By Steve Newton As you may aware, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame crapped the bed again yesterday, inducting the likes of Whitney Houston and Depeche Mode over nominees […]
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 a lot of legendary blues guitarists over the years. B.B. King, Albert King, Buddy Guy, Albert Collins, Stevie Ray Vaughan–they don’t get much more famous […]
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, OCT. 26, 2016 By Steve Newton I was a rock-crazed 17-year-old when the first Rush album came out in 1974, so of course I became an […]
By Steve Newton For 40 years now the trio of Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart has been traversing the world, taking their patented brand of challenging prog-rock to […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 5, 2002 By Steve Newton Rush’s latest CD, Vapor Trails, may be its best recording ever, and since the Canuck prog-rock trio now […]
By Steve Newton If you’re the type of diehard Rush freak who thinks who’ve seen everything the band’s ever put to video, get ready for this. The Canuck prog-rock legends […]
By Steve Newton ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 23, 1999 Apart from an arena show with Rod Stewart in the ’80s, it had been nearly 25 years since […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JUNE 19, 1997 By Steve Newton In conversation, blues legend Otis Rush comes across like one of his classic guitar solos: direct and to […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MAY 22, 1997 Although they’ve sold more than 35 million records and been a major force on the hard-rock world for 23 years, it […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MAY 15, 1997 By Steve Newton Although I’m usually too lazy to bother fiddling with LPs these days, those old black beauties sure do […]
By Steve Newton The Pete Best of Canada finally gets his due. John Rutsey, the drummer who played on the very first Rush album before being replaced by Neil Peart, will get […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MAY 28, 1992 You don’t have to be a big fan of Metallica’s furiously thrashy—albeit recently refined—sound to give the band credit for blazing […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JAN. 30, 1992 By Steve Newton When the Georgia Straight interviewed Queensrÿche vocalist Geoff Tate last month, the singer had some intriguing things to […]
By Steve Newton Universal Music Canada announced today that the mighty Rush will reissue its self-titled 1974 debut album on vinyl to mark its 40-year recording career. Here’s the promotional […]
By Steve Newton Just before she started getting recognized for her appearances in a string of videos for Aerosmith power-ballads, Alicia Silverstone made her feature film debut in the low-budget […]
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 […]
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, SEPT. 27, 2011 By Steve Newton Those dickwads down at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame have done it again. The list of nominees for […]
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, MAY 30, 2008 When you’ve been around as long as Rush has, you can pretty well do as you please. If you don’t feel like doing […]
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, JULY 1, 2011 Rush fans are famous for their unwavering devotion to the Canuck prog-rock trio, but some go that extra mile—like the guy who showed […]
By Steve Newton When I interview the world’s greatest guitarists, I often like to ask them who they think is the world’s greatest guitarist. Carlos Santana is definitely one of […]
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 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 Neil Peart, arguably the world’s greatest rock drummer, has died at age 67. According to a statement issued today by family spokesperson Elliot Mintz, Peart died Tuesday in […]
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 […]
