519 July FINAL Web

SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO’S ENTERTAINMENT NEWSPAPER
519
Issue 13 - July/Aug. 2019
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Where the Stars Hang Out in Southwestern Ontario
JACQUI CHILDS
BARBARA DIAB
50 Years of Rock Magic
NICKELBACK | RUSSELL DICKERSON
DANIELLE BRADBERRY
RAY STERN | KELSI MAYNE
A TRIBUTE CONCERT TO KIM KELLY
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KrisBarclay14

Old Dominion Returns to Southwestern Ontario for the Second Time in Two Months
By Dan and April Savoie
Nashville’s Old Dominion are one of
the hottest country bands on the scene
right now. After only two albums and
10 hit singles, the band is currently on
the road on their second world-wide
headlining stint. With their third album
ready for release this fall, Old Dominion
makes its second stop in Southwestern
Ontario in the last two months when it
headlines BX93 Country Night at Start.ca
Rocks The Park in London on Wednesday,
July 10. They were in our area in June for
a visit to Caesars Windsor.
Frontman and lead singer Matthew
Ramsey checked in with 519 ahead of
their London show.
In May you guys released the single
Some People Do and it sounds like a
very personal and soul searching song.
What was the inspiration for that one?
I mean, that was pretty much it.
We kind of fell on that title that day by
accident. It was actually the second song
we wrote that day. I was getting ready to
leave and I said, “Some people do,” just
in my regular conversation, I forget what
we were even talking about, and Thomas
Rhett said that’s actually a cool title, Some
People Do. And he started playing the
piano, and then we just started basically
apologizing in song form. And it became
very emotional, and I think a lot of people
were finding out, have been to that point
in their life where they realize, things can
still happen.
Now, I’ve heard the new album
seems a little more emotional and
vulnerable all around. So why the
change?
I think that it wasn’t a conscious
choice, really. It’s just how we are
evolving as writers and artists, and maybe
we’re feeling a little more comfortable,
taking down a few walls as people, and
sharing that with our audience, and the
more we do that, I think we get positive
responses from that, and so we’re willing
to do it a little bit more just naturally its
just coming to us that way.
Now, all the work you guys have
done has paid off. You’ve added a
couple more number one hits to your
arsenal. Was there anything you guys
did that made this new album a little
more special than the others?
I think, the thing that probably did
the most is that we took our time. I think
the second album was made very fast.
That album was made, did a couple of
overdubs and things but for the most part
that album was made in four days. And
with this one, we took our time in the
studio and the first session that we went
in for, we didn’t even have any songs that
we wanted to record. So that’s when we
wrote Make It Sweet at the studio. And
so that just sort of set the tone. I was like
let’s take our time, let’s be very deliberate
about every sound that we make and
every lyric that we put out there, so we
are very proud of the final product.
Now the new single, One Man Band,
it’s rising up the charts here in Canada,
so how did that song come about?
That one is doing pretty good for
us. That was another title that just kind
of came out of somebody’s mouth,
somebody... a radio person was on the bus
and they said something about a one man
band, and when they left, I looked at Brad
and said we need to write One Man Band.
And he said, “What?” I said, “Yeah, like
a love song, like you don’t wanna be, I
don’t want to be alone.
Later that night, we were actually on
stage getting ready to go on and our intro
is playing and everything and we were
singing it into our phones while we were
supposed to be walking out on the stage.
Thomas said we better get on stage, and
then we finished it later on the road with
our friend Josh Osborne, who came out
on the road with us, so we finished it later
with him.
In the song One Man Band, you talk
a little bit about hotel trashing at one
point. So, I have to ask, have you ever
trashed a hotel before?
No, we have not. It’s funny, I was
talking about that the other day with
somebody and they brought that up and
I think that is more of a reference on the
band side of things. There are two sides
to that. That on the band side of things,
it’s like a rock and roll cliché type of,
getting drunk, throwing the TV out the
window type of thing. And then on the
love side perspective, it was more of a
sexual reference of tearing up the bed in
a hotel room.
Like you said, there is that
relationship side and the band side.
So, with the band side, there is some
truth about wanting to be in a band
rather than a solo artist as well. Is that
something truly how you feel?
We’ve talked about that a lot with each
other as a band. It’s a fun job, but it’s also
hard and there are a lot of decisions and
a lot of pressure and it would be really
hard to be alone doing all of that. At least
we have each other to bounce ideas off of
and to check each other’s egos and to do
things like that. So, we always say that we
can’t imagine what it’s like to be a solo
artist out there doing this. We would not
want to be in that boat. We would rather
be in it together.
It’s been two years since Happy
Ending. I bet you can’t wait for the
new album to come out?
Yes, we are ready for it to come out.
We’d put it out tomorrow if we could.
So, all in all, it’s been a fairly quick
rise for you guys as a band. Has it felt
that fast to you?
No, not at all. Because we’ve been a
band for almost 13 years now. So, we’ve
been working at this for a very long time.
Really the last four years have been very
successful, but it took quite a long time for
us to get to that point. So, we recognized
that once a song got on the radio, it really
did pave a big way for us really fast as we
achieved a lot in those four years. But, the
time leading up to that, we certain played
to no one, for longer than we played to
an audience.
With the hits and the tours, it
inevitably comes to separation from
family at times. So, how do you handle
that separation?
It’s difficult, obviously, but luckily
with modern technology there is
FaceTime and things like that. We try to
bring out families as much as we can, so
it’s not the easiest and definitely not our
favorite part of the job, but we try to make
it work.
Do they get to come with you during
the Summer?
Some, not a lot though. We have kids
and they are getting to the point where
they have their own lives and their own
circle of friends that they want to do
things with... every once in a while we
can bring them out for a week or so.
Is Matthew Ramsey of Old
Dominion different than Matthew the
husband and father?
Sure, in some ways, yes, and in some
ways, no. They sort of blend together.
There’s parts of me as a father and family
man that I’m not willing to share with
the audience, because that’s private and
I want to hold on to that. But, there’s
probably parts of me on stage that are
exaggerated, but they’re still all parts of
me and I don’t think if an audience would
see the private side of me they would be
surprised and I don’t think my family is
surprised by anything I do on stage. So
mostly it’s just a matter of what I decide
to share or not.
Before Old Dominion, you had
success as a song writer. Kenny
Chesney, Luke Bryan, The Band
Perry, Dierks Bentley, just to name a
couple that you have written for. Do
you still continue to write for others or
is it strictly all for Old Dominion now?
No, we all still write for others
occasionally. We get lucky. We just had
a hit on Michael Ray, his latest song that
went to number one, The One That Got
Away, was the song that Trevor and I
wrote. And I’ve actually got a couple of
irons in the fire now. I’m sure the other
guys do too. We’re still writing songs and
some of them land with other artists and
some of them land with us.
I want to ask about Save It For
A Rainy Day. That’s become a very
popular part of the Old Dominion
show, do you think it would have been
an Old Dominion tune if it wasn’t a
massive hit for Kenny Chesney?
I’d say, it’s a pretty good chance, yeah,
it’s a song that we love playing. It never
had a chance to be an Old Dominion
song, but it is such a part of our story and
Kenny is such a part of our story because
we toured with him for three years. He
was a great mentor for us and a great
friend to us. That song rose to the top of
the charts while we were on tour with him
and we’d go out and sing it with him. So
it felt like our song and his song all at the
same time. But I think that a big reason
why that stuck with us and it’s a big part
of our live show.
How did that song come about?
That song was me and Brad and our
late friend, Andrew Dorff, who has since
passed away. We wrote it at 9:00 in the
morning. Sometimes we would schedule
two writes back in the day. With Andrew,
we would always write at nine in the
morning, just until our second write,
which would start at 11:00am. So we
easily use that time to kind of finish up a
song we haven’t completed or start a new
idea. And that morning, I got that idea for
that song, just as I was headed to write. I
just sort of showed up and I said, “Hey,
check this out.” And I sang the first part
of the chorus to them and they were like,
“Oh, man. That’s great!” And then we
finished that song in about 45 minutes. It
was really fast; we just kind of spit that
one out. And, it was like, “Wow, that was
cool!”
At that time, Brad use to make little
homemade demos and I kept telling him,
“Man, this sounds like a Kenny Chesney
song. You should make a demo for it.”
He kept putting it off and putting it off.
And then finally one day I said, “Dude,
do you want to send Kenny Chesney
that or not?” And he’s like, “Okay, okay.
I’ll make one.” So he made one and it
never happens that way. It happened so
perfectly and I sent it on. I had never
really met Kenny at that point. The next
thing I know I get a phone call saying,
“Hey, Kenny Chesney is going to call
you.” And he called and we talked about
the song. We changed a few lines to make
it fit him a little bit more and the next
thing you know it’s a big hit.

Eating, Sleeping and a Little Taco Bell is Russell Dickerson’s Touring Life
By Dan Savoie
Tennessee country singer Russell
Dickerson has had a steady uphill
climb on the charts with number one
hits like Yours and Blue Tacoma.
Just last year, he was one of the
main performers at Canada’s Boots and
Hearts and this year he heads to Start.
ca Rocks The Park in London on July
10 for BX93 Country Night.
Russell gave 519 a quick call to
chat about life on the road playing for
money and Taco Bell meals.
Things moved rather quickly once
YOURS came out. Has it felt like a
rollercoaster ride?
A rollercoaster is actually a great
reference because for so long, it feels
like you’re going up so slow like
“click, click, click, click,” It’s like “Oh
gosh, when is this going to happen?”
And then as soon as it kicks in, it was
just like full speed ahead. But I feel like
we had a really great foundation for
this whole thing anyway. And so once
it did kick in, it’s like boom. We were
ready for it. We had the infrastructure
and it was just like “Yeah!” Everybody
was super pumped.
What do you remember about that
journey?
When I first started, it was like 2011
and I was driving around the country
in an SUV with a trailer and all my
college buddies and my band. Just
driving anywhere that would pay us gas
money and Taco Bell money. We didn’t
care, though. We just wanted to play
music. It was just fun because it was
just me and the boys driving around,
and so that was the beginning of it and
that was pretty much until 2016, until
“Yours” came out, really. We were just
on the grind. It was definitely an uphill
battle.
Now, I heard that Brian and Tyler
from Florida-Georgia Line are part
of the history. How do they fit into
the picture?
They came to one of my very first
shows ever. I don’t think they had a
band name. But I was playing this
place called 12th & Porter in Nashville
and they came up to me afterwards
and they were like “Man, great show.
