By Steve Newton When American guitar hero Joe Bonamassa called me up back in 2015 in advance of a Vancouver double-header we mostly talked about his new live album, Muddy Wolf at Red Rocks. But since I also see it as my duty to slag the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame whenever necessary–which is … Continue reading Joe Bonamassa wanted Deep Purple and Free in the Rock Hall “before f***ing Green Day”
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MARCH 15, 1985 By Steve Newton Metallica are the type of band that puts the “heavy” in heavy metal. Actually, drummer Lars Ulrich–who called me from L.A. last week–prefers to call his band’s music “speed metal” or “thrash metal”. Their sound crew are known as “The Sonic Decapitation Team”, and local metal … Continue reading My first Metallica interview, back when they were too heavy for me
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JUNE 26, 2003 By Steve Newton Judging by the photo montage in the booklet of David Lee Roth’s new CD, Diamond Dave, it’s clear the former Van Halen howler hasn’t jettisoned the boisterously cheesy persona he cultivated during his early-’80s solo career, when flamboyant videos for “California Girls” and “Just a Gigolo/I … Continue reading There’s always hope for Van Halen as long as Diamond Dave can bang that high note
photo courtesy the newt ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MARCH 11, 1990 By Steve Newton You know how some recording artists make you think of old times, and help you crystallize visions from the past? Well, when I think of Robin Trower, I picture a mid-’70s high-schooler cruising the main drag of Chilliwack in a wood-grained Monaco … Continue reading Robin Trower talks Procol Harum, Hendrix, and blues, says “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JAN. 30, 2003 By Steve Newton It doesn’t seem likely in today’s musical climate that any band would record a 90-minute concept album about 1970s rock and southern U.S. culture, focusing on the legend of doomed Dixie rock act Lynyrd Skynyrd. It’s even more unlikely that such a CD would get critical … Continue reading Patterson Hood on the Drive-By Truckers’ Southern Rock Opera and the true meaning of Skynyrd
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, OCT. 3, 2002 By Steve Newton Buddy Guy spent a good portion of his concert at the Commodore last Friday (September 27) paying tribute to the legends of the blues, performing in the various styles of John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. It was … Continue reading Buddy Guy brings me down when he forgets to just be Buddy
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, OCT. 31, 2002 By Steve Newton For more than 10 years I rented a dumpy old house near 58th and Main that was known as the Rock Palace because of the all-night rock-’n’-roll parties held there. The best thing about those cop-attended bashes was when these pot-lovin’, hard-rock musicians … Continue reading Reviewing Nickelback in honour of pot-lovin’, hard-rock musicians from Alberta
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON FEB. 20, 2003 By Steve Newton Every once in a while, when my wee home office gets too cramped from all the free CDs this job incurs, I take a deep breath and begin studying my stacks of record albums. Vinyl, baby—that’s where it used to be at. Now I scour those … Continue reading Andy Powell says the Flying V has become a symbol of Wishbone Ash
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAY 29, 2003 By Steve Newton Pearl Jam is one of those hugely influential, multiplatinum rock acts that’s notorious for refusing to talk to the press, often for extended periods of time. So when PJ guitarist Mike McCready calls from the “lovely offices” of Vandenberg Public Relations in Seattle, my first question … Continue reading Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready on Ticketmaster, Neil Young, Nickelback, and the new Riot Act
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 8, 2002 By Steve Newton A while back I made one of my regular visits to Zulu Records and noticed that they were giving stuff away. Not great stuff—there were no limited-edition Hellecasters CDs or Jeff Beck bootlegs—but in the box of vinyl castoffs and local cassettes was Win This Record, … Continue reading David Lindley says its serious time for the oud
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JAN. 24, 2002 By Steve Newton A few hours before the Word took the stage at the Commodore last Saturday (January 19), I was reclining in my cozy New West living room, barely awake. The idea of driving downtown in the pissing rain to see a band that wasn’t … Continue reading The Word gets the Newt off his ass and down to the Commodore to hear “Joyful Sounds” and Hendrix
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, NOV. 21, 2002 By Steve Newton On their latest CD, Southern Rock Opera, alt-country reprobates the Drive-By Truckers combine sociology, history, and musicology to deliver a concept album about southern rock, and the band they focus on to get their ideas across is Lynyrd Skynyrd. For the uninitiated, … Continue reading Gene Odom’s Lynyrd Skynyrd book lacks literary grace and gory details
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MARCH 6, 2003 By Steve Newton Unless you’re really up on your rock guitarists, Walter Trout may be the biggest guitar hero you’ve never heard of. In a 1993 BBC Radio 1 poll of the top 20 players of all time, Trout came in sixth, ahead of such six-string legends as Stevie … Continue reading Walter Trout has a spiritual bond with his Strat of 30 years
