Aubrey "Drake" Graham, Canada, Engineer, Grammy, Hip-Hop, JUNO, Justin Bieber, Los Angeles, Marshall "Eminem" Mathers, Mixer, Nicki Minaj, Producer, Songwriter, Toronto, United States July 20, 2023

Boi-1da reflects on his career — from being a Toronto kid rushing out to buy an Eminem album to a Grammy nominated producer

Boi-1da has produced for music superstars, including a long association with Drake. On Sunday, he’s up for Non-Classical Producer of the Year for the second time By Nick Krewen Special to the Star When the 65th Grammy Awards are held Sunday in Los Angeles, all Canadian eyes will be on the Non-Classical Producer of the Year category. That’s because Toronto’s Matthew Samuels – better known publicly as Boi-1da – has…

Blues, Canada, JUNO, Pop, Rock, Rock 'N Roll, Songwriter, Toronto, Voice July 20, 2023

After 23 years out of the spotlight, a Canadian superstar returns with a new album: “Nobody was waiting for the record.”

Amanda Marshall is back with Heavy Lifting, her first album in two decades. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star Music comeback story of the year? Well, that would belong to one Amanda Marshall,  the Toronto-born vocal powerhouse that is finally emerging from the mists of time following a 22-and-a-half-year hiatus between albums: Heavy Lifting, a 12-song opus featuring 11 Marshall originals and a cover of Floetry‘s “I Hope She Cheats”…

Art Rock, Bass, Canada, Drums, Guitar, Literary, Piano, Rock, Rush, Synthesizer, Toronto, Voice July 8, 2023

The band Max Webster, almost Canada’s Next Big Thing in the 1970s and ’80s, gets the coffee table book treatment

From 1972 until 1981, the band created five wonderfully idiosyncratic studio albums and toured incessantly — even headlining Maple Leaf Gardens three times within 18 months. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star Up until very recently, Kim Mitchell had forgotten that day in Indianapolis in 1981 when he performed “Battle Scar” with his Toronto rockers Max Webster and a man wearing a mask of ex-U.S. president Richard Nixon snuck…

Arranger, Canada, Composer, Festivals, Herbie Hancock, Jazz, Toronto June 25, 2023

The steel pan is more than a vacation sound to Joy Lapps — it’s about the joy of self-expression

Lapps is one of the few women to specialize in steel pan or steel drum. She will share her passion with the Toronto Jazz Festival. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star Quiz time: what sunny-sounding percussive instrument that invokes the sound of the Caribbean is forged from a 55-gallon industrial drum? The answer: the chromatically pitched steel pan, which is front and centre of Joy Lapps‘ first full-length album of…

Business, Led Zeppelin, Music Industry (Trade), Pink Floyd, United Kingdom June 21, 2023

Hipgnosis made indelible album art for Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and many more – now it’s immortalized in a documentary

With the doc Squaring the Circle and Pink Floyd exhibit Their Mortal Remains in Toronto, founder Aubrey “Po” Powell feels Hipgnosis is getting its due. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star British progressive rock legends Pink Floyd may be known for such masterpieces as Dark Side of The Moon and The Wall, but they also were directly responsible for launching the most distinctive, popular and influential creators of memorable…