We should write some songs.” I was
like “Let’s write some songs!” I think,
it was 2009, maybe? We just started
writing like crazy just because we
“Cruise” and I was like “Well, see y’all
later, blowing up for y’all.” So it’s
been really special all through these
years to know that we’ve got each
others’ backs through everything in
this crazy industry, and Tyler Hubbard
is one of my best friends and it’s one of
my longest-lasting friendships in this
business.
Do you think growing up in
Nashville had a part in you becoming
a country singer?
Honestly, I’d say more of my
upbringing in West Tennessee. So I
lived in West Tennessee until I was 10
years old, and that’s really where I got
most of my country roots. I was raised
on Garth Brooks and Tim McGraw
and all that, but definitely being in
Nashville, that’s where I met all kinds
of country artists like Josh Turner who
sang in my dad’s church choir, all that
kind of stuff. So that’s just fun just
being around Nashville.
I love that you write all your own
songs. Was songwriting part of the
equation for you from the beginning?
For me it totally was. I just felt
like I had a fresh sound. I feel like I
had something to bring to the table
so that’s really why I started writing in
the first place. And then, learning how
to story-tell, learning how to be open
and vulnerable and all that stuff. Really
what made me want to keep writing
and writing.
Where did the inspiration come
from for the song like Blue Tacoma,
for example?
We started writing that song and
one of the co-writers had the idea - I
think it was like Red Tacoma or some
other - and I just started singing “Blue
Tacoma California” and then at first we
back. I was like “Guys, Blue Tacoma, I
just can’t let go of this song; it’s great.”
And then we went back and wrote all
new verses and pretty much changed
everything about the song with our
real-life road trip experience, and that’s
when the song just came to life.
Are you still hitting the Taco Bell
stands?
Oh no! God, no (laughs). That’s
another thing about life on the road
out here, I have to try to eat as healthy
as possible because the schedule is so
taxing and you just have to sleep as
Your journey didn’t begin loved the craft of it. It wasn’t to be because I went to school for music, plugged in kind of like a hypothetical much as you can. Because sleeping on
with YOURS though. Like most famous or anything. And so we just and so I feel like I could bring a fresh road trip, but it wasn’t until me and my a bus is like 75% of a full sleep, and so,
successful singers you worked your kept writing and writing and here perspective, you know what I mean? wife actually took a road trip down the just eating good, sleeping good, and a
ass off to get to where you are today. come along, they write this song called Like I could bring my own sound and Pacific Coast Highway and then I came little Taco Bell is awesome.
The Not So Shallow Voice Behind Country’s Danielle Bradbery
By April Savoie
You can’t win a television show
like The Voice if you don’t have...
that special voice. Season four winner
Danielle Bradbery has brought that
voice to the public on her own for the
last six years since she appeared on
the show, scoring a string of singles,
including last year’s Goodbye Summer
with Thomas Rhett, along the way.
She’ll be making her way to Boots
and Hearts, Canada’s largest country
music festival at Burl’s Creek Event
Grounds in Oro-Medonte, Ontario
on Friday, Aug. 10. She’ll be joining
artists like Cole Swindell and Maren
Morris that day.
We had a chat with Danielle about
her rise to fame and her latest single - a
cover of A Star Is Born’s Shallow.
You just released the cover of
Shallow. Why did you choose that
song?
Well, I actually heard the song
before I saw the movie and everybody
was kind of taking their own spin at it
and it seemed to be such a huge and
popular song really quick. When I
heard the song I thought, “This sounds
like a good country song.” I mean I feel
like if this was released as a country
song from a country artist, I feel like
it would do really, really well. And
just conversations back and forth with
me, my label asked me if I would take
my spin on it. And I was like, “I mean
of course it’s a really, really amazing
song.” So we went in the studio and
just kind of worked on it a little bit.
A good friend of mine who’s a really
great artist, Parker McCollum from
Texas, just sang Bradley Cooper’s part,
because his voice sounded perfect for
that part and we had him in the studio
in Nashville and it just all kind of fell
into place the way it was supposed to.
It turned out really, really fun. And I
was so happy that a lot of people loved
it.
When you first listen to it, it seems
like it could have been a country
song from the very beginning.
Yes, that’s exactly what I thought
when I first heard the song with Lady
Gaga and Bradley Cooper. It’s a very
storytelling song and that’s what
country music is and it just flowed
really, really well and I was excited to
sing on it and make it kind of my own.
So it was really fun.
It seems like you love and you’re
really good at taking a cover song
and putting your own spin on it. And
that even goes back to your time on
The Voice, what is it about covers
that makes you want to put your
own touch to them?
I feel like all of us, we grew up
singing other people’s songs and it’s
just how everything starts I think. You
sing in your car, and for me personally,
I sang in my bedroom when I was
younger to other people’s songs. How
I got introduced to the country music
industry was through The Voice and
that’s all we did. We would try to make
these covers my own. And so it just
kind of flowed that way. And that’s
how I got introduced into this world
and I just continued with it. And I love
hearing and singing other people’s
songs and I love all genres. So I think
that’s a big part of why I like to go out
of the box a little bit and continue those
covers.
Because my fans are used to hearing
that from me, from the show and
being on The Voice. And I think it’s a
familiarity for my fans and I think it’s
fun for them too.
In the end of 2018 you did a
Yours Truly Project. There’s three
incredible cover tunes on that.
So why did you decide to make a
memoir 2018 through cover songs?
I love doing those types of series
when I’m not really doing a big project
in that moment or I don’t have any
content to really release for my fans
and keep my voice heard. And it being
something I really do love to do. I
think just putting out music constantly
is something that I love to do, whether
it’s mine or not.
Everything seems to come really
fast for you after winning The Voice,
but I want to know what was the first
thing you did after winning?
Yeah, it was really fast. The first
thing I did, I think I remember I
traveled like crazy. I flew straight
to New York and performed on the
Today Show the next day, it was an
early morning in New York. And then
I went straight to Nashville, Tennessee
to record my very first single, Heart Of
Dixie. And so those were the two huge
Photo by Cameron Powell
first things I did after The Voice.
And I didn’t get to go home just yet.
But once I did, it was really nice to sit
down for a second and soak everything
in. I feel like I still kind of do that. I like
to have me time and soak everything
in and I’ll still think about those next
couple of days after winning The
Voice. And it was just such a whirlwind
but such an amazing experience.
Join Danielle and tons of other
amazing country artists at Boots and
Hearts from Aug. 8 to 11.

Jacqui Childs Returns to Chat Up Bluesfest Windsor in July
By April Savoie
Former Windsor resident Jacqui
Childs is known for a couple different
things - stripping down for her Naked
News broadcasts for a few years, causing
a buzz on social media and for her
advocacy for natural living and cannabis.
Another one of her passions is
returning to Windsor for the city’s biggest
festival Bluesfest Windsor, where she’s
a bit of a social media advocate for the
event.
Jacqui is in Windsor from July 5-13
for Bluesfest and she’s lovin’ every
minute of it. She checked in with 519
ahead of the festival and had a great chat.
We couldn’t fit the entire conversation in
print, so we have the whole interview on
our website.
I know you are a social media
influencer, but can you explain exactly
what that is for us?
Influencer is not exactly a positive
word anymore. It’s kind of a pain in the
ass word! So this is to me, my meaning
of a social influencer, not only do I
share all sorts of my interests, things I
am passionate about. I share them as
authentically and openly as possible. But
I do study algorithms and time to post
and trending hash tags and I really listen
to what sort of is hot, happening online
Windsor, Ontario country singer
Kelsi Mayne is out to capture a
country crown. She’s been selected
as one of the top three singers in a
compeition called SirusXM Top of
The Country, to battle head-to-head
in a live competition to get crowned
Canada’s next big country star, win a
prize of $25,000 and get a trip to an
international songwriting camp.
She will take on Quebec’s Matt
Lang and Winnipeg’s Tim and The
Glory Boys.
Kelsi was so excited, she checked in
with 519 to chat about the competition
and her winning song About Time.
What does the competition mean
to you?
Well the fact that I’m the only
completely independent artist selected
means that I’m doing something right.
So it’s pretty game changing as far as
getting my name out there and kind of
putting me in the big leagues which is
obviously the goal, right?
As a song writer you must be
really looking forward to that trip
to Nashville for songwriting camp,
that’s part of the contest?
Well I do that anyways, but for
them to arrange that for me, that is
a godsend in itself. Then there is a
week mentorship in Toronto, so that
again, I went to school for nursing
and also support locals. So, it’s what’s
happening right in my community and
share stories and thoughtfulness as well
as including a great picture, something
that will catch attention and use the
trending hashtags and use hashtags that
will put my post where I want the people
to see it.
Oh, that is a lot more work than
what you’d expect.
Well yeah you know how everyone
is taking pictures of their food and they
take pictures of their... There is all these
weight loss challenges and they are doing
whatever. Just recently I took a class on
it, it’s a compliance class and it’s because
I am a cannabis influencer and it’s a lot
of rules and regulations. I was taking
that course to see where I am breaking
laws and where I need to improve and it
is a lot more than just posting a picture.
You have to be careful. And why am I
posting that picture, who is my audience
and what is my message and trying
to stay on brand but also being really
honest and trying to stay as authentic
as possible, because I am not actually
selling anything other a story.
How did this start?
Six years ago I started a Facebook
page with my husband just to share. We
were going through a crazy divorce and
some life changes and things and it was
so everything that I’ve done I’ve
had to teach myself along the way,
so I just try to absorb as much as
I can from people I meet. So that is
extremely valuable, and then we get
to perform at the CCMA’s, there’s a
showcase that’s here and that’s where
they determine the winner. That’s in
Calgary, so I don’t think I would have
been able to afford to go by myself
if I didn’t make the finals, so it’s a
true godsend to make the finals. It’s
unbelievable.
I know you write your own songs,
which is a bit of an oddity in country
music. Is writing something that
you like to do?
I love writing and I love writing
for other people, I think almost more
sometimes. I think it’s just when you
have an idea for someone else... I
don’t know how to put it, but it’s like
giving a gift, you know? You want
to give more than you receive. So to
me, I love writing for guys especially
because I’m a girl and I know what I
want to hear.
Tell me about your song About
Time and how it came about?
That was actually a concept that I
was thinking of for a long time, and I
was waiting to get the right co writers
in the room to write it with me. I
trusted two of my favorite co-writers
in Nashville with it, and they loved
the idea and just went along, and I’m
just to share sort of our story and what
was going on in our life. And I got a job
at Naked News in Toronto and the job
was, obviously it’s Naked News, I was
traveling the world doing news, weather,
and sports. And we were nude and that
really took off because I was probably 12
to 15 years older than all my colleagues.
For some reason, people really liked that.
It was a big deal. It’s not pornography,
it is 18-plus, but because it’s a naturalist
thing, you are naked. People first of all
they were shocked. It was like a shock
and awe thing. They followed my
adventures and they followed along.
