Producer

Still kooler than Van Halen

Entertainment / Music Life has its enduring mysteries.  SILVIA MAUTNER / KTG PRESS PHOTO Kool and the Gang opens for Van Halen on Saturday, March 17. Nick Krewen Special to the Star Published on Fri Mar 16 2012   Life has its enduring mysteries. There are the Seven Wonders of the World; the secret of getting caramel into the Caramilk bar and . . . Kool & The Gang opening for Van…


Grimes dances out of Montréal

Entertainment / Music Musician’s tour of acclaimed album, including March 19 stop in Toronto, an opportunity to be homeless.     Claire Boucher is on the road as Grimes. Nick Krewen Special to the Star,  Published on Fri Mar 16 2012 After living in Montréal for five years, Claire Boucher is living the life of a gypsy. “I’m homeless,” says the Vancouver-born Boucher, 23, known professionally as Grimes, from a tour stop in…


Marianas Trench grows ever broader

Entertainment / Music Vancouver band opening for Simple Plan has a nonstop creative engine in Josh Ramsay.   Marianas Trench: Josh Ramsay, right, keeps busy. Nick Krewen  Special to the Star Published on Fri Feb 17 2012 Look up the word “ambitious” in the dictionary, and you might just see Josh Ramsay’s picture staring up at you. There seems to be no shortage of drive in the young Vancouverite, whether it concerns…


Fujiya & Miyagi can’t escape themselves

Entertainment / Music Brighton-based band brings its trademark electronic funk to Toronto’s Wrongbar on Tuesday. Nick Krewen  Special to the Star Published on Fri Jan 20 2012 No matter how badly they desire, some bands can’t seem to shake the parameters of their own sonic fingerprint. At least that’s how Fujiya & Miyagi’s David Best perceives it. He says his band has been trying for ages to drastically reinvent its sound. He…


David Bromberg: Gifted guitarist keeps ’em guessing

Entertainment / Music Spontaneity and fun keep the road vital for axeman at Hugh’s Room Sunday.   Respected guitarist and songwriter David Bromberg plays Hugh’s Room on Sunday. Nick Krewen Special to the Star Published on Fri Dec 16 2011 David Bromberg, the journeyman multi-instrumentalist string wizard who returns to Hugh’s Room on Sunday, is certainly one of a kind. At 66, he’s done it all: as a session and sideman, he’s…