Van Wilmott under no pressure to revive the past

Van Wilmott under no pressure to revive the past

An astounding thing is discovered in talking to Edmonton music guru Van Wilmott to mark his 20th year of producing musical theatre for the Mayfield Dinner Theatre – there isn’t a trace of his old band Grace Under Pressure on the Internet. No photos, no videos, no music, just a little entry in the Canadian […]

Open Sky Music Festival postponed for this year

Open Sky Music Festival postponed for this year

Another fledgling Edmonton festival is taking a hiatus – at least for one year. Producers of the Open Sky Music Festival have announced the postponement of this year’s event, originally scheduled for June 7-9 at Hawrelak Park’s Heritage Amphitheatre. Nathan Richards, who founded the festival in 2010 to showcase bands of the reggae, “surf rock” […]

THEATRE: Century old labour dispute more relevant than ever in Strike!

THEATRE: Century old labour dispute more relevant than ever in Strike!

Just to save Ezra Levant the trouble of looking into this, the show Strike! – a musical about the bloody 1919 general strike in Winnipeg – is all union. Equity actor’s union, stage tech union, you name it, no scabs here. The only dodgy bit is the show’s co-creator, producer, promoter, chief cook and bottle […]

Alice in Chains comes to Edmonton in July

Alice in Chains comes to Edmonton in July

There is great rejoicing in Mudville today – for Alice in Chains is coming to town. One of the best bands to come of the Seattle scene of the ‘90s will perform at Rexall Place on Thursday, July 4. Tickets go on sale Friday. Back in the day, vocalists Jerry Cantrell and Layne Staley created […]

Overlooked classical composer only Edmonton Juno winner

Overlooked classical composer only Edmonton Juno winner

If you don’t count k.d. lang’s induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, Vivian Fung is the sole Edmonton winner at the 2013 Juno Awards. “I feel so honoured to be recognized and acknowledged by the Canadian recording industry,” she says. “It’s a wonderful feeling.” If you have no idea who Vivian Fung is, […]

OPERA: Dark ache of an unhappy soul in Eugene Onegin

OPERA: Dark ache of an unhappy soul in Eugene Onegin

There’s a burning question about opera that most opera buffs never talk about because they fear they’ll look like complete idiots. No problem here: Why not just perform all operas in English? Most of opera fans speak English – so why do they keep coming to operas performed in languages they don’t even understand? Imagine […]

LEDUC RADIO: New country station declares undeclared war on CISN

LEDUC RADIO: New country station declares undeclared war on CISN

There hasn’t been a serious challenger to CISN radio’s hot country hegemony in decades of Edmonton Radio. That’s all about to change with Tuesday’s launch of “93.1 FM The One” in Leduc. This is war – and the funny thing is that neither opponent will ever declare it openly, because that’s just the way radio […]

WHO NAMED THE RAPPER: Classified no secret

WHO NAMED THE RAPPER: Classified no secret

“It’s not a good story,” warns rapper Luke Boyd, better known as Classified, on how he picked his rap name. It’s not a very good rap name, either, let it be said – though not to his face when he was in Edmonton for a promo tour a couple of months back. He’s back to […]

Don’t cry for New City, Edmonton, it’s the cycle of life

Don’t cry for New City, Edmonton, it’s the cycle of life

If you go back about 25 years to remember Edmonton’s best live music bars, the landscape is unrecognizable: People’s Pub, the Grinder, Boiler Lounge, Sidetrack Café – all gone, their very names meaningless to younger folk perhaps more familiar with places like the Starlite Room or the Pawn Shop. Point being that the recent closing […]

HARPSICHORDIA! Antique instruments fight for cool factor at Early Music Festival

HARPSICHORDIA! Antique instruments fight for cool factor at Early Music Festival

You won’t find a musical instrument as misunderstood and maligned as the harpsichord – not the doleful bassoon, not the dreaded dulcimer, not even the hideous pipes, the pipes, the pipes calling from glen to glen and down the mountainside are as hated as the harpsichord. Avant-garde composer John Cage compared the harpsichord’s buzzy chime […]

Rock and Folk Festivals working for the same weekend

Rock and Folk Festivals working for the same weekend

The stakes in the Great Edmonton Summer Festival Poker Game just went up. The table is getting crowded. This year’s Edmonton Rock Music Festival happens on the same weekend as the Edmonton Folk Music Festival – and everyone is crossing their fingers that the crossover between classic rock and folk music isn’t too huge. The […]

Jason Aldean to bring big country show to Edmonton

Jason Aldean to bring big country show to Edmonton

These country dudes sure rise up the ranks fast. Where not too long ago one might’ve said, “Jason Aldean Who?”, the Georgia boy made good is playing the Big House in Edmonton. Aldean pulls into Rexall Place on Friday, Oct. 4, part of his “Night Train” tour after the smash hit album of the same […]