By Steve Newton The nominations for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s class of 2019 were announced recently and, as expected, Jann Wenner and the other dimwits in charge […]
By Steve Newton If you’re a fan of real rock ‘n’ roll you’ve probably already heard the bad news: Link Wray has been snubbed yet again by the Rock and […]
By Steve Newton A little over 20 years ago I did my one and only interview with guitar legend Link Wray, and man was that cool. He’s always been one […]
By Steve Newton It’s a sunny Saturday afternoon and I’m not quite up to mowing the lawn yet, so I figure I’ll just post another audio excerpt from my one-and-only […]
By Steve Newton Back in ’97 when I did my one-and-only interview with guitar legend Link Wray–who the bozos down at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame still refuse […]
By Steve Newton Few guitar players in history are more deserving of recognition than Link Wray, the inventor of the raunchy riff, but you wouldn’t know it from the actions […]
By Steve Newton The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame apparently believes that Depeche Mode outrocks Johnny Winter, that Chic blows Rory Gallagher away, and that Joan Baez is more rock […]
By Steve Newton The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominated 15 artists for induction today, but neither Rory Gallagher, Johnny Winter, nor Link Wray were among them. Instead, Jan […]
By Steve Newton Okay, it has finally come to this. After years of slagging the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for its inconceivable ignorance of the best rock music […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 18, 2003 By Steve Newton Guitarist Eddie Angel was playing at a Nashville club in 1986, opening up for underrated roots-twang merchants Webb […]
charles campbell photo By Steve Newton I finally got around to checking out the nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame‘s class of 2015 and, lemme tell ya, that […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, FEB. 8, 2001 By Steve Newton True to its name, Southern Culture on the Skids has always endeavoured to promote the stereotypical lifestyles of […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JULY 10, 1997 By Steve Newton When I heard that legendary instro-rock guitarist Link Wray was performing a few tunes and signing autographs at […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JULY 3, 1997 By Steve Newton There’s been a missing Link on the North American music scene for a long time, but now he’s […]
By Steve Newton The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has done it again, proving once more that it has its head so far up its ass that it isn’t […]
By Steve Newton Well, those bozos down at the highly slaggable Rock and Roll Hall of Fame finally came to their senses. Twenty-two years after it first became eligible for induction, […]
By Steve Newton If you’ve been reading this blog much over the last few years, you’ve surely figured out that I’m not a big fan of the Rock and Roll […]
By Steve Newton In yesterday’s blog denouncing the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s continued refusal to induct Link Wray, I mentioned that today I planned to induct six acts […]
charles campbell photo By Steve Newton It’s been 10 days since the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its nominees for induction in 2018, choosing a whopping 19 bands and […]
By Steve Newton In celebration of the Georgia Straight turning 50 this year, I figured I’d offer a roundup of the 50 top Vancouver concerts I’ve reviewed while writing for the paper […]
By Steve Newton Man, I sure have been lucky as far as interviewing great guitarists go. Sometimes–in the case of guys like Joe Satriani, Buddy Guy, Dickey Betts, and […]
By Steve Newton Back in January of 2013 when I started planning the Ear of Newt website–which I launched on Halloween night that year–I knew I had to get my […]
By Steve Newton Google “100 greatest guitarists” these days and what shows up at the top is a total joke. It’s the high ‘n’ mighty Rolling Stone‘s list of the […]
By Steve Newton So the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame did it again. Today the poorly-named musical dumping ground in Cleveland inducted six acts into its fold, including folkie […]
By Steve Newton Tonight the much-maligned Rock and Roll Hall of Fame officially inducts Deep Purple, Cheap Trick, Steve Miller, Chicago, and, unbelievably, legendary rock ‘n’ rollers N.W.A. Now, this is […]
