By Steve Newton You may have heard that British musician Danny Kirwan passed away on Friday, at the age of 68. Don’t feel too bad if his name doesn’t sound […]
By Steve Newton In case you haven’t heard, my first book came out last month. It’s called Gord Downie, and it’s about a poetic Canadian guy who rocked his ass […]
jet sutherland photo By Steve Newton After 35-plus years of writing about other people rockin’ out on guitar, I finally got off my butt, hopped on stage, and did some […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE CHILLIWACK PROGRESS, MAY 6, 1981 By Steve Newton (In the seventh of a series of stories on local bands, The Progress presents a profile on Midnight […]
By Steve Newton Back in January I blogged about the “major concert news” that my old buddy’s cover band, Cold Chain, was gonna play the 40-year reunion for my Chilliwack […]
By Steve Newton It probably won’t garner as much attention as the announcement of the upcoming AC/DC world tour, but I just found out that my old buddy’s cover band […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JAN. 6, 2000 By Steve Newton It’s a bit weird coming from a small town that has the same name as a popular ’70s […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, FEB. 6, 1992 What makes a rock writer desperate to score the reviewer’s assignment for a Red Hot Chili Peppers show? Could it be […]
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, JUNE 25, 2012 By Steve Newton Over the years I’ve heard quite a few folks fondly reminisce about seeing Heart play their high-school gym out in […]
By Steve Newton Being a teenaged devotee of guitar-driven boogie in the seventies put me directly in line with what was required to be a hardcore ZZ Top fan. I […]
By Steve Newton By now you’ve no doubt heard the awful news: that Rush drummer-lyricist Neil Peart has died from brain cancer. The man who inspired a million drummers is […]
By Steve Newton I’ve interviewed Geddy Lee a couple of times, in 1997 and 2002. This was the second time, when Rush was touring behind its Vapour Trails album, which I […]
By Steve Newton “(Don’t Fear) the Reaper” might be my favourite song of all time. Or maybe it’s tied with John Lennon’s “Imagine”. Either way, I freakin’ love that song. […]
By Steve Newton In March of 1992 I did an interview with Michael Schenker, one of my favourite hard-rock guitarists of all time, whose work with Scorpions, UFO, and MSG […]
By Steve Newton I interviewed Pantera cofounder and drummer Vinnie Paul on February 20, 1992, five days before the release of the band’s sixth album, Vulgar Display of Power. The […]
By Steve Newton Back in January of 1992 I interviewed Joan Jett, who was heading to Vancouver on a tour promoting her eighth album with the Blackhearts, Notorious. You may […]
By Steve Newton I’ve been fortunate enough to have interviewed Iron Maiden members six times between 1982 and 2012, but the only time I chatted with bass god Steve Harris […]
By Steve Newton Back in November of 1985 I interviewed Motley Crue guitarist Mick Mars the same day his band played Vancouver on its Theatre of Pain tour. At one […]
By Steve Newton Way the hell back in 1989 I did an interview with Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach. That was less than a month after the release of the band’s […]
By Steve Newton As far as seeing concerts goes, I’ve been very lucky to have been situated in Vancouver since the early ’80s. It’s a major stopping point for bands […]
By Steve Newton I’ve interviewed Rob Halford five times over the years, the first being way the funk back in 1984, when Judas Priest was headed to Vancouver on the […]
By Steve Newton Drum legend Tommy Aldridge has played with some of the greatest rock guitarists of all time: Gary Moore, Steve Vai, Randy Rhoads, Pat Travers, Tony MacAlpine, Scott […]
kevin statham photo ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JAN. 20, 1989 By Steve Newton Lynyrd Skynyrd once recorded an LP called Nuthin’ Fancy. Now I don’t know if British […]
kirk west photo By Steve Newton In case you haven’t heard the news about Dickey Betts, the 74-year-old guitar legend fell and cracked his head the and is now in […]
By Steve Newton I’ve interviewed hundreds of rock musicians over the past 35 years, but I’ve only been interviewed myself a few times–most of those discussions taking place earlier this […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 23, 1988 By Steve Newton If you were a teenager in the ’70s, you probably remember Deep Purple’s Made in Japan, the double […]
By Steve Newton I watched that recently released documentary on Mick Ronson, Beside Bowie, the other day, and it inspired me to digitize another snippet off my first interview with […]
