Drummer Steve Smith gave up Journey’s arena rock to gain Vital Information

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MARCH 27, 1987 By Steve Newton It's a long way, in musical terms, from the commercial rock of Journey to the improvisational jazz of Vital Information. But for drummer Steve Smith, who appears at the Town Pump Friday (March 27) with Vital Information, it was a route that had to be taken. … Continue reading Drummer Steve Smith gave up Journey’s arena rock to gain Vital Information

Nude Polish mermaids get what they deserve with The Lure

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MARCH 15, 2017 By Steve Newton The last horror-musical I remember seeing was 2008's Repo! The Genetic Opera, in which director Darren Lynn Bousman of Saw II, III, and IV fame brought the worlds of nonconsensual organ transplants and operatic pseudo-metal together. In The Lure, Polish director Agnieszka Smoczynska guides the exploits of … Continue reading Nude Polish mermaids get what they deserve with The Lure

That time Gary Moore told me how he scored Peter Green’s ’59 Les Paul

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 solo career in the '80s, before he got the blues bigtime in 1990. I was fortunate enough to have interviewed the legendary picker once, back in … Continue reading That time Gary Moore told me how he scored Peter Green’s ’59 Les Paul

Nick Feldman on how Wang Chung gave William Friedkin’s To Live and Die in L.A. a deeper dimension

"[William Friedkin] approached us and said 'Just read the script, go into the studio for a week, and be brilliant. Be spontaneous.'"

That time Roy Buchanan told me that Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour was just a bluesman at heart

By Steve Newton I've been getting quite a few hits lately for a blog I posted about Danny Gatton, which included an audio excerpt from the interview I did with the underrated guitar genius back in 1993. So I figured maybe it was time to treat that particular group of Ear of Newt readers--the ones … Continue reading That time Roy Buchanan told me that Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour was just a bluesman at heart

Newt rocks out at 60th birthday bash with members of Chilliwack bands Cold Chain, Horsepower, and Concrete Jungle

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 half-assed riffing myself. Last night at the Coast Hotel, in the heart of beautiful downtown Chilliwack, B.C., a bunch of old guys who were born … Continue reading Newt rocks out at 60th birthday bash with members of Chilliwack bands Cold Chain, Horsepower, and Concrete Jungle

Get Out sets the bar shockingly high for 21st century horror

By Steve Newton If you only see one horror movie this year, let it be Get Out. And if you only see one movie of any kind this year, same thing. It's about as entertaining as celluloid gets. The film opens with a young black man wandering an upscale suburban neighbourhood at night, talking on … Continue reading Get Out sets the bar shockingly high for 21st century horror

The Girl With All the Gifts takes a tender turn with zombies

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON FEB. 22, 2017 By Steve Newton If you’re not a fan of flesh-eater flicks by now, you surely won’t be after seeing The Girl With All the Gifts. Following one of those pesky zombie holocausts, a group of undead/human-hybrid kids is kept in a grungy military prison/school in rural England, where they’re … Continue reading The Girl With All the Gifts takes a tender turn with zombies

That time I told Ronnie Montrose that I really liked Speed of Sound, and he said that he liked Music From Here more

By Steve Newton Like most hard-rock freaks in the seventies, I went nuts when I heard the debut Montrose album in '73, and the fierce glory of Ronnie Montrose's cranked guitar unleashed. I continued to love the music he made with singer Davey Pattison in the more prog-oriented rock band Gamma. And when Ronnie went … Continue reading That time I told Ronnie Montrose that I really liked Speed of Sound, and he said that he liked Music From Here more

That time Dickey Betts told me about Gregg Allman’s writer’s block

By Steve Newton When I interviewed Allman Brothers guitarist Dickey Betts back in July of 1991, the band had just released its Shades of Two Worlds album, its second to feature the amazing Warren Haynes as a fully-fledged member. As on the previous year's Seven Turns album, Betts and Haynes had written or cowritten the vast majority … Continue reading That time Dickey Betts told me about Gregg Allman’s writer’s block

Guitar stars Jimmie Vaughan, Neil Schon, Kim Mitchell, and Colin James shine at CFOX birthday bash

charles campbell photo ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, FEB. 20, 1987 By Steve Newton "The Fox rocks" is the motto that local FM station CFOX likes to use whenever possible. And whether you agree with that claim or not, one thing you've go to admit is that The Fox knows how to throw a … Continue reading Guitar stars Jimmie Vaughan, Neil Schon, Kim Mitchell, and Colin James shine at CFOX birthday bash

That time I asked J.J. Cale why it took him seven years to get an album out

By Steve Newton I feel extremely fortunate to have interviewed J.J. Cale a couple of times during the legendary songwriter's lifetime. The first time was back in 1990, when he was touring behind his first album on the Silvertone label, Travel-Log, which featured the incredible James Burton on guitar. It was Cale's first album in seven … Continue reading That time I asked J.J. Cale why it took him seven years to get an album out