Once I turned 41, I stopped working
for them on camera and started doing
social media. And while I was working
there, my Facebook page got verified and
I didn’t apply for it and the blue check
mark just showed up. I was creating
enough noise and enough engagement
on my page for someone to notice and
for it to become verified. And it was
actually once that page became verified
is when it became my job. Then people
were reaching out to me. Still just over
five years in, I have not reached out to
anyone, other than Bluesfest Windsor.
They all come to me.
What are some of the highlights
from last year that you enjoyed?
Oh my goodness! First of all, it was
so happy with the way it turned out.
Basically I always thought of time
as a currency, so you can spend it, you
can waste it, and it’s just so valuable.
You can trade it, it’s like a currency
because it is so valuable and I wanted
to really get that message across
because I think we sometimes forget
to spend time with the people that we
love. I think the most valuable thing
you can give to someone is just your
time.
Were you worried about being
around all those rocking tracks that
this song might have gotten lost in
the competition?
I was so worried. I had so many
sleepless nights over it and whether
or not it was the right song. But I just
ended up going with my gut, because
I figured at the end of the day it’s an
artist contest so if it’s not a song that
I wrote that I really stand behind and
it doesn’t really show my artistry, so
I just felt like because the meaning
of the song connects so much with
me and it’s what I truly believe, I felt
like that would show through in my
performance. So I just went with my
gut and I went with that.
Was it a bit of a dream come
true being up there on the Boot and
Hearts main stage last year?
It was a real circle moment because
when I first moved to Toronto to just
do music, I had this billboard outside
pouring rain on that last Sunday, pouring
rain and instead of people walking
out hundreds of people were walking
in! And it wasn’t just spitting, it was
torrential, it was a downpour! I have a
lot of health issues and I have massive
anxiety and depression. And it’s sort
of selfish reasons that I do what I do
because I love being around the energy
of the music and I sort of zone out and
just connect to the music, especially
outdoor music festivals. I feel great. I
crash for days afterwards, but while I’m
there I feel great. All the things that are
actually wrong with me are not wrong.
of my window and it was Boots and
Hearts and Miranda Lambert was
performing that year, and it was like
staring me down in the face. So every
morning I’d wake up to it and every
night I’d fall asleep to it, so I really,
really wanted to go but I couldn’t
afford it.
So I promised myself that I would
And Windsor Bluesfest, that weekend
was just amazing. The year before, I am
personal friends with The Sheepdogs, so
it was great to be back stage and it was
great to take their pictures and it was
great to hang out all night. I’ve had a love
hate relationship with Windsor over the
years. I did live there many years ago for
a few years while I was going to school
and my parents lived in Detroit. And it
was really rough for me. And to go back
to Windsor and to be really celebrated,
Windsor treats me like VIP and I have
an amazing time. I absolutely love
Bluesfest! It’s good for my soul!
Kelsi Mayne on a Journey to Capture SiriusXM Top of the Country Crown
By Dan Savoie
BL
Photo by Drew Childs
Kelsi Mayne at Boots & Hearts in 2018
Photo by Dan Savoie
only go if I get to perform. So then two
years later we were in the emerging
artists showcase and then this last
year we were on the main stage, and
now this year because we’re in the
finals we also get to play the Sirius
XM stage at Boots & Hearts, and
Miranda’s performing again this year,
so it’s a complete circle for me.

Alice Cooper
By April Savoie
Fifty Years of Rock Magic
Alice Cooper has been giving the music world
his everything for the last 50 years - touring
endlessly with the most shocking and
theatrical shows the world has ever seen.
Along the way, he’s released 27 studio
albums and sold millions of albums,
CDs and mp3s.
The Detroit-born rocker has a unique
connection to southern Ontario, with
relatives in Windsor and a massive
history of events and recording
sessions in Toronto.
We spent a few minutes with the
legend to chat about the area and
what it means to him.
By Dan Savoie
How you today?
I am doing great. It’s 105 degrees in
Phoenix today. I’ve already played 18
holes of golf and getting ready to drive
to California for two days.
Golf is almost like another part of
your life, right?
Well, I just play it every day at six in
the morning. Since I have an addictive
personality, I had to find an addiction
that wasn’t going to kill me. All my
addictions from the ‘60s and ‘70s were
all deadly. This one, I play six days a
week.

I’m just going to dive into some
questions. Let’s go with your new album
that’s going to be coming out. I hear
you’re back in Detroit to record some
of that?
I’m from Detroit, and it’s in my DNA.
I think the one thing that is consistent in
an Alice Cooper album is that it’s guitardriven
rock and roll, very Detroit-oriented
hard rock, and it always will be. Of course,
we put all kinds of different flavors on it.
I’m working with Bob Ezrin. Bob is one of
those guys that has a darker sense of humor
than I do. So when it comes to some of those
songs, and for lyrics especially, working
with him is like working with another part
of myself. Yeah, the new album will be
a pure Alice Cooper rock album. I don’t
want to give anything away, but I can
just tell you that it’s a guitar-driven rock
album, but it’s got a lot of different flavors
on it. The new Vampires album is entirely
different in that it’s a much more modern
sort of rock sound and doesn’t sound like
Alice Cooper or Aerosmith. It sounds like
the Vampires. Oh, exactly. The Vampires
new album is really interesting, because
it started as a cover thing, but there are
a lot of originals on the new album.
Oh yeah, most of it is original. I think
the only covers are Johnny sings Heroes,
and those were the people that died. And
then Joe sings a Johnny Thunder Song.
Other than that, the other 12, 13 songs are
all brand new original songs.
How does a band like the Vampires,
with so much personality, decide on
covers to do?
Here’s the crazy thing. You’ve got
Alice Cooper, Joe Perry, and Johnny
Depp. Those are the three main Vampires,
right? We’ve been together five years. We
have never been in an argument at all.
During rehearsal, during recording, during
anything, there’s never been an argument.
You have three Alpha males who totally
look at the other guy and go, “What do
you think?” rather than, “This has to be
my way.” We don’t do it like that. It’s like
everybody’s very, very cooperative, and
that’s what makes it great.
It seems like there was a magic there
right away.
There was immediate magic because
we started out just saying, “Look, let’s pay
tribute to our dead drunk friends.” And
there was a lot of them, Jim Morrison and
Jimmy Hendrix. Between the three of us,
we knew everybody.
We brought Robby Krieger in and said,
“What do you think Robbie?” He says,
“Well, let’s do Five to One and To Break
on Through.” I went, “Absolutely. It’s a
great idea.” And then Paul McCartney
walks in and sits down at the piano and
says, “Two of the guys from Badfinger
committed suicide.” He says, “I wrote this
song for them.” He sits on the piano and
starts playing, “If you want it, anytime,
come and get it.” He goes, “Alice, you
sing that middle part.” He says, “Johnny,
you do this” We’re all sitting there with our
jaws open, going, “It’s Paul McCartney.”
Being in the studio with Paul McCartney ...
I’ve known Paul for 35 years. I’ve been to
his house, and everything. But being in the
studio with Paul McCartney is an entirely
different thing because now it’s not just a
Beatle, he is the Beatles.
You can probably relate to that
because Alice Cooper, the onstage
person, is different than you personally.
Oh, absolutely. When I play that
character, he’s an arrogant villain. He’s
a condescending Alan Rickman kind
of guy. He looks down on everybody.
Right? That’s part of the fun ... that’s why
he’s funny because you can tell he’s so
arrogant, that you know he’s going to slip
on a banana peel at some point. You know?
That’s what makes that character fun
to play. He never talks to the audience,
never says thank you, till the very end of
the show. When I’m with the Vampires,
I don’t play that character. I talk to the
audience all night. I tell them stories about
Jim Morrison and myself. I tell them stories
about Jimmy Hendrix, about Bowie, about
all these, because I was there for all of it.
People then get the insight, we’re not just
going to do these songs but I used to get
drunk and high with these guys.
The Toronto area has always been
kind of a big story for you. I remember
1980- and the canceled show at the
CNE. That was actually going to be my
very first show. It was major chaos.
It was the only show I ever missed in
my entire career, and the reason was I was
born with asthma. I mean, I had asthma all
my life. That was the highest pollen count
ever recorded in Toronto, that day.
I was having a hard time breathing. It
was just one of those things. If I’ve got a
migraine headache, if I’ve got the flu, I’ve
played with six broken ribs. I’ve played
with 28 stitches in my head. I could not
sing because I couldn’t get any breath.
There’s just no way I’m doing a show. I
didn’t think it was going to be that big of
a deal, but that place went crazy. We’ve
played Toronto 25 times since then. Every
time I played Toronto ... and I also did three
or four albums in Toronto, at Nimbus 9,
with Bob Ezrin. I knew Toronto probably
as well as I know Detroit. It’s always been
one of my favorite cities. Every time we
play Toronto, we always go out of our way
to make sure that audience, that we kill that
audience, because that one show is in the
back of my mind, that I had to miss that
show.
I think you set the standard though,
in 1969, at the Toronto Rock and Roll
Revival. The chicken story is legendary.
The chicken thing. You couldn’t write
this. Here we are. We’re going on between
The Doors and John Lennon. We got Jim
Morrison and The Doors, and we knew
them, they were old buddies of ours, on
one side. And then we got John Lennon
and Yoko on the other side watching the
show. There’s feathers’ going and then I
look down, and there’s a chicken. No, I
didn’t bring the chicken. I can’t imagine
anybody saying, “I got to go to The Peace
Festival. Oh, and let me see. I have my
tickets and my wallet and my chicken.”
Who brings a chicken to a rock show?
Alice Cooper: Anyways, there it
is. It’s onstage. I’ve never been on a farm
in my life, I’m from Detroit. It had feathers
and it had wings. I figured, “Well, it’ll fly.
If I just kind of chuck it in the audience,
it’ll fly. Somebody will get it and take it
home and have a cool pet and they’ll
name it Alice Cooper.” Chickens don’t fly
as much as they plummet. The audience
tore the chicken apart and threw the parts
back up onstage. Now the kicker to this
is, of course, the first five rows were all in
wheelchairs.
That I did not know.
Well, how weird is it that all the people
in wheelchairs destroyed the chicken?
That’s even more bizarre. And then it’s in
the paper the next day, Alice Cooper kills
chicken and drinks the blood and duh, duh,
duh. Right there, I understood one thing,
that the rock audience was hungry for a
villain. They wanted a villain.
I was more than happy to be that
character. I said from then on, I went,
“Okay. You want villain? I’ll give you a
villain.”
How did you decide to go, “That’s it.
I’m going to put on something different
and better”?
