ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JUNE 24, 1999 By Steve Newton On the back cover of his latest CD, Come On In, Mississippi bluesman R.L. Burnside is pictured standing in his modest kitchen, strumming a Stratocaster and gazing toward his fridge—which is chained shut. Since Burnside has been known to distill his own moonshine, you might think … Continue reading R.L. Burnside keeps his fridge chained shut and his blues cool as hell
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JUNE 24, 1999 By Steve Newton Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater chose a good guy to hang with when he moved to Chicago’s West Side in 1950. As a budding, 15-year-old bluesman, Clearwater became close friends with Magic Sam, the legendary West Side guitarist who died of a heart attack at the age … Continue reading Eddy Clearwater took Magic lessons on Chicago’s West Side
charles campbell photo ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON SEPT. 25, 1987 By Steve Newton Texas is famous for a few things. Lonestar beer. Redneck sheriffs. The Dallas Cowboys. It’s also famous for an albino guitarist named Johnny Winter, who grew up in Beaumont, Texas, with a keyboard whiz brother named Edgar. When Johnny was just 15, the two … Continue reading Johnny Winter’s lightning-fast licks prove that he’s still alive and well in Vancouver
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JAN. 14, 1999 By Steve Newton Guitar legend Stevie Ray Vaughan had a profound effect on a lot of people, and 21-year-old blues-rock whiz kid Kenny Wayne Shepherd is one of them. As the story goes, Shepherd developed his Stevie Ray obsession at the age of seven when the Texas Strat-strangler sat … Continue reading Texas Strat-strangler Kenny Wayne Shepherd goes all Stevie Ray on Vancouver’s ass
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON SEPT. 8, 1989 By Steve Newton Seeing a destined-to-be-huge band in a small venue can make for one of the most memorable nights in any rock fan’s existence. Kiss at the Commodore, Jeff Healey at the Yale, Living Colour at the Town Pump, Metallica at the New York Theatre–those are just a … Continue reading Bass god Billy Sheehan pooh-poohs Mr. Big’s supergroup status
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON SEPT. 1, 1994 By Steve Newton When famous rock guitarists reminisce about their first instruments, the talk tends toward dirt-cheap acoustics with heavy strings set so high off the fretboard that it hurts just to look at them. Not with Billy Gibbons, though. The incomparable guitarman for ZZ Top got an atypical … Continue reading ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons tells me “them low-down blues ain’t bad”
@shotbykevin ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MAY 22, 1997 By Steve Newton Although they’ve sold more than 35 million records and been a major force on the hard-rock world for 23 years, it appears as though Rush’s status as an arena-packing concert draw—at least in Vancouver—has slipped a few notches. There were scads of … Continue reading Rush refuses to give John Rutsey his due on Test for Echo tour in Vancouver
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 4, 1997 By Steve Newton Those ’70s-rock fans sure are a devoted bunch. Even if one of their fave old bands hasn’t produced a hit in two decades, they’ll stick with it and flock to its concerts to hold Bic lighters on high and relive the halcyon days … Continue reading Spine-tingling guitar solos light up Lynyrd Skynyrd’s first-ever Vancouver show
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 14, 1995 By Steve Newton It’s midnight on a Friday (September 8) at the Town Pump. The brew has been flowing freely for hours already, and the hard-rocking headlining band is about to take the stage. The crowd is definitely stoked for some good old…spoken-word performance? Apparently, Junkhouse … Continue reading Junkhouse at the Town Pump evokes the Beat Farmers’ Glad & Greasy
By Steve Newton Back in 2014 I had a nice little chat with Swedish guitar legend Yngwie Malmsteen, in advance of a Guitar Gods show in Vancouver. I mentioned that the last time I saw him live was on the G3 Tour at Vancouver’s Orpheum Theatre in 2003 or something. We got to talking about his … Continue reading Yngwie Malmsteen calls Ibanez guitars “a bad copy” of the Strat and says Les Pauls are “furniture”
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 24, 1998 By Steve Newton That big old vinyl collection of mine sure comes in handy sometimes. Up until last week I had no idea that it included anything by the Church, but in preparation for a chat with singer-bassist Steven Kilbey, I took a hopeful meander through … Continue reading Steve Kilbey says his band feels like the Church again
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JULY 22, 1999 By Steve Newton “Kick him in the throat!” isn’t quite the phrase you expect to hear from a guy who’s just exchanged wedding vows, but that’s what my brother-in-law Cam was yelling scant hours after tying the knot on a beach in Powell River last month. … Continue reading Growing up in Buffalo, the Goo Goo Dolls are almost Canadian
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, AUG. 28, 1997 By Steve Newton Most of the folks attending John Fogerty’s first Vancouver concert in 12 years last Friday (August 22) must have been aware that he had returned to playing some of his old Creedence Clearwater Revival hits, but nobody knew for sure how enthusiastically the … Continue reading John Fogerty reveals the full meaning of the mystical phrase yee-haw! in Vancouver
