New technology is being created every day. What's interesting is that most new tech is initially designed for one specific purpose but, once that technology is released to the world, it is left to the user to create new uses for it.
Read MoreSince I’d been doing a series of music related interviews, I thought it only appropriate to include an interview with Christian Swain who, along with his longtime friend Richard Evans created The Rock and Roll Archeology Project, a podcast that is an in-depth look at rock and roll as well as the culture and technology that influenced it from 1945 to 1995.
Read MoreGood fiction is like an abstract painting. The story is born out of the imagination of the writer, and I'm always curious about the inspiration behind that story. Marc Bolan Killed In Crash is the coming of age story of teenager Laila Russell, and her discovery of rock and roll, as well as your introduction into London's glam rock scene. So to satisfy my curiosity about the story's origin. I asked Ira about the book's inspiration.
Read MoreI’ve been a music fan for most of my life but I didn’t really get into rock music until the mid seventies and the seventies were a great time to be a rock fan. You not only had your favourite bands but you also had your favourite magazine and there were so many to choose from. There was Circus and Creem and Hit Parader and Rock Scene and Rolling Stone, of course.
Read MoreOne of my favourite Canadian musicians isn't Canadian at all. I met Bob Egan when he was a member of Wilco during the Being There years. He ended up moving to Canada and playing in Blue Rodeo.
Read MoreHoney Jam began its life as a concert to celebrate the launch of a magazine issue. Now, 25 years later, Honey Jam provides opportunities for female artists to get invaluable access to mentors and performance coaches, as well as the chance to showcase their talents for industry insiders. In the beginning, though, there was no way that Ebonnie Rowe could have dreamed that Honey Jam would still be around a quarter of a century later.
Read MoreOkay, truth be told, there are an infinite number of ways that you can write a bio. Over the years, I have written several different bios for artists. Sometimes I start with an artist quote. Sometimes I start with a famous quote. Sometimes I start with a made up unattributed quote. More times than not, I jump right into the story. I have produced bios as comic strips and bios as a series of questions. The point is your bio, like everything else in an artist's career, is an opportunity to be creative.
Read MoreWide Mouth Mason singer and guitarist Shaun Verreault has long been recognized as one of Canada’s finest blues rock guitarists. His long spidery fingers allow him to play incredible fiery riffs with casual ease. The exploration of the guitar’s possibilities has been his lifelong pursuit but even his closest friends weren’t prepared for Shaun putting aside everything he knew about playing guitar and covering his fingers with metal tubes.
Read MoreOne of the most daunting conversations I have with artists is the one revolving around building up their online followers. The bottom line is that the more unique followers, friends and fans you have, the more opportunities there are to spread your message and have your art heard.
Read MoreI have posted this video so that it is not lost in time. At a moment in history, this young artist created her own moment in history.
Read MoreWhen Steve Jordan first introduced the concept of the Polaris Music Prize to the Canadian music industry, the idea was generally welcomed, though the artistic community was still a little sceptical going into the first show in 2006
Read MoreHow many things can you do at one time? Well, the answer is right there in the question. One! How many times have you kept a list in your head of tasks that you need to do and then froze, not doing any of them because you thought that there were just too many to handle?
Read MoreWhen Shauna de Cartier wanted to start Six Shooter Records, she found that it was going to be difficult to secure funding from outside sources. She didn’t have the track record to secure government grants and banks weren’t interested in lending her the money. And, when she approached the major labels, she found very little interest there too. So she had to find another way to get her artists in the studio and her label off the ground.
Read MoreIt’s funny how many times failure leads to success. A great advertising agency loses out on nine of ten pitches. A Hall of Fame baseball player hits the ball to get on base less than four times out of ten. A hit songwriter has to write hundreds of songs just to get a sniff at a good one, much less a great one.
Read MoreIn 2002 Darryl Hurs created Indie Week Canada, which has since become an annual event held each Fall in Toronto filled with music showcases by and a conference for independent artists. In the years since its inception Darryl has also helped mount similar events internationally. When Indie Week was first established though, Darryl needed to be able to articulate to sponsors what set his event apart from other similar conferences.
Read MoreHow important is inspiration to creativity? I mean, it’s everything, man! But does that mean you have to sit around and wait for inspiration to hit you before you create something? Sure, if your plan is to put off whatever it is you want to create.
Read MoreOver the past 40 years, Ron Mann has produced and directed a dozen films focused on Canadian and American culture. His wide ranging subjects include comic books, jazz, beat poets, the war on marijuana, environmental activism and film director Robert Altman. In 2018 he turned the camera lens on Carmine Street Guitars, Rick Kelly’s cramped music shop in Greenwich Village. The result is a critically acclaimed film that documents a week in the life of the store and the characters that walk in and out the front door including long time customers and some brand new strangers.
Read MoreBy the time Susan Rogers had come to work with Prince he was already being referred to as a musical wunderkind thanks to five critically acclaimed albums including 1999, which had just become his first record to enjoy total and complete crossover from R&B to Pop, peaking at number 9 on the Billboard Top 200. The first project she worked on was his commercial blockbuster, Purple Rain. But, despite critical acclaim, chart topping albums and universal admiration from his musical peers, Prince had not yet felt that he had made a statement album. That all changed in 1987 with the release of Sign O’ The Times.
Read MorePretty much anyone who’s ever had a conversation with me about my favourite bands knows that my Mount Rushmore of seventies rock are KISS, Aerosmith, Cheap Trick and Starz. So imagine my surprise when I discovered a new book called They Just Seem A Little Weird that discusses the influence these four bands have had on rock and roll. I mean KISS, Aerosmith and Cheap Trick, okay, but I didn’t think that anyone who wrote about seventies rock would have included Starz.
Read MoreRush's Geddy Lee called Gordon Lightfoot a timeless songwriter. Robbie Robertson of The band calls Gordon Canada’s national treasure. His longtime friend, Bob Dylan, inducted Lightfoot into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame calling him one of his favourite songwriters and has often been quoted saying that when he hears a Gordon Lightfoot song, he wishes it would go on forever. I recently reached Gordon Lightfoot over the phone and he shared stories of his life as a songwriter.
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