Brady Blade Sr., the Hull, Québec-born artist and award-winning producer of blockbuster albums by Peter Gabriel, U2 and Robbie Robertson says…

Canada, Guitar, JUNO, Music Industry (Trade), Pop, Producer, Record Labels, Songwriter, Therapeutic, Toronto, Voice March 12, 2021

Serena Ryder on touring, living hard and the mistakes that aren’t mistakes

By Nick Krewen Special To The Star        Serena Ryder knows all too well about the art of falling apart.        As a recording artist who used to tour relentlessly, the six-time Juno Award winner found the incessant grind of the road personally damaging, as she relied on a steady diet of drink, drugs and cigarettes to cope and carry on. “Being a touring musician can be one of the most draining…

Alt. Rock, Canada, Rock, Toronto, Uncategorized March 4, 2021

Toronto’s Monowhales started out as “the misfit children of Humber College”

By Nick Krewen Special to the Star Published March 4, 2021 Toronto’s Monowhales’ story of triumph, is, in a weird way, a story of Triumph. The local alt-rock trio’s singer, Sally Shaar, took songwriting lessons from Triumph guitarist and singer Rik Emmett at Humber College, no doubt a contributing factor to the mesmerizing melodies put forth on the new seven-song Monowhales effort Daytona Bleach that’s out Friday. “It was fantastic,”…

Blues, Delta Blues, JUNO, Montréal, Polaris, Québec, R&B, Soul, Voice February 12, 2021

Singer Dominique Fils-Aimé finds inspiration by looking to Black history

By Nick Krewen Special to the Star There’s a reason every Dominique Fils-Aimé album has been released in February: Black History Month. “I wanted to underline the link between Black history and music genres,” the Juno Award winner and Polaris Music Prize finalist recently explained from her Montréal home.  It especially makes sense when you consider the trilogy of 2018’s Nameless, 2019’s Stay Tuned! and this year’s Three Little Words,…

Business, Canada, Events, Perspective, Robbie Robertson, Rolling Stones, Toronto, Tourism April 15, 2020

All fixed up with no place to go: Toronto venues like the El Mocambo and Wheat Sheaf postpone grand reopenings

Nick Krewen Special to the Star April Fool’s Day may have played its cruelest joke on the El Mocambo’s Michael Wekerle. After spending five years investing a reported $30 million (in a follow-up e-mail, he’d only say it’s “extensive”) in renovating the legendary Spadina Avenue music club that has played host to everyone from The Rolling Stones to U2, the merchant banker and Dragon’s Den TV personality was finally set…