Music journalism, books and more

I was proud to present The Sadies at the 2010 Polaris Music Prize gala on September 21 at Toronto's historic Masonic Temple, where the group was short-listed for its stellar album Darker Circles. Here is my introduction to the band: The Sadies. Guitar-slinging brothers Dallas and Travis Good, bassist Sean Dean and drummer Mike Belitsky. Artists—from Gord Downie and Neko Case to John Doe and Neil Young—are unanimous in their praise of these guys. Critics, however, can’t seem to agree on how to describe the band. Are they alt-country mavericks or garage-rock revisionists? Space-rock cowboys or spaghetti-western revivalists? Fact is, The Sadies defy categorization. They draw from a gr...

She ran away to join the circus. Although she’d been signed to prestigious Atlantic Records and was being touted as an Edith Piaf for the new millennium, Lhasa de Sela turned her back on the music business. Ultimately, the runaway success of her first album, La Llorona, a stunning collection of stylized Mexican ballads and European gypsy tunes all sung in Spanish, proved to be too much for her. “I needed to get away from it for a while,” explains de Sela. “I’d been touring constantly for two years and getting offers to do these amazing gigs all over the world.  But I got badly burnt out and started experiencing these intense feelings of anxiety. I just finally had to say no to everythin...

For 40 years, this Canadian musical legend has been capturing in song the essence of human experience

One of Canada’s finest artists, Bruce Cockburn has enjoyed an illustrious career shaped by politics, spirituality and musical diversity. His remarkable journey has seen him embrace folk, jazz, rock and worldbeat styles while traveling to far-flung places like Guatemala, Mali, Mozambique and Nepal and writing memorable songs about his ever-expanding world of wonders. “My job,” he explains, “is to try and trap the spirit of things in the scratches of pen on paper and the pulling of notes out of metal.”

That scratching and pulling has earned Cockburn high praise as an exceptional songwriter and a revered guitarist. His songs of romance, protest and spiritual discovery are among the best to have emerged from Canada over the last 40 years. His guitar playing, both acoustic and electric, has placed him in the company of the world’s top instrumentalists. And he remains deeply respected for his activism on issues from native rights and land mines to the

Polaris Music Prize 2010Here are my Short List choices for this year's prize, in alphabetical order:* Bahamas - Pink Strat (Toronto)  website Bahamas * Amelia Curran - Hunter Hunter (Halifax) website Amelia Curran * Radio Radio - Belmundo Regal (Montreal) website Radio Radio* The Sadies - Darker Circles (Toronto) website The Sadies* Yukon Blonde - Yukon Blonde (Vancouver) website Yukon BlondeAll of these candidates are excellent albums--check them out. The Short List finalists will be announced July 6 and this year's winner will be proclaimed at the Polaris gala on September 20. Look for a new Polaris Music Prize Player on this site soon.    

Canadian music passes a milestone this year as the Juno Awards turn 25. To celebrate the occasion, this year's event (CBC TV, Sunday, March 10) features the induction of five rock legends into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Zal Yanovsky (The Lovin' Spoonful), Denny Doherty (The Mamas and the Papas), John Kay (Steppenwolf), David Clayton-Thomas (Blood, Sweat & Tears) and Domenic Troiano (Mandala, James Gang) all started their careers in Canada and pursued them south of the border. Yanovsky, Doherty and Troiano have since moved back, and Kay and Clayton-Thomas still have close ties to the country where they first got the beat. ZAL YANOVSKYThere is not a trace of The Lovin' Spoonful ...

Well after midnight, on a cold stretch of highway somewhere in British Columbia's Cascade Mountains, a party is in progress. It's mid-November, and members of the Tragically Hip, fresh off a successful tour opening in Vancouver, are celebrating as their bus whisks them northeastward overnight towards the Okanagan Valley. The air is thick with smoke. "Pass me a beer?" asks drummer Johnny Fay, slipping a CD by the Asian Dub Foundation into the stereo system. As heavy rhythms flood out, heads nod appreciatively. The hypnotic instrumental number suits quiet conversation or zoning out. Several beers and too much David Bowie later, guitarist Robby Baker puts a more eclectic spin on things, playing...

On the Sunday before he died, Paul Quarrington was doing what he’d spent the last seven months doing: as much as possible. Whether it was writing, performing, recording, travelling, fishing, watching his beloved Leafs or partying with family and friends, Paul was packing it in, squeezing the juice out of everything before taking his leave.On this particular Sunday, Paul was in the studio laying down one more track for his solo album, in this case a part for his brother Joel, an accomplished classical double bassist. I wanted to witness this session featuring two talented individuals who’d been in my life since childhood.Back then, I was best friends with Joel and knew Paul as his shy and ins...