Stars :: Conquer the North

stars-band

by Fabian Suárez-Amaya

Keeping the same touring and recording line-up together for over a decade, Stars is something of an anomaly among modern musicians. They recently strode through Winnipeg as an opening act for Metric at the MTS Centre. I spoke to Evan Cranley as Stars is preparing to embark on their next tour, promoting their new album The North. Continue reading “Stars :: Conquer the North”

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

dustin bentall

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”

Dean Murdoch & Nightseeker :: Giv’r till it hurts

by Sheldon Birnie

Dean Murdoch (aka Paul Spence) is one of the deadliest dudes to ever pick up a bass guitar, shotgun a Pilsner, and just fuckin’ giv’r shit. Made (in)famous by his role in Fubar and Fubar 2: Balls to the Wall, Deaner has since moved on from the Mac and kept his heavy metal band Nighseeker rocking from coast to coast. The Deaner and Nightseeker are hitting Winnipeg and Brandon on October 25 and 26. Gettin’ ready to giv’r, Stylus caught up with the Deaner, over the phone, as he was finishing a bag of chips earlier this week. Here’s how our conversation went down.
[Editor’s Note: The following post is probably NSFW, and certainly contains deadly references to partying hard and giv’n’r to the fuckin’ max. You have been warned.]