Well, it was really one of those things
where it was in our DNA, I swear. Dennis
Dunaway and myself and John Spear
and Glen Buxton all went to high school
together. We were all on the newspaper
together. We were all in the art class
together. Three of us ran cross country
and track together and were four-year
Letterman. Even before the band, we knew
each other really, really well. When we
did our very first show, knowing nothing
about anything ... We were in beetle wigs.
We were making fun of the Beatles kind
of, and on that stage there was a coffin
and a guillotine because, if you were late
with an assignment at the Tip Sheet, that
was the name of our newspaper, you had
to stay in the guillotine. They’re hitting the
guillotine for 5 or 10 minutes, which was
very uncomfortable.
When we get ready to do the show, I
said, “Let’s put the guillotine on stage.”
And then the guy that introduced us was
another guy on the cross country team, and
he came out of a coffin. It never ended.
That, to me, just felt like rock and roll and
horror and comedy should all be in bed
together.
The funny thing is people forget the
comedy part, right? sometimes, they get
overdone with the shock part.
You know, you can’t shock an audience
anymore. Back in those days, it was really
easy to shock an audience because nobody
ever ... everything was shocking. Now,
nothing is shocking. I use shock, if you
call it shock. It’s really illusion. It’s really
just misdirection. You have to do it with an
attitude of this is real. This is for real, this
is what we do, and people want to believe
that. People want to believe that I live in a
big dark castle somewhere and that I drink
blood at night and things like that.
Well, that’s what we love about the
Alice Cooper character though.
I think so. I’ll never ever go away from
that. I think that that’s what God gave me
to do was this sort of show. Everybody
that I work with, we’ll sit in there and
we’re going, “Okay. Now…Do you think
we should use a wood chipper?” And
everybody looks around and goes, “Well,
of course.” If we’re thinking maybe we
shouldn’t, then that’s the cue to, yes, we
absolutely should.
I’m in Windsor, so I can’t have you
here and not talk about CKLW.
Oh my gosh. Without CKLW - they
were the ones that got us going. Rosalie
was everything to us. Her son loved the
song I’m Eighteen. When he heard the
song, he says, “Mom, this is where rock is
going.” She went, “Okay, we’ll put it on.”
When we heard our record on CKLW, I’m
Eighteen, believe me, we stopped the car
dead and just sat there with our mouths
open. Trust me, we never thought we’d
ever have a hit because our image was so
strong. We were such a notorious band that
we never thought we’d ever get any kind
of commercial success. Well, we ended up
having 14 top 40 hits.
So somebody actually shocked you?
Can you imagine us sitting there when
Shep Gordon comes in and he goes, “Oh,
by the way, School’s Out’s number one.”
Then we go, “What?” And then he comes
in again the same year and goes, “Oh, by
the way, Billion Dollar Babies is number
one.” When that happens, you would think
that that would be an egocentric moment.
It was humbling and embarrassing because
we were such fans of The Who and The
Rolling Stones and The Beatles, and
that’s who you’re up against right then.
When your record is higher than theirs in
the charts, you almost want to call them
up and say, “I’m really sorry. We don’t
deserve to be ahead of you. If it was up
to us, we would be number five and you
guys would all be number one, two, three,
four.” Honestly, that’s the way we felt
about it. That’s how much we loved those
bands. When you see your band competing
with them, you kind of feel embarrassed
because you’ve know how good they are,
and you don’t really think of yourself as
being in their league?
Growing up in Detroit, you must have
crossed over to Windsor and you would
have known quite a bit about Windsor.
My uncle lived in Windsor. My Uncle
Jerry lived in Windsor. He lived right on
the lake, and we used to go over to Windsor
all the time. It was so cool because you’d
have barbecues right on the lake. Yeah, we
were there all the time.
What can we expect at your Detroit
show?
We’re going to be doing the brand new
show. The great thing is is Nita Strauss, our
shredder - she looks like a Victoria’s Secret
model, and she plays like Steve Vai. She
just got voted best female guitarist in the
world. And our drummer, Glen Sobel, got
voted best drummer. This band is awfully
good.
When you put Chuck Garric in there
and you put Ryan Roxie and Tommy
Henriksen and all those songs, it’s
amazing. I love it when I read the review
and it’s not about the theatrics, it’s about
how good the band is.
How long do you think you’re going
to do this for?
I always said if we ever book a concert
and nobody shows up, then I know
I’m done. Or if there was something
physically wrong or something happened
with my family where I couldn’t tour,
then I would say, “Man, I had an amazing
career.” But right now, I look at it this
way. I don’t think I’ve done my best show
yet. I don’t think I’ve written my best
songs yet. If you don’t have that attitude,
you should stop. I sit around thinking
about McCartney sitting at a piano going,
“Okay. I’ve written all these songs, but
you know what? I have not written my
best song yet.” That’s why he keeps
writing songs.
Watching Glory Die
Written and Directed by Judith Thompson
Presented by
Windsor Feminist Theatre
and Kelly Daniels
Featuring
Kelli Fox, Kathryn Haggis,
Nathanya Barnett
Designed by
David Court and
Meaghan Carpentier
July 23 -27 @ 7:30pm
The Hatch Studio Theatre,
Jackman Dramatic art Centre,
University of Windsor
Opening Night Gala $100
(email or call for reservations)
General Admission $20
Eventbrite.com
@windsorfemtheat
windsorfeministtheatre.ca
watchingglorydie@gmail.com
(519) 551 1239

Nickelback Touring The Summer Away and in No Hurry to Record
By Dan and April Savoie
Canadian rock superstars
Nickelback are currently taking a
breather from recording and just
enjoying some select shows at various
festivals and venues around the world.
Bassist Mike Kroeger gave 519 a
call to chat about the possibilities of
some new music, what life is like as
Canada’s most loved as most-hated
rockers, and what he remembers from
20 years ago when the band was still
an indie Canadian band looking for a
big record deal.
About 20 years ago, you would
have been touring and pushing The
State and working on a Roadrunner
Records deal. It’s astonishing how
far you guys have come from then
to now.
Twenty years is a long time, and it
turns out you can fit a lot of life into
20 years, and I’d say we’ve done that.
In that time, this band started from
nothing and it’s become definitely
something more than nothing. I didn’t
have any kids then. Now I have two
kids, as do Ryan in my band, and
Daniel in my band. We each have two
children, and a lot has happened in 20
years, no doubt. From eating out of
gas stations and driving a van across
Canada, to where we’re at now. It’s a
very, very different world for sure.
How is the indie Nickeback
different from the festival and
stadium headliner it’s become now?
Aside from the obvious being
younger, those guys were a lot
younger, but these guys know a lot
more, and that experience has taught
us all how it all works, and also how to
be grown ups and how to be adults. We
learned that over the period of time,
and all the life experience we’ve had
in these 20 years, it’s really been kind
of cool to develop as human beings
and musician artists at the same time.
Now I heard lately you’ve been
talking about a heavier album from
Nickelback – that in some ways
would bring you back full circle. Is
that something that might actually
happen?
I don’t know. I mean, that was kind
of a funny thing that, I forget who
the hell I was having that interview
with, but it was misquoted. Context
is obviously malleable, and this is
one of those cases where context got
slightly manipulated to make a story
where there really wasn’t much.
Because what I said in the interview
is that “I would like to make a heavy
metal album”, not Nickelback. And I
said that I’m a huge fan of Slayer and
would love to do a Slayer cover thing,
but I never said Nickelback would
want to, because I know my brother
doesn’t like that kind of music. Not
like Slayer heavy music. He likes
heavy music and he writes heavy rock
tunes, but I like it a little heavier and a
little harder than him, and Ryan’s not a
massive fan of really super hard metal
, hardcore or anything like that, either.
Daniel is to a degree, as long as the
drumming is impressive, he likes it.
That was a little bit of context
manipulation where if they just quoted
it as it was, it wouldn’t really be a
story, but because if you can dab the
headline that says Nickelback wants
to make a heavy metal album, that’s
going to obviously generate a little bit
of eyebrow raising and a few people
are going to look up and pay it some
notice. But that isn’t actually what I
said.
Well, having said that, who knows?
I’m not willing to count on anything,
but based on the music I’m hearing
coming from Chad so far, the new
stuff, it doesn’t have a real hardcore
angle to it at all. Put it that way.
Do you see yourself doing a
heavier album on your own?
I don’t know. It’s a novel concept
and it’s maybe a cool idea, but my life
is very full. I don’t ever find myself
going, “What am I going to do now?”
I’m never really idle for very long.
I’m always doing something, up to
something, and barely have enough
time to do all the things that I already
do, let alone start another band and
make a record or something. I don’t
know. Maybe it’s a pie in the sky thing.
I’ve always liked that Nickelback
kicked ass on rock radio with Feed
The Machine and then a gorgeous
song like Photograph tears up
commercial radio. Is it hard having
so much variety in the band’s
sound?
I don’t know, because we as a
group, we’re all rather diverse in our
musical tastes and our musical style
preferences. So it’s nice to be able to
do different things. Like try something
that you haven’t tried before, or get
yourself out of your comfort zone just
a little bit. I think it’s really great, and
for me, getting out of my comfort zone
is playing these pop songs, and for
Chad, maybe getting out of his comfort
zone a little ... Actually not really. He’s
kind of a heavy metal head at heart, so
for him to play heavy metal, it’s just as
Mark Schierholz

good as playing love songs, but not for
me. We challenge ourselves with these
kind of stylistic changes, and it’s really
cool to try new things, and try things
and find out if you can even do them.
You might do it and it might not work,
it might not be good, but it’s worth a
try.
I have to ask was Feed the
Machine, was that a statement
about the music industry?
No. I think the title and sort of the
thrust of the title was something that
each one of us kind of had our own sort
of take on what that is. And, I liked the
analogy that the machine is essentially
the overall establishment, and the
way we feed the machine is we give
our freedoms to it, and I really don’t
believe that people get their freedom
taken away. I believe that people give
it up, and I think that’s what Feed the
Machine is, is giving your freedom up
to a system that says it needs it.
One of the old, old founders of the
United States said that a populace that
trades its freedom for security deserves
neither. I think it was Ben Franklin or
maybe Thomas Jefferson said that, but
it’s a very interesting quote because I
feel like that’s kind of where we are
now. We’re so damn scared that we’ll
give up all of our freedoms if we
could just feel safe. That’s why we’re
taking our shoes off and you can’t take
a bottle of water into an airport, is
because somehow that makes us safer.
It’s dwindling a little bit now, but
at its peak, you guys were an internet
craze. At one point you were either
loved or hated. Those hateful words
must have hurt, especially at first?
