Winnipeg music & culture since 1989
by Sheldon Birnie
Well, friends, the grass is turning green, the trees are budding, and sleeves are being cut off t-shirts at an alarming rate. That can mean but one thing: Festival Season is upon us, Manitoba! Get ready! Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – Festival Season warming up”
by Sheldon Birnie
It’s playoff time, folks! If you haven’t been utterly bummed out by the results thus far, keep your chin up; the Sharks are bound to go all the way. Right?
With the Jets dead in the water by the third period of their final game, three out of four Canadian teams out of the running in the first round, and summer bearing down on us like a freight train, it’s understandable that many are losing interest. But not the hockey diehards!
Last week, we spoke with Canadian songwriter Jay Aymar on his way down the Hillbilly Highway. Aymar has written one of the best hockey songs going, and it got me thinking that the time is right for a Top 5 Round-Up about the Best Game You Can Name. So here goes. Game on! Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – Top 5 tunes about Hockey”
by Sheldon Birnie
Toronto based troubadour Jay Aymar is hitting the road for his fourth cross-Canada tour, making an early stop in Winnipeg at the Folk Exchange on Friday. Aymar has been writing songs for over 20 years, going hard at it in the 90s before applying the breaks a bit until a song of his jump started his performing career a few years back. With a keen eye for the details of everyday life, and a storyteller’s approach to the narrative form, Jay Aymar is a great Canadian songwriter slugging it out on the Hillbilly Highway. He checked in with us just before hitting the road on Tuesday. Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – Jay Aymar rolls through town”
by Sheldon Birnie
Country music lost a legend last week. George “The Possum” Jones was quite simply country music’s greatest singer, one of its greatest songwriters, and a legendary personality who will never be seen again in Music City. As the old adage goes, “they broke the mold when they made George Jones.” Amen. Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – The Possum Has Left The Building”
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by Sheldon Birnie
Last week, I was deep in the desert of southern California, waiting on Coachella festival to get cranked up. Of equal interest to me, though, was the proximity of Coachella to the Joshua Tree National Park. Perhaps most famous among pop music circles for inspiring arguably U2’s best album (if you can stomach any of them, that is), this beautiful space holds a special place in the hearts of country-rock fans as the spiritual home of Gram Parsons. Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – Tracking down Gram Parsons’ last partying place”
by Sheldon Birnie
Chasing a Song is a brand new documentary from local filmmaker Charles Konowal. Some of y’all might remember Charles’ work on Happily Dysfunctional: The Story of Transistor 66 Records. Konowal’s latest is a study of the art of songwriting, by way of local songwriter Scott Nolan, who Konowal met while working on Happily Dysfunctional. The film is a beautifully shot, stirring contemplation of what makes Nolan tick as an artist, with some special appearances from Bobby Stahr and Jesse DeNatale. Shot in Winnipeg, Oklahoma, and Folsom Prison in California, Chasing a Song takes the viewer on quite the trip along the Hillbilly Highway. Stylus caught up with Konowal recently to chat about the making of the film. Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – A conversation with director of Chasing a Song”
by Sheldon Birnie
If you were anywhere near Twitter this week, or the decrepit social media hulk that is Facebook, you probably heard about Brad Paisley’s new tune “Accidental Racist” and the shitstorm of vitriol it inspired in pretty much everyone. After getting lambasted online, Paisley took to Twitter to defend the tune, telling folks he wrote the tune to “evoke feelings” and “wouldn’t change a thing about it.” Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – Paisley, LL Cool J, and an internet shitstorm”
by Sheldon Birnie
“I’ve been finding these songs for the last 20 years, hearing songs by peers that I wanted to sing,” Corin Raymond explains over the phone from Edmonton. Having just completed a string of shows in Alberta, Raymond is about to jump on a plane to Kamloops for a short tour of southern British Columbia in support of his “million dollar Canadian folk record,” Paper Nickels. Continue reading “Corin Raymond’s “Million dollar” folk record Paper Nickels”
by Sheldon Birnie
One of the hardest working bands in rock n roll is hitting Winnipeg this week, and I for one could not be happier.
Lucero are a long-running, hard-touring band out of Memphis, Tennessee. Having been out on the road for well over a decade, playing up to or over 200 shows a year, the band are far from slowing down, even as they edge into their 40s. Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – Hard touring Memphis act Lucero roll into town”
by Sheldon Birnie
The Hillbilly Highway from Winnipeg to Austin and back was a long, winding, and often ice covered one. But we made it. Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – Looking back at SXSW”