ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAY 8, 1987 By Steve Newton When Steve Earle was 14 years old, he ran away from his home outside of San Antonio, Texas, and headed to Houston. All he had was an acoustic guitar and a head stuffed with dreams of making a living in music. “I was real interested in … Continue reading Steve Earle on the influence of Elvis and making it with Guitar Town
By Steve Newton Back in the seventies, Rick Derringer was one of my top rock heroes. I mean, come on, the guy wrote “Still Alive and Well”. He played on 1971’s Johnny Winter And Live. He produced the Edgar Winter Group’s They Only Come Out at Night (my intro to Ronnie Montrose) in ’72. He played … Continue reading That time Rick Derringer told me that one of the favourite solos he ever played was for Air Supply
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JULY 12, 1990 By Steve Newton When Moe Berg left Edmonton for Toronto five years ago, the city of the Oilers didn’t exactly react like it was losing The Great One. There wasn’t a big hullabaloo in the press, nor were there many tears shed, either by Berg himself or the gaggle … Continue reading Moe Berg on leaving Edmonton, loving Rundgren, and the Pursuit of Happiness’s One Sided Story
By Steve Newton Back in 1986 I interviewed Metallica’s James Hetfield in his messy Vancouver hotel room. The band had just hired Jason Newsted, who had beaten out a barrage of hopefuls for the prized role of bassist, taking over from the deceased Cliff Burton. At one point Hetfield explained how Metallica had found Newsted, how … Continue reading That time 23-year-old James Hetfield told me that Metallica’s new bassist was “fairly goofy”
I was a big Emerson, Lake & Palmer fan back in the day. Actually, I was mostly a big Brain Salad Surgery fan back in the day, that being 1973.
john scully photo ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON FEB. 6, 1987 By Steve Newton Not a lot of people showed up for NRBQ‘s Commodore Ballroom date last Thursday (January 29), but of the 500 or so who did, few went home disappointed. In fact, it’s fair to say that you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who’s ever … Continue reading NRBQ tars-and-feathers Vancouver, leaves the Cabbage Patch Kids alone
By Steve Newton I’ve been a big fan of “southern rock” since I first heard the Allman Brothers Band‘s version of “One Way Out” on the Eat a Peach album back in high school. Some of my other fave bands in the seventies were Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Outlaws, Molly Hatchet, and Blackfoot. So when I … Continue reading That time I asked Dickey Betts if the Allman Brothers were the originators of “southern rock”
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON 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 rhythms and rapid-fire leads that are trademarks of his group’s two-fisted sound, Emmett never hesitates delving into the subtle and contemplative realms of classical and jazz as well. On … Continue reading Triumph’s Rik Emmett on the merits of the power trio and his secret song for Randy Rhoads
By Steve Newton When I interviewed guitar hero Tosin Abasi before the Animals as Leaders concert in Vancouver in 2016, I asked him a few questions about the pickers he’d performed with earlier that year on the Generation Axe tour. As well as Steve Vai, Zakk Wylde, and Nuno Bettencourt, Abasi was in the company … Continue reading Tosin Abasi doesn’t think Yngwie Malmsteen is a pompous ass: “It’s just his clarity of vision”
By Steve Newton Bass players don’t get much more special than Donald “Duck” Dunn. As a session musician for Stax Records, Dunn brought the bottom end on scores of legendary tracks, including gems like Otis Redding’s “Respect”, Sam & Dave’s “Hold On, I’m Comin’”, and Albert King’s “Born Under a Bad Sign”. He was also the bassist … Continue reading That time Duck Dunn told me that Clapton was the best all-around guitarist he ever worked with
By Steve Newton Back on January 28, 1992, Warren Zevon called me up from a soundcheck in Alabama. I know what you’re thinkin’: how cool was that? Pretty damn cool. At the time Zevon was touring behind his Waddy Wachtel-produced Mr. Bad Example album, and his road band was the Odds, the Vancouver power-pop quartet who’d … Continue reading That time Warren Zevon called me from Alabama and said that the Odds had “pretty big feet”
By Steve Newton So the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame did it again. Today the poorly-named musical dumping ground in Cleveland inducted six acts into its fold, including folkie Joan Baez and rapper Tupac Shakur. Sure, they’re both great at what they do, but are they rock ‘n’ roll? Kinda doubt it. The other … Continue reading Newt’s Rock Hall inducts Warren Zevon, Rick Derringer, Albert Collins, Ronnie Montrose, Gary Moore, and Jethro Tull
By Steve Newton The first time I ever saw Jeff Beck in concert, Jan Hammer was all over the place. It was at the Seattle Kingdome on Aerosmith‘s Rocks tour in 1976, and Beck was one of the warmup acts–the other being the highly underrated New Jersey hard-rock band Starz. Four months earlier Beck had released … Continue reading That time Jeff Beck told me that Jan Hammer was “too good to sit around”
