Songwriter

Fredstocks: The Anti Festival

Alt. country singer/songwriter Fred Eaglesmith has quietly pioneered his own underground festival scene GRAMMY.com Nick Krewen Who needs Deadheads when you have Fredheads? With 16 albums and two DVDs to his credit, Canadian alternative country singer/songwriter Fred Eaglesmith has built a particularly devoted following in North America, Australia and the Netherlands. And while his notoriety and album sales may not rival that of a Bruce Springsteen or a Bob Dylan,…


Music That Puts You To Sleep

Music That Puts You To Sleep July 20, 2006 For “therapeutic” music, boring’s a good thing GRAMMY.com Nick Krewen If David Bradstreet isn’t lulling you to sleep with his music, he isn’t doing his job. According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, more than 70 million Americans suffer from sleep disorders ranging from sleep apnea to hypertension. Bradstreet, a Toronto-based, Juno award-winning folk singer, instrumentalist and composer, is…


Remembering Shel

  Nick Krewen GRAMMY.com Nov/Dec 2005 Legacy Recordings’ reputation for mining its vaults and producing superb compilations received another boost this past summer with the release of such acclaimed packages as Johnny Cash‘s 4-CD box set The Legend, Miles Davis‘ quintuple-disc The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions and Bob Dylan‘s Martin Scorsese-driven No Direction Home. One watershed anthology, however, got lost in the shuffle: the best of Shel Silverstein – his…


Cooking Up New Themes

Nick Krewen GRAMMY.COM August 2005   Ate any good music lately? Starving for new challenges outside their proven abilities, recording artists are increasingly entering the kitchen to chase their next meal ticket: food and drink product lines. Whether it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner, notably established pop, country, rock and R&B stars are offering edible commodities geared to any taste. You can start the day off with some links of George…


Blocking Writer’s Block

  Nick Krewen GRAMMY.com September 2004   Marshall Crenshaw feels the pain. Nineteen years ago, the New York-based singer-and-songwriter was in a state of panic when he vainly searched for inspiration to create the tunes that would eventually become his third album. The root of his anguish: writer’s block. “My confidence was shot and I felt kind of beset by circumstances beyond my control,” recalls Crenshaw of the agonizing days,…