Well first we were loved, and then
we were loved and hated. And like you
say, now I think people are just getting
bored hating.
At the time, did you ever avoid the
Internet and Googling yourself?
I don’t really Google myself now,
but I do follow it. I pay attention to the
social media and things, because that’s
a great place to go for humor. The
socials, they can be a really hilarious
place. Not to be kind of lame, but
I try to focus on the hilarity. And if
it’s something hilarious about us, I’ll
laugh along with everybody else. If
it’s mean and nasty and negative, then
that’s boring. Anybody can do that.
You do have great supporters like
Deadpool. It’s nice to have friends
like that.
Having a superhero that’s got
your back is pretty cool, yeah. Not
to mention that he’s a Canadian
superhero, that’s pretty great.
Did you know that comment was
coming, or was it a surprise?
Initially, Ryan Reynolds reached
out to us to ask us if we wouldn’t mind
participating, and letting him use our
song for a thing that he was thinking
about writing. He hadn’t written it yet,
but he wasn’t going to write it if we
said no. And we’re like, “Oh yeah,
sure man. Do it.” Whatever, we trusted
him because he just seems like the
nicest guy in the world. So we’re just
like, “Okay. Sure. Go ahead.” And we
authorized definitely the free use of
How You Remind Me, and then he ran
with it, and I thought it was hilarious.
I thought Fred Savage’s part was
hilarious. I thought the Deadpool’s
parts were hilarious. I thought the
whole thing was comedy gold, and in
a way that it’s almost like a microcosm
of the macrocosm. You’ve got the
internet hater and you’ve got the
internet defender on screen saying
essentially what all the haters say is
what Fred Savage was saying, and
essentially what all the lovers and
supporters say is what Deadpool was
saying. It was like a very interesting
sort of cross section of the issue, so to
speak.
The song How You Remind
Me, it’s considered one of the best
songs of the decade by Billboard,
and I know sometimes iconic songs
like that can sometimes become a
burden, or the band hates to play
it. How does that song resonate with
you?
That whole thing about bands who
have the song that breaks them and
makes them become a household name
and make them a big deal is the one
that they just hate playing and don’t
want to play, it seems kind of stupid to
me to do that or feel that way. It seems
kind of ridiculous, because it’s your
art, first of all. So, I guess every artist
maybe has some art their ashamed of,
but it also seems like some artists, they
put it out there and everybody wants
it to be a success, and then when it’s
a success they don’t like it anymore.
I don’t understand it. It’s kind of
confusing to me.
How You Remind Me is a song that
we’ve played, hundreds of thousands
of times, and that’s okay. The people
want us to do it, so we want to give
our fans what they want, and they want
us to play How You Remind Me every
night, so we do. It’s a cornerstone in
the show. It’s a thing we couldn’t not
do. We decided a long, long, long time
ago that we could never take that song
out of the set because it’s the calling
card that introduced the world to us
and introduced us to the world. Why
we would all of a sudden start to hate it
and not want to play it anymore seems
kind of stupid.
You guys are one of Canada’s
biggest music exports, but it sounds
like you don’t live in Canada
anymore. Is that right?
I don’t. All the other guys still live in
Canada. I have a home in Canada, I go
there often, but I live in Los Angeles.
I had a chance to actually go
to Chad’s studio when he lived in
Abbotsford. That is an amazing place.
Yeah, it’s a big kid’s playground,
pretty much. Everything’s there. It’s
really fun.
Did you ever spend much time
recording there?
Yeah. In the past albums we’ve
done, it’s been done in that studio. He
sold that house for a while and then
bought it back, and now the studio is
set up again, and he’s starting to write
tunes in there right now.
Hell, he could be in there as we’re
speaking.
I wanted to ask about the song
Rock Star. Was that an indication of
your lifestyle at that point?
Some of those things have happened
since. At the time we wrote that, there
wasn’t really any of that. We were still
pretty early on in things, I mean, there
was still some excess for sure, but not
necessarily to the degree of the song.
That was why we wrote it the way we
wrote it. Every lyric in that song was
intended to be a tip of the hat to the
absurd. Everything was to be tongue in
cheek and ridiculous and preposterous.
And actually some of those things did
happen, which is kind of funny, but
some of them that didn’t really even
consist or they turned out to happen.
April: That’s kind of cool.
Mike: Yeah. Kind of cool, because
we were trying to write a hyperbole,
and it turned out that that even as
excessive as we could think at that
time wasn’t beyond what was possible.
Is there a song that you guys have
that best describes your life at this
point?
At this point? Not yet. No, I don’t
think we have one of those at this
point. I think every song is, or every
album has for us, a snapshot song in
it. Sort of a little bit of a time capsule,
I think there’s one in every album. But
right now, I think as far back as Feed
the Machine’s coming up on two years
old, so things have changed even since
we recorded that, which we started
recording close to three years ago. So
it’s maybe time to make another time
capsule.
That goes into my next question.
Is there new music coming out, - it’s
been two years?
I’ve been really hesitant to kind of
crack the whip or be the guy saying,
“Get in there and write another
album,” because Chad’s been such a
horse and such a soldier for so long
that once we did Feed the Machine and
then went on tour, I didn’t want to ever
put any pressure on him. I just wanted
him to just come around to it when he
comes around to it.
There was a point when he was
suffering a little bit of burn out near
the end of Feed the Machine, which
typical. We all have a little bit, near
the end of recording every album. I
feel like if you don’t leave some of
your mental health on the table, you’re
not trying hard enough and it seems
like making albums is like that. You
go a little crazy when you’re deeply
involved in it, you’re not totally
functional, and that’s been how it’s
been for us.
Certain ones took more of a toll than
others, but it’s all self imposed, and it’s
all really with the goal of making the
best album possible. And, we’ll see
what’s next. I want Chad to just come
around to it as he comes around to it in
his own time, and then we’ll just see
what there is.
If he wants to make another album,
or if the material is strong and he feels
good about it and we all feel good about
it, we’ll do it. And if it doesn’t, and if it
doesn’t come together, then we won’t.
We don’t have to do anything, which in
our career, that hasn’t always been the
case. We’ve typically been beholden to
someone until recently, and now we’re
not beholden to anybody. We set our
own schedule.
We can record, not record, release,
not release, go on tour or not go on
tour. We don’t have to do a damn thing
if we don’t want to, which is really
kind of cool.
Photo by Dan Savoie

Ray Stern Returns to London to Persue Solo Career and Release a New Album
Story and Photo By
Dan Boshart
Ray Stern is the vocal powerhouse
and creative force behind The Universe
Featuring Ray. At the young age of
18, Ray was nominated for a Toronto
Independent Music Award with her then
Electronic duo The Peace Leeches and
quickly gained the spotlight opening for
notable Canadian acts such as Finger
Eleven, The Trews, Sloan, and the
Arkells. 519 had the pleasure of talking
with the fascinating and multi-talented
performer recently.
You have an interesting name, is Ray
Syd Stern your real full name?
It’s my full real made-up name!
No, it’s mostly real. I think it’s cool to
make up whatever name you want, like
why can’t we just name ourselves and
rename ourselves our whole lives? Ray
is a nickname I’ve had forever and Syd
I chose due to being obsessed with Syd
Barrett among other things, but Stern is
the last name I was born with.
You’ve been around the London
and Windsor music scene for about 10
years. Tell me about your first band,
Peace Leeches.
Well 2019 is the 10 year anniversary
of The Peace Leeches full-length album
release so that’s pretty cool. I wish I
would have planned ahead for a 10 yr
reunion show because I am asked about
that all the time from Peace Leeches fans.
At 18 y/o Corey and I began writing songs
and gained momentum really quickly. I
think we were so successful because we
were so original and unique at the time for
this area. I made unique stage clothes for
us, we used body paint and I always had
a pair of eyeballs painted under my eyes
so I was always looking at the crowd. It
was super wild and fun and the music was
danceable and positive but kinda dark too
which is generally how I like music. What
a good time though, in our short run we
opened up for so many big named acts,
Finger Eleven, Ill Scarlett, The Trews,
The Arkells. I feel so lucky and grateful
for the success we had in such a short
time.
Your shows are very visual with
your art and stage props, where did the
inspiration for this come from?
I just had this realization not long ago
about what inspires me. Like, so many
things are inspiring, just one word in the
English language is enough to spur an
entire song or movement in the world, but
for me, I’d say my biggest inspiration is
boredom. Ha-ha sounds like I am easily
bored but it’s more like I have a lot of
energy and its best put to work being
productive and creative so I just mess
with arts and crafts. My music also is the
big inspiration for the art. I think wanting
to promote my music creatively has
inspired a lot of my stage pieces and art
backpacks and stuff.
You have a great connection with
your audiences and your song writing
is soulful, clever and witty. What is
your process for song writing and
where does the inspiration come from?
My writing process has changed
over the years and from song to song.
I usually always start with the music
though, because that is the energy creator.
I feel like there’s a whirlpool of material
floating in the ether above our heads and
when I lose myself in the present moment
and disappear into the music that I’m
creating, there’s those sweet moments
where it’s like the vortex opens up and
funnels the gold down into my mind and it
just flows effortlessly, like a “Flow State”.
It’s a completely different feeling then
sitting at a white paper with a pen trying
to make something brilliant happen. That
works too, but there’s usually less soul
in those moments. We can sense those
things. I like to feel through music rather
than think through it.
You wrote the song My Superpower
for Positivity Day in 2018. Would you
say that’s a big part of who you are,
spreading positivity?
I do think that is a big part of who I am.
I’m not a positivity warrior or anything; I
think it’s just a well developed aspect of
me. I did the positivity day song from a
self reflective view point like I do with a
lot of my songs, because I think positivity
starts within, starts with positive thinking.
There is definitely a thread of positivity
weaved within even my darkest, painful
songs because my writing is very true to
who I am and I’ve always known, or had
faith that there is light after the dark so I
hope that can help people in pain.
I used to think you must always be
positive, and I think that is a good goal
but it’s not realistic, negativity is a great
learning mechanism to teach you about
yourself so now I allow myself to feel
negative if it’s how I feel in that moment,
but striving to see the light in those
situations always helps the negativity
pass.
How did you get involved with
Grown Up Avenger Stuff and what was
that experience like?
- Oh man, it was definitely crazy. Like
right up my alley kinda crazy ha-ha.
This family band from North Carolina
messaged me on Facebook saying
something like “Hey I know this sounds
crazy but, do you want to move to North
Carolina to join a rock band?” Classic
me was like, “Hell Yeah!” I love crazy
impulsive decisions.
