Feature

When you think about Lemmy from Motorhead—and what true rocker doesn’t?— what do you think of first? Maybe his bullet belt. The Rickenbacker bass guitar and shower-stall-style microphone. His Marlboro Reds washed down with a Jack Daniels and Coca-Cola meal plan. Killer tracks like “Killed By Death” or (for you young ones out there) “Shake […]

This year CKDU turns 20. Two decades of FM broadcasting after a start on closed-circuit radio hooked up to Dalhousie University residences. Like most campus/community stations across Canada, CKDU lasts because of volunteers. Each September, with the flood of new students on campus, people keep making the climb to the fourth floor of Dalhousie University’s […]

f you’ve ever seen Al Tuck play, you know whatI’m talking about. Before every other song, you get a bit of tuning and twanging, maybe half an anecdote, more tuning, at least one false start, a slug of beer and finally, he’s off. As a performer, Al’s never been known to come sharp right out […]

Not everyone liked the kid from Enfield right away. In fact, if he had to guess, most people couldn’t stand him. Big odds are something that Classified (AKA Luke Boyd) has been facing almost all his musical life, all the way back to his first Halifax performance. It was 1995, one of the most fertile […]

Two people meet up on a busy street corner, the traffic a welcome distraction from the tension between them… Decaying buildings stir emotions, making someone wonder why they ever moved back to this place… These are the kinds of everyday occurrences Samson, who lives in Winnipeg, sets against the larger cityscape in a way urban […]

July 25, 2003 was a monumental day for Alexisonfire, and it happened in Halifax. The St. Catharines-based quintet was riding a wave of attention thanks to its debut video “Pulmonary Archery” from the band’s self-titled full-length, and was starting to develop a fan base outside of Ontario. And like any band worth its salt, they […]

There’s an odd romanticism associated with the term singer-songwriter. Mention the two words to any music fan and a wistful image of a weather-worn traveller with an acoustic guitar and a story to tell immediately comes to mind. This idealized notion doesn’t take into consideration whether the artist is an adequate singer, songwriter or storyteller, […]

Behind all the glitter and glam of music award shows, behind the emotional acceptance speeches and live performances, there are business deals being made. Record labels use the backdrop of award shows such as the East Coast Music Awards (ECMAs) as an opportunity to sign the next Matt Mays or Joel Plaskett. During the ’90s […]

BA Johnston finds inspiration in the most unusual places. His fourth record, My Heart is a Blinking Nintendo, is a collection of quirky, sad songs about pirates, poutine and the CFL. On January 20 at Tribeca, Johnston will be celebrating the release of his record, and the performance will also mark his 30th birthday. “It’s […]

Forget about “Kokomo.” Erase from your mind the image of those balding, portly, middle-aged men dressed up in the red, white and blue singing surf tunes at Ronald Reagan’s 1985 inauguration. There was a time, we’ll call it the ’60s, when the Beach Boys were the vanguard of California cool. It was the spring of […]