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 […]
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 announced today that, […]
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 […]
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 some of the […]
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 […]
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 bumph: As part […]
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 Thirty-six years ago today somebody at Circus Magazine sent me a rejection letter. They could have at least signed it. Back in the seventies I devoured Circus. […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MAY 22, 2003 By Steve Newton Fareed Haque is one of those guitarists who’s always on the lookout for new ways to challenge himself. […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, OCT. 17, 1996 By Steve Newton Whenever I feel like getting a rise out of my 16-year-old niece, all it takes is a quick […]
ORIGINAL PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, AUGUST 15, 1991 By Steve Newton Men Without Hats immortalized the idea “You can dance if you want to.” I dunno—sometimes I just can’t […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, NOV. 22, 1990 By Steve Newton Lawrence Gowan has one heck of an ear when it comes to creating melodies. His forte is coming […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MAY 8, 1987 By Steve Newton When Steve Earle was 14 years old, he ran away from his home outside of San Antonio, Texas, […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, FEB. 11, 1983 By Steve Newton Triumph’s Rik Emmett is a man of many moods on guitar. Though best known for supplying the driving […]
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, APRIL 5, 2017 By Steve Newton The Void is like a cosmic cross between the original Hellraiser, John Carpenter’s The Thing, some freaky Lovecraft shit, and that skinless-human […]
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 Gary Moore has been one of my fave guitarists ever since I heard him with Thin Lizzy back in the seventies. I then closely followed his hard-rock/metal […]
By Steve Newton Yesterday I posted my first-ever interview with shock-rock king Alice Cooper, which I’d conducted 30 years ago, after Cooper had released his Constrictor album. During our conversation the […]
randall vasquez photo By Steve Newton One run-through of its new album, Sorceress, is evidence enough that Swedish quintet Opeth was heavily influenced by ’70s prog rock. The disc was also […]
By Steve Newton Tal Wilkenfeld has accomplished an awful lot since emigrating to the U.S. from Australia in 2002 as a teen. She’s performed with jazz greats Chick Corea, Herbie […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, AUG. 19, 1986 By Steve Newton It was East meets West at Expo Theatre on Monday (August 25) when two bands from the other […]
By Steve Newton If you’re a Canuck rock fan, there’s a damn good chance you watched the big Tragically Hip concert from Kingston that was aired on the CBC last […]
By Steve Newton So, one of the greatest men who ever lived dies and CTV News Channel, in its FOX-like rush to be first with the BREAKING NEWS, can’t even […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MARCH 7, 1986 By Steve Newton Yessongs. Brain Salad Surgery. Selling England By the Pound. Do those album titles ring a bell? They should […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, AUG. 21, 1987 By Steve Newton Old rockers never die, they just play guitar for David Bowie. At least, that’s what Peter Frampton was […]
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, DEC. 15, 2010 By Steve Newton Drive-By Truckers The Big To-Do “Birthday Boy” has to be the greatest rock song of the year, and it’s no surprise it […]
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, DEC. 13, 2012 By Steve Newton Sorry, I’m just not into the Gangnam style. Neil Young and Crazy Horse Psychedelic Pill The Can-Am rock legend gets back […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 23, 1993 By Steve Newton Popular music hit an all-time low this year with the outbreak of something called gangsta rap, an ugly, […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 1992 By Steve Newton I was really hoping that I’d be able to praise 1992 as the year that rap “music” finally dried […]
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, […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JAN. 3, 1986 By Steve Newton Some years ago there was a club at the corner of Broadway and Kingsway known as Vancouver’s Tonite–one […]
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 […]
The sound from the stage was great–until the band got up there. By Steve Newton Yesterday I wrote a fun little blog about how nice it would be if Neil Young topped […]
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 […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 13, 1985 By Steve Newton Long John Baldry is a giant among British blues-rockers–and that’s not only because he stands 6 feet 7-1/2 […]
By Steve Newton Back in 1997 I did a set-visit piece for Fangoria on the local filming of Peter Benchley’s Creature, a TV-movie based on theJaws author’s 1994 novel, White Shark. The sea-beast in question […]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, AUG. 2, 1985 By Steve Newton Blue Oyster Cult‘s Tyranny and Mutation. Aerosmith‘s Rocks. UFO’s Phenomenon. The Montrose debut. Back in the early to […]
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, JULY 10, 2015 By Steve Newton I wonder how much longer teenaged moviegoers’ patience with low-budget “found footage” horror can last? Kids must be getting sick […]