I also thought it was a manifestation
of what I was wanting for myself. I
wanted to focus on music, not have to be
in charge of everything, see more of the
world, and have a tight bond with new
people. I went there and we recorded
and wrote a lot. We made a few of my
fave songs I’ve ever written, very much
rock music, we called it “Heavy Indie”.
Toured and saw a nice chunk of the mideast
coast of the USA. At some point I felt
that even though my team went from just
little old me to a 4 person group, we still
weren’t working hard enough on what I
thought mattered and I ended up realizing
I could be putting all of my eggs in my
own dream basket instead of someone
else’s. You know, I realized that who I am
(rainbow, wild, artsy) has to be expressed
or it will be repressed and because those
vibes weren’t true to them as a group…
I decided to give my dream everything I
could, so I left home to pursue my dream
as The Universe Featuring Ray. I learned
a lot from them though and am so happy
it happened!
What is the craziest thing that’s
happened at one of your shows?
I’ll leave some minor details out
(laughs), but one story I can actually
recall is when we opened up for The
Trews at a festival, we were backstage
in a tent with some friends who probably
shouldn’t have been back there, definitely
inebriated, and there was a gorgeous
guitar just sitting there with some
strawberries, you know when you can
tell something is important, this guitar
seemed important. I was munching on
the fruit and laughing at my friend who
then knocked over his beer and it started
to travel under the guitar. We’re like “Oh
shit!” so I grabbed the guitar and start
wiping it off and at the same time the wife
of one of the Trews members looked in
and was like “WTF is going on here?”.
Caught redhanded but not really doing
anything. She said it was the singer’s
guitar and grabbed it and the fruit from us.
They cracked down on backstage passes
right after that happened.
You’re about to release a new album
with songs from multiple producers,
tell us about it and what it’s like
working with different producers on
the same project.
I’ve been messing with these songs for
years and have been focused on recording
them and getting them out to the world so
I tried a few different studios/people out
and even have a few songs that I produced
myself with some co-production mixing
in studio so, there’s several brilliant minds
sprinkled into the mix. I started recording
some tunes with Michael Hanson from
Glass Tiger back in 2018 and then met
up with José Contreras from By Divine
Right last fall to get a demo together
which has now turned into a bunch songs
on this record. There’s no rules in the
music industry, or in life, just guidelines
so I said screw it, I’ll put a mixture on this
record cuz I wanna get my best stuff out
asap. The songs range from light happy
acoustic jams to high energy angsty rock
to super emotionally charged painful
expression. Just a whole crapload of Ray.
Do you have a title and release date
for the album?
The CD is called Co-Create because
it’s a big co-creation with a crapload of
people, producers, friends, family, artists,
and most importantly... The Universe!
Nothing is done by one person alone,
there’s so much inspiration and effort
added into my project by a number of
people so it’s important for me to honour
that by seeing the accumulation of this as
a group effort and I am so grateful! There
is no release date yet but most likely early
September.
For more on Ray Stern and The
Universe Featuring Ray, visit www.
theuniversefeaturingray.com.

Barbara Diab Returning to Southwestern Ontario Hometown After Show with BB King Drummer
Barbara Diab came from the
small Southwestern Ontario town
of Leamington and decided a life of
tomatoes wasn’t for her.
She moved to Montreal, dedicated
her life to jazz and is enjoying a
steady rise in her career. This year she
performed at Festival International
De Jazz De Montreal with legendary
BB King drummer Tony Coleman and
will be returning to Leamington for an
appearance at Rib Fest on July 19, and
also Caesars Windsor for a show on July
20.
She was excited to share her story
with 519.
Growing up in the 519, I bet
Motown and the Detroit music scene
played a big part of it?
Absolutely. We listened to the WRIF.
W-R-I-F 101.3, it was FM rock radio
and of course we had all the great Detroit
bands. I was a DJ myself at the University
of Windsor CJAM radio station. So of
course I was in heaven because I had
access to all the albums and we played
all sorts of music from Detroit and from
Windsor. So I was involved in the music
scene very early on and my memories,
especially Leamington and Windsor,
it’s just nothing but pure joy. I mean I
was so lucky as a child to grow up there.
Very safe.
Does that Motown, Detroit sound
still resonate with you today?
Absolutely, and when I got into the
blues later on, I didn’t realize that’s
what it was. It was just going back to
my Detroit roots, like Aretha Franklin
and Smokey Robinson. I mean that
was more rhythm and blues, but it’s
all that same root, it’s followed me. It
followed me all the way to Montreal.
I just didn’t realize that’s what I was
singing as a child, was all blues roots
and jazz based music, and I had heard
it before. It’s just, I didn’t know, I didn’t
have a name for it when I was a child,
but that’s what I was drawn to. I used
to watch Soul Train on American TV
because in Windsor and Leamington
that’s all we got were American stations,
at the time. So I was watching American
Bandstand and of course, especially
Soul Train. And I remember seeing BB
King on there, a young BB King and
that really fascinated me. They were
such good dancers and good music, a
lot of soul and funk, Oh man, those are
good memories.
When did you really discover the
blues then?
I would say I was in probably my
late twenties. I had always been singing.
My teachers pointed out to me in grade
three, I was about eight years old and
they would, always in the choir. They
would get me to say Barbara sing and
then the teacher later would tell me, “
you have a voice and you have a very
good voice, you should keep singing.”
So it was really at school that landed
on me, and then they would put me in
school plays and things like that where
there would be singing parts. And
funny enough, the teacher who I’d say
discovered me, she is still alive now and
she lives in Leamington and she’s 75
years old. Mrs. McCormick, I just love
her. Claire McCormick and she’s going
to come out and see me when I’m at the
Ribfest. So I haven’t seen her in over 40
years. So I just can’t wait.
You’re going to be in Leamington and
also at the Cosmo’s at Caesar’s Windsor.
So when was the last time you were here
and do you get to come back often?
I was there at Easter. I come back
about once or twice a year. I used to
come back more often, but since my
mom passed away, I don’t get down
there as much as I’d like. But when
the Ribfest called me and Caesar’s
Windsor, it was just the perfect timing
and it’s always great to come back in the
summer too. There’s so much to do. And
now I follow everything going on in
Leamington and Windsor on Facebook.
So it’s easy to stay in touch.
Not only are you coming home, but
you also have a new album out. Can
you tell me about Mojo Woman?
It was launched on June 18th at the
House of Jazz in Montreal where I
launched my first album. But this one is
called Mojo Woman. It’s a collaboration
with some of the Quebec’s finest
musicians who are also my regular
band. And it’s seven covers, six original.
I wrote the lyrics and my guitarists
composed all the original music. I called
it Mojo Woman because there was a man,
a harmonica player in Montreal who kept
coming to my shows. And I just started
giving out Mojos. Because after I had
been to Mississippi and Memphis and
Louisiana, I learned what a Mojo hand
was. So I started giving them out during
my shows. And so one man termed me
as the Mojo woman. So it stuck. And for
the last four years, people called me the
Mojo woman. And as I gave these things
away, people would come back to me
and they’d say, “You know your thing
really works. What’s in it? What did you
do?” So I don’t know what it was, but
people would like the positive vibe that
they got from me I guess, or from this
Mojo, which is like a little lucky charm,
you know? And it’s just taken off. I said,
“Well, it’s a fitting name for the album,
the Mojo Woman.” Because Mojo
means magic at its root. Everything
that surrounds you that’s magical. And I
thought, oh, I could name the album that
because women are magical creatures,
we really are. We do so much. We
accomplished so much. We have such
intuition. It’s just, we’re magical and
I’m really starting to see it now as I get
older and have more maturity. There
are a lot of magical women around me
who have helped me along the way. So
I wanted to do a tribute to the women in
blues. Women, they aren’t as present in
the blues perhaps today, but they were
the ones who kicked it all off in back in
the 20s. The women were the first ones
to be recorded on vinyl. I think it was
Mamie Smith, Crazy Blues was the first
blues song recorded. So women have
gone way back and I just wanted to
bring them up to the foreground again.
I hear you have a connection with
Tony Coleman from BB King’s band.
We’ve known each other for seven
years. He played on my first album.
He sent me some drum tracks after he
met me in Montreal. And I had released
my first single and he had asked me, to
gave him my single and I told him who
I was and he said, “Well, would you
have another one and can you just make
it to BB?” I said, “What?” He gave my
single to BB King. He said, “BB likes to
know what’s going on in the blues scene
and who is new, who is around.” So that
was seven years ago. We’ve just kept a
wonderful friendship since then.
Working with legends like Tony, it’s
always very exciting. So did you learn
anything from being around Tony?
I learned that it’s a privilege to
be on stage, that you should never
complain about music, ever. Because
it’s a privilege to be invited to play. It’s a
privilege to get to play. It’s a privilege to
have audience members come out to see
you. So that’s what I learned from Tony.
He is so positive and he likes the music
to be about the joy that you bring people.
He always says, “You know, Barbara,
we’ve play the blues to forget our blues.
We don’t want to play the blues to have
the blues.”So God love him. He’s just so
full of wisdom. And I’m so fortunate.
He likes people, he likes to be able to
teach people something or at least give
you pearls of wisdom.
When you’re on that stage, you better
give 100% and more.
Windsor Saxophonist Kim Kelly to be Remembered in Concert Celebration
The Back Stage in Windsor is pleased to host a party
to celebrate the life of Kim “The Commander” Kelly on
Sunday, July, 21st, 2019.
Kim passed away last month, and he did not have a
funeral at his request, but his friends, and fellow musicians
want to have the opportunity to celebrate his life through
some stories, but mostly with some great music. Kim was
an accomplished saxophonist, and he performed with the
Reverb Rockers (a Windsor based band) which toured
Europe, and graced many stages in Canada.
Kim managed the late, and great British blues singer;
Long John Baldry, and he also managed Canadian rockers;
Goddo. Last December; The Legendary Downchild Blues
Band played a Sold-Out benefit concert in Windsor for
their dear friend.
In a few seconds in November 2015, Kim’s life
dramatically changed after he fell going down the stairs at
a friend’s house, fracturing his neck, then spending a year
and a half in the hospital, and would never fully regain the
use of his arms and legs.
The party at The Back Stage on Sunday, July, 21st, 2019
will commence at 3.00pm, and is expected to go until
9.00pm that evening.
Here is the line-up of bands, and musicians participating
that day, which will conclude with an all-star jam session
to wrap it all up. Any musicians not mentioned here are
welcome to attend, and to jam with some of the finest
musicians in the area.
The Soulminors-The ABX Band-The Blues Side Band-
Dusty D’Annunzio-A.J. Vanden Berge-Jim McInnis-Bill
Loop, and Big John Dominas & Friends, will all grace the
stage.
There is no cover charge, so come out and hear some
great music, and listen to the musicians share stories about
Kim’s life.
