Features – Page 39 – Stylus Magazine

February 13, 2013

Hillbilly Highway – Dustin Bentall & The Smokes to light up the Park

by Sheldon Birnie

Dustin Bentall is an award winning songwriter off of the West Coast of British Columbia. Since the early Oughts, he’s been travelling hard across the Hillbilly Highway, churning out a couple albums worth of solid storytelling songs about drifters, gunfighters, and guitar slingers. On his recent EP, Orion, Bentall has finally locked down a solid band at his back. With the Smokes in tow, Bentall, son of Canadian folk-rock hero Barney Bentall, is rolling into town with Lindi Ortega to take the Park Theatre by storm. Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – Dustin Bentall & The Smokes to light up the Park”

February 8, 2013

This Hisses :: Balsamic reduction of Anhedonia

by Shanell Dupras

This Hisses formed back in 2010 with member Julia Ryckman’s urge to record after her last project, The Gorgon, was through performing. Ryckman recruited Pat Short after attempting to make a band with him in previous years. Ryckman also asked JP (Jean-Paul) Perron to join, having no idea what to expect. They quickly became This Hisses, and pumped out their first album, Surf Noir, only three months after forming. Their sound has slowly changed, and they are now releasing a second album to show their new, more evolved sound. Stylus sat down with Ryckman, Short, and Perron over a meal of Rold Gold pretzels and wine to talk about the new album, due out February 9th. Continue reading “This Hisses :: Balsamic reduction of Anhedonia”

February 6, 2013

Hillybilly Highway – Full throttle for CKUW Fundrive

As my pal Corin Raymond has said before, “there will always be a Small Time.” What he’s talking about is the underground music scene, the independent artists and people who support them. Basement bars, house concerts, barn dances. All these things have been around, in some form or other, since caveman days (probably). Continue reading “Hillybilly Highway – Full throttle for CKUW Fundrive”

February 1, 2013

Voivod :: Target Earth with new album

by Broose Tulloch

In December, Stylus caught up with drummer and graphic artist for legendary Québec metal band Voivod, Michel Langevin. Their latest album Target Earth, was released January 22nd through Century Media Records. In its 30 year career, Voivod has made a name for themselves with a prog-rock/trash metal sound, thought-provoking lyrics, and an eerie science-fiction vibe. It was a chilling cover of Pink Floyd’s “Astronomy Domine” from 1989’s Nothingface that broke the band, reaching number 114 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Continue reading “Voivod :: Target Earth with new album”

January 30, 2013

Hillbilly Highway – Crazy what a bunch of Paper Nickels can do…

by Sheldon Birnie

It is truly amazing how far a crazy idea can go if you really give it all you got. Case in point is Corin Raymond’s latest album, Paper Nickels. Funded entirely by what Corin calls “The Great Canadian Tire Money Caper of 2012,” the album is possibly the craziest crowd sourcing experiment the world has seen yet, and certainly the most Canadian. Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – Crazy what a bunch of Paper Nickels can do…”

January 25, 2013

Jeans Boots :: Saskatoon songstress comes to town for Big Fun

by Victoria King

If you go Googling “Jeans Boots,” you’re bound to come up with some interesting results.There are plenty of images of slender ladies’ legs tucked into cowboy boots, as well as one blog devoted entirely to women wearing boots. For all intensive purposes, we’re ignoring those. Jeans Boots not only refers to Jeanette Stewart’s solo work, but also her full band — a “pajama pop” garage rock group from Saskatoon — who’ll be headed our way in January for the second coming of Big Fun. Continue reading

January 23, 2013

Hillbilly Highway – Zachary Lucky makes a stop in town

by Sheldon Birnie

Zachary Lucky is one tireless performer. The talented songwriter, from Saskatoon, SK, travels endlessly back and forth across the Hillbilly Highway here in Canada, stopping in Winnipeg more than a few times each spin around the sun. Lucky’s just rereleased his beautiful 2012 album Saskatchewan on vinyl, and to celebrate he’s making a pit-stop at the Rose N Bee on Sunday on his way to Ontario. Lucky had some time last Sunday to chat about it. Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – Zachary Lucky makes a stop in town”

January 18, 2013

Fireworks :: Rock City pop punk comes to Winnipeg

By Janet Adamana

Detroit, Michigan’s rising pop punk quintet, Fireworks, has been steadily climbing the pop punk ladder since their formation in 2005. From their DIY approach to touring, later joining the ranks of New York-based indie label, Triple Crown Records, to the more recent years of entertaining crowds as far as Europe and Australia. The band will kick off the new year continuing to break into foreign ground, hitting six major cities across Canada, opening for pop rockers Yellowcard and All Time Low on their co-headlining Canadian Tour.
Continue reading “Fireworks :: Rock City pop punk comes to Winnipeg”

January 16, 2013

Hillbilly Highway – Pit stop at the Dakota Tavern

by Sheldon Birnie

I was down in southern Ontario last week and I wanted to go see a country show. Luckily I knew just the spot, a little juke joint on Ossington and Dundas. Talkin’, of course, about the legendary Dakota Tavern. Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – Pit stop at the Dakota Tavern”

January 11, 2013

The Unbelievable Bargains :: “We value values”

by Sheldon Birnie, photo by Andrew Mazurak

“Don’t lick the floor,” warns Steve Basham as we’re sitting around, drinking beers and preparing for our interview.

“We’ve got mice,” explains Marshall Birch, singer, guitar player, and principal songwriter for the Unbelievable Bargains, with a chuckle. Both Birch and Basham (bass) live in this large house on Balmoral where I’ve met them to do the interview, before their weekly Wednesday jam. Continue reading “The Unbelievable Bargains :: “We value values””