ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 31, 1995 By Steve Newton Some guys have it tough, and then there’s Colin James. When it came time to record his fourth album, the local blues-rocker didn’t hole up in any ice-encased northern studio. James ended up down in the Bahamas, poor guy. But it wasn’t like he went there … Continue reading Colin James took some funky pills for his new Bad Habits
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON APRIL 1, 1993 By Steve Newton A lot of bands know how to play to a crowd, but not many bands know how to be played by a crowd. Vermont’s Phish is one of the latter. Band members came up with the idea of throwing beach balls out into the audience—each one … Continue reading Mike Gordon says Phish is happy with the current situation
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAY 25, 1984 By Steve Newton With their last two albums reaching platinum status (over one million copies sold), Judas Priest is one of the world’s most popular heavy metal acts. The band’s steel-throated singer, Rob Halford, phoned me recently and elaborated on their new management, new album, and the state of … Continue reading Judas Priest’s Rob Halford calls heavy metal “a young musical force” in 1984
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JAN. 17, 1991 By Steve Newton So what’s a devoted rock critic to do when one of the genre’s most potent acts hits town for two back-to-back, sold-out shows? Does he pick one night and hope to hell it’s the best one? Not likely. He checks ’em both out, of course. Talk … Continue reading In the metal realm, it doesn’t get any better than AC/DC live
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAY 2, 1991 By Steve Newton Anybody out there remember the old Davy Crockett TV show, starring Fess Parker as the coonskin-capped Tennessee woodsman who’d go in the bushes with a grizzly bear and a Bowie knife and come out with just the knife? Anybody ever own one of those coonskin caps, … Continue reading The Kentucky Headhunters are a hillbilly version of the Beach Boys
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JUNE 6, 1991 By Steve Newton Guitarist Steve Morse might not be one of the best-known instrumental recording artists around; he’s certainly not as familiar to the general record-buying public as someone like Jeff Beck or Joe Satriani—or even the new-found phenomenon Eric Johnson. But the folks that do know him know … Continue reading Steve Morse transforms into a different kind of person at night
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON SEPT. 7, 1995 By Steve Newton Sometimes it seems as if there are two kinds of people in the world: David Lee Roth folks and Sammy Hagar folks. Dave folks are kind of a wild bunch—they prefer their music with a raw edge, full of primitive, howling vocals and finger-numbing guitar solos. … Continue reading Alex Van Halen on Hagar and Roth, the magic of Eddie, and finding Balance with Bruce Fairbairn
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JULY 16, 1992 By Steve Newton Anyone fortunate enough to have seen the late Stevie Ray Vaughan play knows the gifted Texas blues-rocker had that special something of which guitar legends are made. But good as he was, Vaughan would never have been able to soar to the heights he did on … Continue reading Doyle Bramhall II’s dad wants his Lightnin’ Hopkins guitar back
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MARCH 2, 1989 By Steve Newton Back in the late ’70s, one of this scribbler’s favourite pastimes was throwing Cheap Trick’s In Color album on the turntable and cranking ‘er up. The band’s thoroughly rockin’ power-pop was just the right brain lube between heavy bouts of exam cramming. At … Continue reading Cheap Trick hooks up with Mötley Crüe members to play AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” in Vancouver
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON APRIL 15, 1993 By Steve Newton When major-label recording artists do interviews to promote a new release, they usually go on about how it’s the best one they’ve ever made, how making it sapped all the artistic energy their souls could muster—that sort of thing. Then there’s Colin Linden, who plays the … Continue reading Canadian blues-roots great Colin Linden is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON DEC. 19, 1991 By Steve Newton When a rock writer does a lot of “phoners”—media slang for telephone interviews—with bands that are coming to town, once in a while wires get crossed. This scribbler was planning to speak to Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder last week, but guitarist Stone Gossard rang up … Continue reading Stone Gossard says Pearl Jam’s hard work is all paying off
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON NOV. 26, 1992 By Steve Newton If there were a CRTC regulation that based Canadian content on actual lyrics as opposed to the citizenship of a song’s composer, the Tragically Hip would be the darlings of CanCon advocates across the country. On their new album, Fully Completely, the Hipsters mention everything from … Continue reading Gordon Downie goes Fully Completely Canadian on new Tragically Hip album
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON APRIL 27, 1995 By Steve Newton When you’re guitar god Slash from Guns N’ Roses and you’re looking for a singer, you get to take your pick. Many hopefuls tried out for the lead-vocalist position in Slash’s Snakepit, including King’s X crooner Doug Pinnick, Spike from the London Quireboys, and former Little … Continue reading With the Big 3-0 looming, Slash figures that “it’s happy hour somewhere”