Great music,
great food, and great
service is always in
order at The Back
Stage, so come out
and have a party in
Kim’s honour.
Gone, but not
forgotten...
The Back Stage
is located at; 1530
Langlois Ave. in
Windsor.
Photo by James St. Laurent

Tim Hicks Knows Exactly What A Song Should Do - Go To #1
By April Savoie
of shining a spotlight on it on our tour I’m getting texts from the songwriters
in November, and now it’s going to and from my team, and my manager,
Boots and Hearts veteran Tim Hicks
number one, it’s been pretty wild. he’s a very good manager. He’s hyper
is one of, if not the, most experienced
Where were you when you first conservative when it comes to these
Boots and Hearts performer, returning
heard that it hit number one and kinds of things. He said, “Don’t say
to the festival, August 8-11, for the fifth
what was your reaction?
anything, don’t Tweet about it, don’t
time. But, this time the Niagara Falls
So the quick story is that I stopped do nothing until we have the published
singer/songwriter will have his first
watching charts, just because it can chart.”
number one hit single under his wings
drive you crazy. But I started to watch And so all day long we were just
- What A Song Should Do.
it when somebody said it’s approaching waiting for that call, and finally, it was
We had a quick chat about what
top 10. And when it hit nine, I checked. probably about 9:30, 10:00, he called
it’s like having a number one hit and
I thought, okay, that’s pretty cool. me and said, “Okay, it’s official: you’ve
returning to Boots and Hearts.
And then I checked again, and it was got your first number one.” Yeah. So
I know what a song should do.
at seven, and it was sort of floating we had a little celebration in the living
It should go to number one on the
in between seven and 10 for a few room. And it was one of these things,
country charts, so congratulations.
days. And then I stopped watching it we had this neighbor of ours at our old
Thank you. Yeah. It’s very exciting.
texting, “We need to be getting five of them were related to me. And
again, because I thought that’s good house, and she said you should always
It’s kind of nice to see the progression
matching tattoos.” And I’m headed to the second year, that was 2013, so my
enough for me. Then my friend started have a bottle of champagne on hand,
of that song, right from the day
Nashville on Monday, so you never career had broken, and we played the
texting me, going, “I think it’s going to because you never know when you’re
we wrote it. I wrote it with Karen
know. They’re down there. So we might kickoff party on Thursday night and
happen, it’s going to happen.” And I going to need to celebrate. And we
Kosowski and Emma-Lee, and we
just have one too many Margaritas and there was 10,000 people there.
said, “What are you talking about?” So thought of her, because of course we
were in Nashville, and it was a write
wind up at a tattoo parlor on Broadway. And then the following year, we
when I checked it, it was up at number didn’t have anything like that. Because
like any other write, just kind of what
I wanted to chat a bit about Boots played the main stage, and that was a
four, and it kind of hung at four for a I felt like I was going to jinx it if I went
are we going to do today, kind of thing.
and Hearts. You’re finally returning trip. Like 38-40,000 people out there
few days.
out, “Okay, I’m just going to get this
And Emma-Lee had the idea, and we
this year after a few years away. screaming, singing every word, was a
And then on Saturday morning I champagne just in case,” you know?
just flushed it out. And once we had
You were a bit of regular at the whole lot of fun. And after that, they
woke up, and on the Rolling chart, we It just didn’t feel right. But we should
the first two lines, the whole thing just
beginning for Boots and Hearts. You go well, okay, well we can’t have you
were at number one. The first thing have followed her advice.
kind of wrote itself. I remember on the
only missed maybe one of the first back every year, it’s getting to be ... It
I did as soon as I opened my eyes, I You should celebrate your first
day, thinking if there was ever a song
five festivals, and I’m not sure who’s was almost like people were expecting
woke my wife up. I was like, “Look at number one with a New Tattoo. You
for a guy like me to sing, that had a
been there the most, but you’d be on that I was just going to be there. Like
this! Look at this!” It was so exciting. saw what I did there right?
chance at doing something, this was it.
that list somewhere.
oh, well, we won’t see him play when
And then of course you have to hold See, I was already thinking about
And so, right from the day we wrote it,
I think we did three in a row. So he’s in Kitchener, cause we’ll catch
on until the published chart comes out that, because jokingly, or half-jokingly,
just seeing all the things that it’s done,
the quick story is, like the first year, him at Boots. Like that kind of thing.
on Sunday night, so all day Sunday the songwriters and I, when we were
performing it at the CCMA, and kind
I played to seven people, and I think You don’t really want that.
From Ajax to Boots and Hearts, Kris Barclay is Country-Ready
By April Savoie
Ajax, Ontario’s Kris Barclay has not
wasted a minute cementing his place
in the Canadian country music scene.
Having performed for nearly a decade,
Kris has shared the stage with the likes
of Brett Kissel, The Road Hammers,
Gord Bamford and Dean Brody.
This spring, Kris releases his
debut single through Warner Music
Canada, Loved You Like That, and
he’ll perform at Boots and Hearts
at Burl’s Creek Event Grounds, Oro
Station from August 8-11 as a featured
performer.
We had a chat with the rising star
about his music and Boots and Hearts.
You must be excited to have Love
You Like That out? What’s the song
about to you?
I am so excited to finally have Loved
You Like That out! It’s been a long
time coming for me and I am so happy
to share it with everyone. For me the
song is about seeing someone you were
once with moving on and happy with
someone else and wishing you could
go back and do some things different.
What inspired you to write and
record it?
I had the idea for the song for a while
just based on the social media world
and being able to scroll through photos
and the idea came to me of seeing
someone you already had regrets about
being happy with someone else and the
title just kind of came to me. When I
brought it up in the room with the guys,
they were into it right away and the
song just sort of came together pretty
quickly.
You had a couple co-writers on the
song. Tell us about the experience.
Co-writing is such a great experience
because it allows you to learn new
writing styles, it helps you stay focused
and in the room and not get distracted,
and it also helps sort through good
and bad lines as well as cuts back on
writer’s block. So many times one of
us will throw out a line or a word and
then it sends us all down a path to put
together an even better line or phrase.
Those types of things lead to a great
song. All four of us get along really
well, so it makes the process really fun.
It was even cooler that the guys I wrote
it with ended up recording it with me
too so it was such a great process to be
a part of.
Country is such a rockin’ world at
the moment, but you chose a ballad
to kick it all off with. Did you intend
to launch with a ballad?
I think the best part of country music
is that a great song is always a great
song. Country music really is about
the song. Although a lot of current
Country hits are up beat, we felt really
strongly about the lyrics of this song
and I think the guys did a really great
job on the production. I have a great
team of people behind me to help me
through this whole process, so to have
everyone on the same page and feel
strongly about the song really helped
solidify the decision.
The recording world is pretty new
for you. How did you get a contract
with Warner?
I was very fortunate to get the
chance to work with Warner Music
Canada through the Boots and Hearts
Chevrolet Emerging Artist Showcase.
About 400 people applied last year,
and I made the top 10 cut but was in the
fan vote wild card, so I’m extremely
thankful for everyone that took the
time to vote for me. From there I went
on to become the first wild card vote
to go on and win the showcase. Since
then, I’ve had such a great experience
working with and learning from my
team at Warner Music Canada.
What can you reveal about the
upcoming EP?
Not much!! I’m a pretty secretive
guy with songs and with music until
it’s ready to be released! I’m constantly
writing and looking for the right songs
that I feel fit together and fit where
I’m at as an artist. I don’t want to rush
anything, it’s all still fresh, and I’m
still really excited about Loved You
Like That and am looking forward to
hopefully watching that song grow!
I know you’ve been performing
a lot over the years, but things are
a bit in overdrive this year and
moving faster. Are you ready for the
ride of your life?
It has been a lot of years, I’ve built
my life around one day having an
opportunity like this. I’m so excited,
I couldn’t feel more ready and excited
for what’s to come. I’m grateful to be
a part of the Country Music family
and am loving the ride!
You got selected to play at Boots
& Hearts. How did that come
about?
I was fortunate enough to have my
YouTube video selected from about
400 applicants, narrowed down to
the top 10. From there I was in the
wild card fan vote, which again, I am
so grateful for the votes I received,
and then went on to become the first
wildcard fan vote to win the whole
thing.

Lee Aaron Transitions Herself From Metal Queen to Mom to Classic Rocker
By Dan and April Savoie
Lee Aaron is a rocker, a mom and
the immortal Metal Queen. She’s been
rocking the world for nearly 40 years and
has released 17 albums, including her
latest Diamond Baby Blues.
She’s back with a vengeance and hasn’t
finished telling her story yet. We sat down
with the Canadian icon for a chat about
music, sexuality and being a mom.
You’ve been busy ever since
Diamond Baby Blues came out? It’s
like a resurgence for Lee Aaron. Is there
something you’ve done differently this
time that is making the album and your
live date so special?
I don’t know if it’s anything I’m doing
anything different, you know I’ve sort of
come back into the limelight a little bit
now that my children are a little bit older,
I was actually able to focus on writing and
recording again and along with that of
course becomes the whole gamut of doing
videos comes along with it. I’ve had a
greater video presence lately back again
on Youtube and Spotify and all of those
networks that are out there, as everything
is digital out there now of course, right.
There was Fire and Gasoline 2016
and Diamond Baby Blues of course that
came out in 2018, so we’ve written and
recorded a couple of studio albums just
recently and I think the material is strong
and I think that’s resonating with fans.
Some artists come back many years later
and they do something but it doesn’t
match the quality of what they’ve done
in the past and I think the work we’ve
done recently and when I say that I am
crediting my band mates as well, not
just myself, I think the work we’ve done
lately matches the quality if not surpasses
what we’ve done in the past and so I’m
pretty excited about it.
I hear there’s a live album coming?
There is. I just got the release date into
my inbox yesterday. It’s September 20,
2019. It is a live album DVD package. So
it’s got a companion DVD. So what it is, is
the best of 2 nights in the summer of 2017
when we were touring Europe, Germany,
specifically. So part of it is from Bang
Your Head Festival and part of it is from a
huge nightclub called Hearst night club in
Nuremburg. We recorded and filmed live
both nights, so we’ve got the DVD on one
side and the live album on the other side
of the package. So it’s quite exciting and
one of the coolest things I’ve done lately,
so I’m excited about it.
Going back and talking about the
great musicians that are behind you,
I’ve been a fan of Sean Kelly for years
and it seems like you guys are such a
killer pair together.
We do actually. We just have a lot in
common. You know he’s a teacher and
I work actually in the field of special
education out here in BC also with kids
and I think for both of us it’s a way of
giving back, outside of our music careers.
