ROOTS FEST: Phil Ochs doc at Metro tonight
We sure had fun tripping back in time, didn’t we? CKUA guy Peter North reports the Winter Roots and Blues Roundup II (Feb 24-28, 2011) on the weekend was a smashing success. He’s a bit biased, since he was one of the promoters, so forgive the glowing review of his own event. A lot of fans agree with […]
EDMONTON RADIO: Is the Bounce bad for children? Short answer: yes
Important disclaimer: This article is about top-40 radio. Therefore, in a year or less, the names and song titles will appear hopelessly quaint and out of date. If you’re reading this in the future (hello, people of the future!), go ahead and laugh. If the Rapture hasn’t come by then, we will laugh with you. […]
CELLO MELLOW: Stinson returns home for Muttart Hall show tonight
Hailed by The New York Times as a musician with “conviction and flair” and by The New Yorker as an “unusually adept contemporary-music specialist,” reknowned local Cellist Caroline Stinson returns to Edmonton in a performance with pianist Sarah Ho on Sunday, Feb. 27. The concert at Alberta College’s Muttart Hall, 10050 Macdonald Drive, will also […]
TOM MURRAY: Syl Johnson’s soul-stravaganza
I gave up years ago bothering to compile best of lists, at least partially because I can never remember what year an album came out in. I listen, I throw them on a pile, I forget about them. Maybe I check it out again later, maybe I don’t. The nice thing about being a freelancer […]
Out on a limb with radiohead: Local fans tweet their say
And on the fourth day there was The King of Limbs. Earlier that week, on Feb. 14, Radiohead announced on its website that the group’s new album was finished and would be released on Feb. 19. But last Friday morning, fans awoke to discover the album released a day earlier. The Internet, in particular Twitter, […]
Black Mastiff mauls over log cabin recording session
Edmonton’s Black Mastiff – at Brixx tonight (Saturday, Feb 26) – have just finished tracking their upcoming album in the wilds of Alberta. “It was in (bassist) Clay Shea’s family cabin in Nordegg,” explains singer and guitarist Bobby Yiannakoulias (above, right) while picking up gear from the band’s rehearsal spot in anticipation of a road trip […]
TRUE TALES OF THE ROAD: Grandpa Banana and the Great Chicago Snow
Who the hell is Grandpa Banana, you ask? Only one of the Youngbloods, that’s who. This man – real name: Lowell Levinger – is at least partly responsible for a gem of one-hit wonderment, Get Together. This is the kind of rare song that doesn’t just set the songwriters and their descendents up for life. […]
Roots and Blues Roundup II in full swing this weekend
If you want to know where we’re going, we have to know where we’ve been. So take heed, all your alt-country punks and neo-folkies – some originators are coming to show us how it’s done at the Winter Roots and Blues Roundup II. Running at venues around town until Monday, this five-day multi-media festival features […]
SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION: GigCity launch jam a roaring success
(Photos by Fish Griwkowsky) When you don’t plan what you’re going to do at a jam with people you’ve never played with before, there is no way to avoid the blues. It is the common ground, the musical glue that brings us all together. Lovely image. Our GigCity Launch Party and Jam Tuesday night (Feb 22) at […]
MUSIC: For Sister Gray, girl power’s just downright shrewd
It’s a good thing the three male members of Sister Gray aren’t starved for attention. Because when your band is fronted by two fetching fashionistas in their early 20s, you’re not going to get much of it. When the indie-rock quintet takes the stage, all eyes are on lead sisters Jenesse and Brittany Graling. “They’re […]
Oh, Brothers – The Black Keys play Rexall June 29
Now that the Black Keys are officially awesome, who do they have to thank for being the first to recognize it? That’s right: It’s Canada, baby. We are the first country in the world to have given the Ohio band a platinum record, for its critically-acclaimed Brothers – which won best rock performance at the […]
MUSIC: Portrait of the artist as a young mogul
“It’s going to be a crazy year,” promises Joe Gurba of his plans for 2011 for his not-quite-fledgling label Old Ugly Recording Co. That isn’t to say that it hasn’t already been exciting; his profile around Edmonton has been elevated through the last two months as he’s celebrated and promoted the release of his alter […]
