michele gare photo By Steve Newton When I did my first interview with Sue Foley, back in 1992, she was 23 years old and about to play a show at the Commodore Ballroom as part of the Antone’s Women Blues Revue, which saw her in the company of blues belters Angela Strehli, Lou Ann Barton, … Continue reading Sue Foley’s stunning guitar licks make for a killer night of Texas blues at the Rio
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, APRIL 18, 2002 By Steve Newton Rough Luck, the latest CD from Montreal-based blues artist Ray Bonneville, is about as solo as you can get. It’s just him, his guitar, an occasional harmonica, and his trusty footboard—a piece of plywood with four rubber stoppers to get it up off … Continue reading Ray Bonneville was fine with Sue Foley beating him out for the best blues Juno
By Steve Newton Back in March of 1992 I did my first interview with Canadian blues singer and Telecaster slinger Sue Foley. This was just before the release of her debut album, Young Girl Blues, and she was heading to Vancouver to perform as part of the Antone’s Women Blues Revue. At one point in … Continue reading That time 23-year-old Sue Foley told me that she didn’t pick up a guitar to get chicks–or guys, for that matter
Sue Foley plays the Rio By Steve Newton The Dead Daisies: hard-rock band featuring former members of Whitesnake, Mötley Crüe, and Dio, with guests the Wild! and La Chinga. September 2 at the Hollywood Theatre. Bonnie Raitt: American blues-roots singer-songwriter and slide-guitar ace, with guest Roy Rodgers. September 3 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. The Chicks: country … Continue reading Newt’s top 10 (or 15) Vancouver concerts in September
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 OCT. 21, 1988 By Steve Newton Bryan Adams was there. I was there. My sisters and brother-in-law were there. And if you’re lucky, you were there too–at the Town Pump, that is, to see the first Vancouver appearance in a long while by Toronto’s slide guitar ace Colin Linden. One of Hogtown’s … Continue reading Colin Linden charms Vancouver with rollicking tunes from new When the Spirit Comes LP
By Steve Newton I’ve interviewed Louisiana slide-guitar master Sonny Landreth four times between 1995 and 2016. This is the first time, when I called him up in Sacramento, California, where he was touring as the opening act for Chicago blues great Buddy Guy. Landreth was promoting his fourth studio album, South of I-10, which features a photo on … Continue reading That time I asked Sonny Landreth what first got him into slide guitar
By Steve Newton I’ve interviewed Louisiana slide-guitar master Sonny Landreth four times, because he’s just awesome. This is the first time, when I called him up in Sacramento, California, where he was touring as the opening act for Chicago blues great Buddy Guy. Landreth was promoting his fourth studio album, South of I-10, which featured … Continue reading That time Sonny Landreth told me about Mark Knopfler and Chet Atkins taking him to breakfast at a Cracker Barrel in Nashville
By Steve Newton I interviewed Jayhawks singer-guitarist and co-songwriter Gary Louris back in April of 1995, when his band was promoting its fourth studio album, Tomorrow the Green Grass. At the time the group was opening for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on the Dogs With Wings Tour, so of course I had to ask … Continue reading That time I asked Gary Louris of the Jayhawks how their tour was goin’ opening for Tom Petty
By Steve Newton Aerosmith released their first five albums while I was teenager, so I freakin’ loved Aerosmith. I played a lotta air guitar to Joe Perry‘s licks back in the day, so it was a kick to interview him for the first time in January of 1988, after the Permanent Vacation LP came out. … Continue reading 10 minutes on the phone with Aerosmith’s Joe Perry in 1988
By Steve Newton I interviewed Devin Townsend for the second time in September of 1993, shortly after he’d hooked up with Steve Vai and they’d recorded Vai’s Sex & Religion album. He was 21 at the time, and has since gone on to become one of the most acclaimed and prolific metal musicians in the … Continue reading 10 minutes on the phone with 21-year-old Devin Townsend in 1993
By Steve Newton I did my first interview with Steve Hackett in October of 1993, when he called me from upstate New York while touring behind his tenth solo album, Guitar Noir. I’d always loved his work with Genesis in the seventies, especially on albums like Selling England By the Pound. Early on in the … Continue reading 10 minutes on the phone with Steve Hackett from Genesis in 1993
By Steve Newton I interviewed John Mellencamp for the first time back in May of 1983, when he was still called John Cougar. He was touring behind his latest album, American Fool, but for some reason the Vancouver show got cancelled and the interview I did with him in advance never ran. At one point … Continue reading That time John Cougar told me that the high he gets from writing good songs is better than sex–and heroin
