Why do we love a band? As soon as that question is asked, one’s heart rushes for a private image, the cover of your inner jewel-case. You know who you love. Their flag is always there, waving, even when the air is still everywhere else. The circumstances of your first encounter with their music is [...]
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Click for complete list of CFMA 2011 award winners It was a dark and stormy night, with large drops of heavy blown glass falling steadily into the hands of worthy Canadians all night long. The Common Thread Community Chorus gusted out the songs of our multi-lingual communities in the lobby as Toronto’s Isabel Bader Theatre [...]
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Dear Listener, I think you and Sarah MacDougall should have a talk. Soon! Sarah MacDougall has a lot on her mind, and confidentially, you should listen. Something is erupting. There is a hush to her voice that reassures you that she has control of her ideas — but there’s also a tremulous quality that makes [...]
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In all of the old legends, it was John Hartford, Jerry Garcia and Country Gazette who rescued bluegrass music from its near-fatal collision with 60’s television. Unprecedented popular recognition had been awarded to roots music in the early sixties by TV culture with Hootenany, a short-lived showcase for all forms of folk music which instantly [...]
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Best Hair : Pop Winds the guy on the right, like honey dripping off a spoon Best Eyes : Loom subtle hypnosis, like the music. Best Shoulders : (tie) Tanika Charles of The Wonderfuls; Sarah from Catl; (almost shoulder porn, actually). Best Arms : Keli Martin, bass for The Details, flexing like Gretzky in front [...]
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If you long for the tingle of an alt-country sound, just trim all the fat off of your accompaniment. Get a slinky spiderweb Telecaster, add a comatose upright bass and scatter loose snare shots around the dark edges. Now fill in the spaces between the notes with a compound of reverb and strangled, hoarse whispers. [...]
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(Alternate title: Gold But Better) While I was reading Samuel R. Delany’s Dhalgren, “an Everest among books”, part of the thrill was the space troubador character named, oddly enough, Bruce Cockburn, who provided a floating lyrical chorus to the convoluted narrative. I was so impressed that our Bruce was actually a fictional character. His transcendent, [...]
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How does a Christian craftsman consider Jesus? That’s the question even a secular listener might ask in approaching contemporary music that fits in the Gospel category. It’s a question two-time Juno winner and multiple nominee Steve Bell answers on his new CD, kindness. Steve Bell is more a singer-songwriter, than a gospel singer; nor is [...]
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