Cover Story

Recollections Of Gord Ward

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 10/14/2011 - 11:30

By Sandy Graham

He didn’t have a hit record, he never made the charts, Gord Ward was not a household name. He played the ‘B’ rooms, did the bar circuit, sang some tunes and preached to whoever would listen about music, songs and artists he loved from the ‘50’s and ‘60’s. All the local ‘hitmakers’ knew his name.

Call it nepotism, call it favoritism, call it respect or whatever you want to call it, but as the Editor and co-owner of Cashbox Canada, I decided to give Gord Ward the cover this week. A cover he would never get when he was alive, and sadly won’t get to see now. Gord Ward died on Friday, October 7, 2011, succumbing to the cancer he fought so bravely to beat. After a few years with this terrible disease, it finally got him. He was my friend.

Over 30 years ago, I created and owned Toronto’s first nostalgia nightclub, Route 66. We made a club work with a ‘saddle shoe’ string budget, and it was a huge success within its first few days of operation. At the height of disco, we offered music that came from another era, along with staff that danced, sang and dressed the part.

We also hired live music for the 5 nights of the week that we were open; rotating a few house bands like Dick and the Donuts, The Backbeats, Professor Piano and the Rockin’ Deltoids, The Frigidaires, The Bop Cats and Gord Ward and the Recollections. (Gord Ward and the Wardenaires at that time if my old rock ‘n’ roll memory serves me right.)

Justin Hines’ Days has come

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 10/07/2011 - 11:47

Story:Lenny Stoute

Justin Hines has such heavy cred as an activist and role model it’s easy to forget he’s also a working musician. Which is why he’s on the line from Massachusetts and pretty pumped. Current album, Days To Recall, marks his debut release in the US market, courtesy of the iconic Decca label (yes retro heads, they’re back) and dude’s on a promo tour working the album to radio. In the US media positive comparisons with Jason Mraz are popping up and that’s a good thing.

“I feel very honoured because Decca are very choosy about their artists and have a very solid reputation. They went to the trouble of coming up here (Toronto) to see me perform and I guess they liked what they saw. It’s just so amazing.

“ The radio tour is going really well. Many people are hearing me for the first time so it’s fresh. The songs are all very relatable and if there's a theme, it’s one of music as healer and that too is very relatable”.

Relatable is something Justin Hines knows loads about. This is the dude who turned a song, Say What You Will, into the launching pad for a campaign to help build schools and to further youth education in South Africa.

At the core of it all, the song’s very relatable lyrics, which inspired South African producer Bronwyn Nel, who felt Say What You Will would resonate profoundly with her community, to remix the song with the Seta/Siyaya Learner Choir and the Keynote Acapella Group.

Canada’s Walk of Fame Celebrating 14 Years !

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 11:31

By Bill Delingat

Most people, no matter where they are from have heard of and may have been one of the 10 million annual visitors to “the Hollywood Walk of Fame”; the famous 15 blocks of more than 2,400 five-pointed stars embedded along Hollywood Boulevard and 3 blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California. The emblems symbolize five categories within the entertainment industry: motion pictures, broadcast television, music and audio recordings, broadcast radio and theatre /live performances.

HAIR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical Returns To Toronto

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 09/23/2011 - 13:17

The 2009 Tony Award-winning revival HAIR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical, will play the The Royal Alexandra Theatre for a limited engagement December 13 to 31, 2011. Tickets for HAIR will go on public sale, Monday, October 3, 2011.

With a score including such enduring musical numbers as “Let the Sun Shine In,” Aquarius,” “Hair” and “Good Morning Starshine,” HAIR depicts the birth of a cultural movement in the 60s and 70s that changed North America forever and resonated around the world.

David MirvishThe Toronto engagement of the North American Tour of HAIR is a homecoming of sorts. HAIR had its Canadian Premiere at The Royal Alexandra Theatre in December 1969. It was a homegrown production, featuring a cast of young Canadians who formed the Mississauga Tribe to perform the show. The show was groundbreaking not just in subject matter but also because that it was the first theatrical production to play a record 53-week engagement in Toronto.

Explains David Mirvish: “When HAIR played the Royal Alex, nobody thought that a theatre show could attract a very large audience in Canada. But HAIR filled the theatre for a year and launched the Canadian commercial theatre movement, offering a new avenue for young people who dreamed about working in the theatre. The production told them it was indeed possible. All of us in Canadian commercial theatre owe our careers to that production.”

HAMILTON ONT. HOSTS CCMA 2011 AWARDS

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 09/16/2011 - 12:05

Story: Courtesy Jason Keller
Canadian Press

Perennial favourite Johnny Reid and rising star Dean Brody split the haul on Monday night at the Canadian Country Music Association Awards.

Each artist took home three trophies at the award show being held this year at Hamilton's Copps Coliseum.

Johnny ReidReid nabbed the fans' choice award, male artist of the year and the CMT video of the year honour with "Today I'm Gonna Try and Change the World," a clip directed by Margaret Malandruccolo. The Scottish-born, Toronto-bred country crossover sensation came into the evening holding a leading six nominations, including album of the year, for his sixth studio album "A Place Called Love," which is certified double platinum in Canada.

But that honour went to Brody, a 36-year-old from Jaffray, B.C., for his heartfelt and autobiographical second album "Trail in Life."

"Every year I tell him 'one of these days, Dean, you're going to stand up there and take home not only a piece of glass but something much more than that,"' said Reid. "All the years and hard work ... to be recognized, it's wonderful."

Taking the World BY Storm – One Beat At A Time

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 09/09/2011 - 11:04

By Bill Delingat

Cashbox first met Alyssa Rubino on 9.9.9, the date that marked the launch of D.K.O the new project of renowned reggae artist, Darrin Kenneth O’Brien a.k.a. SNOW.

