Songwriter

Metric at ACC: concert review

Metric was so concerned with the business of execution that for a while they ignored one of the key aspects of showmanship: acknowledging the crowd. By: Nick Krewen Special To The Star, Published on Sun Nov 25 2012 Metric forgot hometown factor — briefly — while playing ACC   There is little doubt that Emily Haines is a star. All she had to do, within moments of taking the Air…


Aerosmith aims to turn back the clock with new album

Aerosmith aims to turn back the clock with new album Steven Tyler and Joe Perry compare their new collection to ’70s classics like Toys in the Attic. By: Nick Krewen Special to the Star, Published on Sun Nov 04 2012   You know that adage “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger?” The maxim can be fully applied to Music From Another Dimension, Aerosmith’s first new studio album of original…


Junior Brown invents his place in Sleepwalk Guitar Festival

Musician’s creation, the guit-steel, lets him stand out amid sea of talent at Toronto fest. Junior Brown and his guit-steel are guests of the Sleepwalk festival     By: Nick Krewen Special to the Star, Published on Wed Oct 31 2012 When the second annual Sleepwalk Guitar Festival convenes at the Great Hall from Nov. 2 to 4, there will be plenty of six-string pioneers but only one inventor in…


Father John Misty’s ‘drunk wizard’ comes back to Toronto

Folkie J Tillman is having a lot more fun onstage these days with his new musical alter ego. J. Tillman, alias Father John Misty, has momentum in his relentless touring, including a new stop in Toronto at Lee’s Palace on Oct. 27. By: Nick Krewen Special to the Star, Published on Sat Oct 27 2012   If formerly lugubrious folk singer and ex-Fleet Foxes drummer J Tillman’s recent transformation into…


Iris DeMent wants songs to be worth the wait

By NICK KREWEN Special to the Star Fri., Oct. 19, 2012 The last time Grammy-nominated, Americana music siren Iris DeMent released an album of original songs, Lisa Marie Presley had divorced Michael Jackson; Diana, Princess of Wales was still among the living and social media was restricted to email. Not that it matters to the DeMent faithful who will pack Hugh’s Room to the rafters this weekend for a pair of…