By Steve Newton In a few hours I’m heading out to see Louisiana slide-guitar ace Sonny Landreth play a gig in Vancouver. If you’re a fan of Sonny, you may […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 1995 By Steve Newton I must have gotten tired of listening to rock vocalists in 1995, because the majority of my top picks […]
By Steve Newton Now that the millions of Deep Purple fans around the world have finished celebrating the hard-rock legends’ shockingly overdue induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of […]
By Steve Newton If you’ve been visiting Ear of Newt for the last year or two you’ve no doubt figured out that I’m not a big fan of the Rock […]
By Steve Newton Google “100 greatest guitarists” these days and what shows up at the top is a total joke. It’s the high ‘n’ mighty Rolling Stone‘s list of the […]
By Steve Newton American guitar hero Joe Bonamassa called me up today, in advance of his Vancouver double-header, and we mostly talked about his new live album, Muddy Wolf at […]
By Steve Newton On April 12, 1990–the Cramps played the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver. Oh man, what a show that was. R.I.P. Lux Interior. In advance of the gig I […]
By Steve Newton Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx declared on his Facebook page yesterday that he’d “probably” turn down induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Fvckin-AAA! That […]
By Steve Newton The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has made some silly-ass moves over the years, nominating lame-o acts like Chic and inducting Cat Stevens while leaving more deserving […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, APRIL 26, 2001 One of the best perks of being a Media Slut From Hell—I mean, music journalist—is getting backstage to pose for photos […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, NOV. 2, 2000 By Steve Newton Psychosexual. Psychosomatic. Psychobabble. Psychobilly? You’ll find all but the last word in Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, because California […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, AUG. 17, 2000 A few years back Calgary instro-rockers Huevos Rancheros made my Top 10 with their CD Dig In!, a veritable smorgasbord of […]
The rock-guitar world lost one of its most amazing artists in February of 2011 when Gary Moore passed away while on holiday in Spain, but now comes word that a […]
By Steve Newton Devoted Johnny Winter fans are still mourning the passing of the Texas guitar legend, who died last Wednesday (July 16) at the age of 70. They’ve no […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 4, 1997 By Steve Newton In decades past, strict-minded parents would try to keep impressionable youngsters away from rock ’n’ roll, believing it […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, NOV. 16, 1995 By Steve Newton “High-cholesterol, toe-sucking geek rock.” That’s how singer-guitarist Rick Miller describes the œuvre of his band, Southern Culture on […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, AUG. 24, 1995 Sometimes I wish I’d been more than a toddler in 1960 so I could have appreciated tunes such as the Ventures’ […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JUNE 1992 It’s a good thing Robert Gordon has plenty of charisma—enough, in fact, to make up for Chris Spedding’s total lack of charm. […]
By Steve Newton Yesterday on its official YouTube channel, legendary rock band Deep Purple posted a video announcing the upcoming rerelease of its Made in Japan album in various formats, which include previously […]
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, OCT. 16, 2013 By Steve Newton The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has done it again. It’s made a complete ass of itself by nominating, […]
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, DEC. 12, 2012 By Steve Newton If you’re a Rush freak who’s been holding a grudge against the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for not […]
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, OCT. 20, 2012 By Steve Newton If you’re a Rush fan, you’ve no doubt heard that the Canuck power trio has finally been nominated for the […]
DEC. 2017: Newt’s Rock Hall inducts MOTORHEAD, T. REX, FREE, THE MC5, HUMBLE PIE, and THE J. GEILS BAND DEC. 2017: LINK WRAY loses to Bon Jovi as the Rock […]
So, yeah, I’ve reviewed a few shows over the years. ROGER WATERS at Rogers Arena, Oct. 28, 2017 GUNS N’ ROSES at BC Place Stadium, Sept. 1, 2017 THE AGE OF […]
Some of my interviews, arranged alphabetically, from AC/DC to ZZ Top AC/DC Malcolm Young & Brian Johnson, 1983 AEROSMITH Joe Perry, Sept. 2010 AEROSMITH Steven Tyler, 1997 AEROSMITH Joe Perry, 1997 […]
