ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JULY 23, 1992 By Steve Newton HEDLEY, B.C.—Backstage at the Hedley Blast, Blue Rodeo’s Greg Keelor slumps in his chair and casually scribbles out a song list, pausing now and again to ask roaming band-mates which tunes they want added or dropped from their upcoming set. New drummer Glenn … Continue reading Blue Rodeo gets grungier and more country on new disc Lost Together
Horror director Gigi Saul Guerrero appears at the Rio By Steve Newton MONDAY: American indie-rockers Built to Spill, featuring singer-guitarist Doug Martsch, play the Commodore Ballroom, with guests Braided Waves and Anchorbaby. MONDAY: the Vancouver Canucks take on the red-hot Vegas Golden Knights in National Hockey League action at Rogers Arena. Blue Rodeo plays the … Continue reading Newt’s top 10 things to do in Metro Vancouver this week, Nov. 21-25
Steve Vai plays the Rickshaw By Steve Newton AVENGED SEVENFOLD: hard-rock/metal band from Huntingdon Beach, California, with guests Alexisonfire and Kim Dracula. August 7 at Rogers Arena. ROCK MAPLE RIDGE: three-day classic-rock festival features headlining performances by Tom Cochrane, Kim Mitchell, and Trooper. August 11 to 13 at Albion Fairgrounds. Canuck rock rules. Jeff Goldblum … Continue reading Newt’s top 10 (or 11) Metro Vancouver concerts in August
One Million Years B.C. screens at the Rio By Steve Newton MONDAY: final day of the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE), featuring carnival rides, games, the SuperDogs competition, jousting and high-dive shows, immersive Monet art exhibit, agriculture displays, cooking demonstrations, a pyro musical, and Summer Night Concerts. Don’t forget those little donuts. MONDAY: Canadian roots-rock greats Blue … Continue reading Newt’s top 10 (or 15) things to do in Vancouver this week, September 4 to 8
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JUNE 9, 1989 By Steve Newton Kevn Kinney is the lead vocalist, chief songwriter, and coguitarist for Atlanta, Georgia’s Drivin’ n’ Cryin’, but he’s as surprised as anyone that he’s even ended up in a band. As he explained to me from Oklahoma City last week, Kinney was the odd man out … Continue reading Drivin’ n’ Cryin’s Kevn Kinney took the “i” out of his name when he was a punk rocker
By Steve Newton Back on February 24, 1997, I interviewed guitarist Chad Taylor before his band, Live, played a sold-out show at a Vancouver nightclub called the Rage. That was nine days after the release of the band’s fourth album, Secret Samadhi, which debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and sold over … Continue reading That time Live’s Chad Taylor told me that the beauty of music is that it’s not held back by anything
By Steve Newton I interviewed Precious Metal vocalist Leslie Knauer in March of 1991, when the L.A. based glam-metal band was touring behind its third and final album. That self-titled release featured a remake of Jean Knight’s 1971 hit “Mr. Big Stuff”, and the group had shot a video for it featuring former (and possibly, … Continue reading That time Leslie Knauer of Precious Metal told me how Donald Trump screwed her band over
By Steve Newton If you haven’t already figured out that Big Sugar is an awesome band, the guy from White Stripes has a message for you. In a video posted today, rock legend Jack White extolls the virtues of the Toronto group’s second album, Five Hundred Pounds (released in the U.S. as 500 Pounds). “I … Continue reading Jack White calls Big Sugar’s 500 Pounds “the best blues-based record to ever come out of Canada”
By Steve Newton I interviewed Blitzspeer singer-guitarist Phil Caivano in March of 1991, when the New York City metal band was touring behind its debut album, which was actually a live EP. The quartet would break up two years later after releasing the studio album Saves, and Caivano would go on to join Monster Magnet, … Continue reading That time Phil Caivano of Blitzspeer told me that L.A.’s metal scene sucked compared to New York’s
By Steve Newton Back in October of 1996 I did my one and only interview with New York blues-rocker Bill Perry, who called me up from a roadside pay phone in Iowa. At the time Perry was touring in support of his debut release, Love Scars, which blew me away with its intense, Gary Moore-type … Continue reading That time blues guitar great Bill Perry told me why it only took him six days to record and master his new debut album
By Steve Newton Alex Lifeson called me up from a tour stop in Fresno, California, on January 25, 1992, while Rush was on the road with Primus, showcasing tunes from their latest album, Roll the Bones. I asked him about the musical progression Rush had taken over the years, his early influences on guitar, and … Continue reading 10 minutes on the phone with Alex Lifeson of Rush in 1992
By Steve Newton I did my third interview with Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich in April of 1997, when the band was touring behind its sixth studio album, the five-times-platinum Load. He called me up from backstage at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Coliseum, where the band was playing the second night of a double-header, with openers Corrosion of … Continue reading That time Lars Ulrich called me up from Cincinnati and told me that Metallica wasn’t doing bad for a buncha drunks
By Steve Newton I did my third interview with Rik Emmett in September of 1990, when he was promoting his debut solo album, Absolutely, which went gold in Canada. Two years earlier he’d left the popular Canadian power trio Triumph, so when he called from his home in Mississauga I asked him was it was … Continue reading That time I asked Rik Emmett what it was like being a solo artist after 13 years with Triumph
