“I think he would actually enjoy this show,” says the Ontario musician of Bowie, who died a year ago Tuesday. Nick Krewen Music, Mon., Jan. 9, 2017 Canadian singer and songwriter Emm Gryner has crossed the border this week to pay tribute to an old friend on the anniversary of his death. The Sarnia native is travelling to New York City to participate with other band alumni on Tuesday in…
HIGH VALLEY’S BRAD REMPEL CO-WRITES SONGS AT THE BEACH Story by Nick Krewen | January 4, 2017 For SOCAN Words and Music. Isolation has its advantages. Growing up in the tiny northern Mennonite hamlet of La Crete, Alberta, about 250 km south of the Northwest Territories border, Brad and Curtis Rempel were cut off from the type of media exposure the rest of us take for granted. For example,…
The punk rock band is one of few with an alter-ego: a sunny ensemble called Mariachi El Bronx. Nick Krewen, Music, Tues., Dec 27, 2016 Jekyll, meet Hyde. There’s nothing too sinister about Mariachi El Bronx, the alter ego of L.A. punk rockers The Bronx, but the duality of a band that pursues both identities with equal career-driven vigour is a rarity in this day and age. Where The Bronx…
Story by Nick Krewen | November 15, 2016 For SOCAN Words and Music. Guardian angels sometimes arrive in unusual forms. For Calgary singer-and-songwriter JJ Shiplett, after 12 years of constant slogging on the club circuit, his cherub arrived unexpectedly in the guise of Johnny Reid, the multi-platinum-selling singer-songwriter who has the ability to pack arenas across Canada. After hearing Shiplett sing harmony on some Joni Delaurier songs, Reid called…
Story by Nick Krewen | November 2, 2016 For SOCAN Words and Music. Meet the Quentin Tarantino of country music – without all the blood, gore and violence, of course. Dean Brody, the 13-time Canadian Country Music Association Award, four-time SOCAN Award, and two-time JUNO Award winner, name-checks the renegade Pulp Fiction and Hateful Eight Hollywood filmmaker on the title track of his sixth and newest album, Beautiful Freakshow, and…
