Category: Features

Posted on

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

jeans-boots-cropped-516x340
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 “Jeans Boots :: Saskatoon songstress comes to town for Big Fun”
Posted on

Hillbilly Highway – Zachary Lucky makes a stop in town

Zacharylucky2012-credJIsaac

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”

Posted on

Fireworks :: Rock City pop punk comes to Winnipeg

fireworks-band
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”

Posted on

The Unbelievable Bargains :: “We value values”

theunbelievablebargains01
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””

Posted on

Hillbilly Highway – Pure Manitoba Gold

uncle smoky

 

by Sheldon Birnie

I was over at my pal JP’s place the other night, interviewing him about his show, “Destination Moon,” on CKUW for the upcoming issue of Stylus. After going over the process he uses to assemble his shows from his extensive LP collection, he dug into some country music for me as we enjoyed the last of our beverages. It has to be said, during the 1970s and early 1980s, with the proximity of K-Tel records and other pressing plants in Winnipeg, that a lot of pure gold was pumped out into the world, the bulk of which has either been destroyed, is sitting in peoples’ basements or thrift stores, or assembled piecemeal into collections like JP’s. Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – Pure Manitoba Gold”