The event had a spectrum of talent from all genres of music, the evening ending with a surprise performance by SNOW himself. The start of the event was just as surprising as a young female backed by an acoustic guitar took the stage while the bustle of bar life filled the room. Suddenly the buzz quieted down when Alyssa Rubino started to sing. The song was “Beautiful to Know” written by Rubino, Danny Rubino and Trust. The crowd showed their respect as the 11 year old singer and her accompanist left the stage. That’s right, 11 years old. On November 6th of that year she was slated to open for Canadian teen star Justin Beiber at his Toronto debut at the Koolhouse, but due to a heavy flu she had to cancel. Beiber has gone on to be the top earning teen star of last year with a whopping $ 55 million to show for it and our Alyssa fondly known as “Girl Wonder” hasn’t stopped either. We caught up with her camp for an update on what the now 13 year old singer is doing today.

Singing, School and Stardom? It’s all in a day’s work for Alyssa Rubino. She's unique,talented and an atypical 13 year-old. While her schoolmates spend their summer break at camp or on family vacations, Rubino has diligently attended dance and voice rehearsals to prepare for the hottest event in New York's Time Square until the New Year's Eve ball-dropping festivities.

And the Band Played On….

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 09/02/2011 - 11:08

By Sandy Graham

Those of you who read Cashbox will be wondering on my story this week – what does the Titanic have to do with the current music industry ? For those of you who know me personally you know I produce an event that is near and dear to my heart – The Beach Celtic Festival – in honour of my Scottish ancestry.

This year, we are welcoming a new display, the RMS Titanic, which was built in Belfast, Ireland and left from Glasgow, Scotland and therefore qualifies to be with us with its connection ‘from across the pond.’ As I had a few wee chats with George Watters,(who will be bringing memorabilia to the Celtic Festival) I remembered the fact that the huge controversy was what song the Titanic band was playing when the ship that ‘God alone could sink’ disappeared in the ocean on that fateful night nearly one hundred years ago. Now, one hundred years later, one of the most talked about questions on the Titanic sinking, besides the iceberg warnings, lack of adequate lifeboats and sketchy behaviour of some of the passengers is …”What song was the band playing as the ship was swallowed up by the cold Atlantic waters?” Some reports emphatically state it was Autumn while others swear it was Nearer My God To Thee.

Running Stop Signs with Marshall Dane

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 08/26/2011 - 15:41

By Sandy Graham

When you first speak to Marshall Dane you can actually feel the effervescent and mischievous personality coming through the phone, making you feel like you have known him all your life. Dane is that comfortable with himself, and he makes you feel that way too.

“I am one of seven children, the poor forgotten middle child’, he deadpans, then starts to laugh. The truth is Marshall Dane was born into a large musical family in St. Catharines, Ontario with a mother who played and taught piano (in between feeding her large brood) and every Sunday they all traipsed over to Grandma’s house for the weekly ‘jamboree’. ‘Everyone played an instrument; Dad on guitar, Grandpa on violin, my various sisters on piano, and I stood outside with my soccer ball, looking in the window. When I asked my Dad if I could join in, he said I could learn to play guitar. He was the one that showed me there are over 500 songs you can learn to play with only three chords.”

“My Grandma’s favourite singers were Bing Crosby, John Denver, and most of all Kenny Rogers. That is when I got hooked on songwriters and the stories they could tell. I would believe Kenny Rogers when he sang about being ‘The Gambler’, or Johnny Denver when he sang about ‘Rocky Mountain High’. I started writing songs when I was 15 years old and I haven’t stopped since.”

CMAO Delivers the Goods

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 08/19/2011 - 12:07

By Don Graham

The brothers Good, Bruce, Brian and Larry are Canadian music legends and are still going five decades into their musical journey. Twins Brian and Bruce started out with James Ackroyd to form James and The Good Brothers in the late sixties. The Columbia Records recording act toured North America, including a concert in Toronto Canada opening for Grand Funk Railroad. The twins Brian and Bruce returned to Canada and brought younger brother Larry and his banjo in the fold and started developing the sound that still defines them to this day. The lineup of guitar, autoharp and banjo is at the core the sound that everyone in the Canadian music scene indentifies as “The Good Brothers Sound”.

With a history like that who better to headline the newly formed Country Music Association of Ontario’s first annual emerging artist showcase at the 2011 Canadian Country Music Association. Bruce Good, an active board member of the CMAO has recruited his brothers Brian and Larry and an extension of the Good Family in the form of country alternative band The Sadies The family tradition continues with Bruce Good’s sons Travis and Dallas Good spearheading the band.

Colm Wilkinson –The Singing, Acting face of Fiction

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 08/12/2011 - 13:38

Story: Lenny Stoute

Some men achieve greatness, some have it thrust upon them and some slip into it for two shows every night, matinee on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Some might argue Colm Wilkinson has had the cake and eaten it all three ways. For one thing, he entered show business through the world of music. Growing up as Dublin lad in the rockin’ Seventies, Colm played in a number of bands, most notably The Action. While the groups as such did not amount to much, the macho, sex-appealing front man began attracting attention outside the confines of Dublin pub rock.

In 1972 Wilkinson went to an audition on a dare and landed the plum role of Judas Iscariot in Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Jesus Chris Superstar. The part put a fictional spin on a real historical person, becoming the template for the kind of role that would catapult Colm Wilkinson to international fame.

Thrust into the role, Wilkinson came up with an interpretation so strong he wuld henceforth ‘own’ the character. He reprised the part in the London production and took it on the road for the British national tour. The next ficto-historical part for Colm was that of Cuban proto-revolutionary Che Guevara in the 1976 musical production of Evita. This time around, he was on-board to sing Che’s part in the concept album which came out of the show.