Americana, Arranger, Beatles, Bluegrass, Bob Dylan, Country, Country Rock, Grammy, Guitar, Jimi Hendrix, Nashville, Outlaw Country, Producer, Ron Sexsmith, Songwriter, Texas, Texas Blues, United States, Voice August 20, 2023

‘I just write, you know?’ Steve Earle has songwriting down pat. Next, a TV pilot, two books and a Broadway musical

The outspoken troubadour responsible for some of music’s most enduring Americana songs has a Massey Hall show Aug. 25. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star Steve Earle, the outspoken troubadour responsible for some of music’s most enduring and sublime Americana songs, has a new goal in mind as he creeps toward the age of 70: a Broadway musical. “I’m writing a musical of Tender Mercies with Daisy Foote, whose…

Canada, CCMA, Composer, Events, Keith Urban, Music Publishing, Nashville, Nashville Sound, Record Labels, Songwriter, Toronto, Uncategorized, United States July 27, 2023

Steven Lee Olsen’s Miraculous Trek To the Grand Ole Opry

The songwriter behind Keith Urban’s hit ‘Blue Ain’t Your Color’ was working at an Audi dealership in Newmarket when he got his first big break. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star This Sunday night, Scarborough-born country singer and songwriter Steven Lee Olsen will realize another lifelong dream. Olsen, 37 — and currently on Canadian country radio airwaves with his Top 10 hit “Outta Yours,” — will be making his…

Arranger, Canada, Cinema, Composer, Film Scores, JUNO, Piano, Producer, Québec, Songwriter July 26, 2023

Alexandra Stréliski: From ad agency to award-winning musician with a hand from Jean-Marc Vallée

Stréliski, who has a new album out, Neo-Romance, says the late director gave her a push to make music her career. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star When Montréal composer Alexandra Stréliski release her instrumental album of lush piano music, Inscape, back in 2018, a funny thing happened. It became not only a smash hit in her home province of Québec and the rest of Canada, selling over 160,000…

Arranger, Canada, Composer, Experimental, Guitar, Joni Mitchell, Pearl Jam, Prince, Producer, Rock, Songwriter, Toronto July 26, 2023

Donna Grantis, a former guitarist with Prince’s 3rdeyegirl, is putting her music to work for the planet, alongside Brian Eno’s EarthPercent initiative

By Nick Krewen Special to the Star It was initially a Prince of an idea. Toronto’s Donna Grantis, the ace guitarist who was a member of the Minnesota wunderkind’s 3rdEyeGirl before his tragic death in 2016, said it was a question that the iconic singer-songwriter posed to the band while they were in a Paisley Park studio that set her on the path to becoming a climate change activist. “Prince…

Adult Contemporary, Grammy, In Memoriam, Jazz, k.d. lang, New York, Pop, United States, Voice July 21, 2023

How singer Tony Bennett embodied a life well-lived

Tony Bennett, who won 19 Grammys, died on Friday at age 96. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star Few artists are lucky to have the type of career that was afforded beloved Italian crooner Tony Bennett. Bennett, who died Friday two weeks shy of  his 97th birthday, may be best remembered for his golden standard “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” and as the peerless interpreter of the Great American Songbook,…