We connect on a lot of levels. We love
children and we love inspiring kids to
be musical and to reach their potentials.
We both like similar styles of music, but
then there is this area where he’s sort of
stuck in and likes a lot of that Glammy
80’s rock and I like a lot of that but I dig
in further of the past and I pull on blues
and roots and blues and things like that, so
it actually makes for a really interesting
combination of influencing that we’re
both bringing into the writing sessions
and he’s just a lovely person. We get along
really good, we both have families. We
joke around; we’re like the Steven Tyler
and Joe Perry of the Lee Aaron band.
It’s been a long time since the Lee
Aaron project and Metal Queen, can
you still relate to the woman that
recorded those albums?
On one level yes, on one level no.
Obviously when I look back at some of
my song writing back then it was coming
from the perspective of a 19 or 20 year
old girl which was lacking a huge amount
of life experience and being full of piss
and vinegar bravado, but not knowing
completely what I was talking about.
Now I can look with wisdom and go
okay I knew what I was doing then and I
know that with Metal Queen I was trying
to make a push back feminist statement
but I can see now that perhaps it might
have been misunderstood because it
was presented to the public by a fairly
immature person.
I know that video from Metal Queen
was banned in England and also Australia
because they saw the video. We were
trying to create a “comic book style”
female heroine character who prevails
against the forces of evil and all of the
regulatory advisory boards back then all
they saw was there’s a woman getting her
arm set on fire, that’s violence towards
women. That was such of the day and
that was what they were looking for. I
don’t think it was necessarily. I kind of
think that it’s nice for me now that as a
more mature artist to fast forward to the
future and bring some of that material and
present it with a new face and I really feel
that songs and their meanings evolve and
change over time. When I play that song
nowadays, fans in my age category who
have followed me for years feel that it’s
an anthem of empowerment for them and
that’s a great thing.
With that song Metal Queen, I know
a few times you’ve said that it was a
battle axe that your burden to carry
with you, so have you finally come to
terms with that song or will it always
carry a stigma?
No I have definitely come to terms with
it. I don’t know, that stigma has largely
kind of faded away in the last decade and
I think again that comes with all of our
audience. My audience is between 40-
60 years old. Those are the people who
remember my songs and I feel as the
audience has grown up and matured with
me, the music of their youth, takes on a
different meaning... their able to look at
it from a different world view, so I don’t
feel that it carries that stigma.
Years ago, when I got fed up and I
didn’t want to play it, it was because
people would go oh along with that whole
image Metal Queen, just the word Metal
being involved in the title brought about
a lot of negative ideas for people that I
must be this woman who lives this certain
type of lifestyle, doing drugs and alcohol,
is promiscuous, it was like a tag hung on
me that it is what it entails and comes along
with that but it couldn’t have been further
from the truth and that was frustrating for
me because I was like oh my god, everyone
has missed the feminist message here. For
a while I was like, screw it, I’m not going
to play it. Too bad.
Forward a decade where my
demographic of audience has the most
disposable amount of income, classic rock
festivals are now bigger money makers
than ever, everybody wants to see the
music of their youth lives and why not
because all us bands know how to play
their instruments and perform. A lot of
the new music today everything is so
programmed and digitized. I find some of
it un-listenable. So that’s what people want
to see, so like I said, they are able to come
out and experience the music from a new
perspective, a new world view.
Do you still have the Metal Queen
outfit?
I do not but I can tell you where it
lives. It lives at the National Music Center
in Calgary. The National Music Center
in Calgary, if you don’t know what it is,
you should Google it. It’s this incredible,
it’s kind of like the Canadian Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame. It’s this incredible
entertainment/education/archival venue.
Maybe 3 years ago, I heard from the
curator and he asked me if I had anything
that I could donate and I still had the Metal
Queen vest and I still had my vintage
body rock black leather jacket with all the
buttons on it. So I donated it to the National
Music Center in Calgary.
Back in the era, you were very sexual
on stage but sexuality was all over the
music back then do you think that was
forced on you at all?
To be completely honest, yes I felt
like I was battling a lot. I don’t like to
say negative things about former work
colleagues, people I’ve worked with,
people I respect but there was a real agenda
back then especially in the 80’s.
Women were, especially in rock and
roll videos, sexualized. Quite often a video
would have men parading around doing
their thing and then there would be a bunch
of scantily clad women that were pretty
much ornamental to the video to prop them
up to make them look more masculine.
The irony being that they probably
had more hairspray and makeup than the
women did back then. That was the ironic
thing. There was definitely a push for me to
fit into cultural marketing of the time. That
is something that I was able to thankfully
really pull away from and distant myself
from later on. I actually went independent
in 1992, I’m not sure if you were aware of
that, I was actually one of the first acts in
Canada to go independent off my label. I
can wear whatever I want now. I can do the
kind of music I want.
Commercially, the next couple of
albums weren’t quite as successful as they
had been with a huge label behind me but
I think I was a lot happier personally than
artistically.
With being a mom, what are your
feelings about your daughter seeing
some of the bad stuff from back then,
now?
To be honest with you, it’s a lot less
shocking than some of the stuff like
Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry.
A lot of the stuff that’s out there makes a
lot of my former early stuff look mild. So
honestly, it doesn’t really phase her.
They’ve seen all my videos in the past.
I know that when she was in Grade 2, she
came home and she said my buddy Jaden
said his mom showed him a video and
there’s some giant robot thing and I’m
thinking what video is she talking about,
she must mean Metal Queen with the giant
silly aluminum drum rizer and she was
literally lasted half the video and she said
that’s it and I said yeah.
She was bored because it wasn’t CGI
and didn’t have all these special effects
that she was seeing. I have talked to my
own daughter extensively about the fact
that these are some of the obstacles that
mom encountered when she was young
and I maybe didn’t have the strongest
support network around me like you have
around you so you need to be aware that
everything you wear sends a message. So
we’ve had a lot of discussions around that
absolutely.

Owen Barney Heading to The Same Festival as Hero Jason Aldean
By Dan Savoie
Born and raised in Toronto,
country artist Owen Barney has been
strumming the guitar since he was
just seven years old, influenced by
country heavy-hitters Eric Church,
Dean Brody, and Jason Aldean. He has
played shows around Toronto from the
age of 14, and has spent the last few
years honing his skills as a performer.
He heads to Boots and Heart this
year at Burl’s Creek Event Grounds,
Oro Station from August 8-11. He
performs on Sunday.
You’re coming to Boots & Hearts
again this year. That must be
exciting. Sunday is a great day too.
Jason Aldean, Kane Brown, Tim
Hicks. Oh hell yeah…
I am very excited to be a part of
Boots and Hearts this year, I have
always been a fan of Jason Aldean,
so I am very much looking forward to
seeing his performance.
Being on stage isn’t new for
you, but I bet this will be a crazy
experience? What are your thoughts
on performing at Boots and Hearts
this year?
I am really looking forward to play
at Boots and Hearts this year. It is such
a fun festival to go to, but actually
being a part of it and getting the chance
London’s Home Country Folk
Festival has a habit of bringing in some
incredible talent. This year, they’re
offering up some powerful roots music
from Winnipeg duo The Small Glories
who perform on Sunday, July 21 in
downtown London’s beautiful Victoria
Park.
The Small Glories are a brand new
musical union between folk/roots artists
Cara Luft and JD Edwards.
Luft, a Juno award winner, deserves
her solid reputation as one of Canada’s
finest live performers and acoustic
guitar players. A co-founder of folk trio
The Wailin’ Jennys, Luft was the spark
behind the group. JD Edwards, on
the other hand, has a voice that defies
categorization. With his 6-piece JD
Edwards Band, listeners are enrobed in
a concoction of country, blues, R & B
and soul, with a healthy dose of good
‘ol rock and roll.
We had a chat with Luft, ahead of
their London show.
Your website says you guys got
together by accident, but that just
begs for a more elaborate answer.
We both live in Winnipeg and there’s
a really wonderful venue in town there
called the West End Cultural Center, and
they were having an anniversary show.
I think it was their 25th anniversary
to go on stage is truly a dream come
true to me.
How did country music come to
you?
I’ve grown up listening to country
my whole life. I think my mom being
from Alberta may have had something
to do with it, but every time I would be
in the car that’s what was on and I just
gravitated towards it immediately.
The guitar is a big part of who
you are and the sound you make.
Tell me about your relationship with
the guitar and how it shaped you
through the years?
I first picked up the guitar when I
was about 7 years old. My Dad had an
old guitar in the basement that I had
found and got him to show me a few
chords, shortly after I got a teacher.
My Dad was never really much of
a guitar player but my Grandpa was
someone I was able to play with and
learn from. Growing up, when going to
visit my grandparents, the first thing I
would do when getting to their house
is run upstairs to his room and start
playing guitar and wait for him to
eventually come up and join me
Earlier this year your EP came
out. That must be exciting to be able
to play. What’s it like having an EP
out?
Having an EP or even just to have a
show, actually. And the artistic director
of the venue had this idea of inviting as
many Manitoba artists to come back to
the venue for this one night. And started
putting the call out a few months ahead
of time, and then he told us his other
idea was to partner everybody up with
somebody who they don’t normally
sing with, or even perhaps have never
heard before.
So it was this really interesting way
of celebrating music and forcing us to
move a little bit outside of our comfort
zone and work up some material with
somebody who we wouldn’t normally
work with. And the other thing he threw
into the mix was we couldn’t even do
our own songs. We had to learn songs
written by other Manitoba artists,
so it was hilarious, it was actually a
really beautiful night once everybody
performed. We all had a couple of
months lead time. And so JD and I
arranged a few rehearsals and we knew
everybody else is doing the same thing,
but you didn’t know what everyone
was singing. So, during the night, other
collaborations would hop on stage and
you’d go, “Wow, I wonder what this is
going to sound like.” And then they’d
announce, “And now we’re going to
sing a song written by,” and they’d list
some other Manitoba artists.
And you’re like, “Oh my god, what
is this going to sound like?” So there
song out had always been a dream of
mine. Being able to play my songs on
stage is a feeling that cannot be beat.
It is especially amazing when you
see people in the audience who know
them. Although I know not everyone
there is going to know the words, each
show always has a few who do and that
wouldn’t have been possible without
this EP.
Let’s go through the three songs.
Tell me how they came about and
what they mean to you:
Home - Home is a song that I really
enjoyed working on. After writing the
song I loved it right away. I found the
vibe of the song to be unique and it
was so fun to sing, still it is one of my
favorite songs to perform
Killing Time - was one of the
first songs I had ever written. It was
definitely the first song I had ever cowritten.
After writing this song I fell
in love with it instantly. When it came
time to choose the songs for this EP, I
knew this song had to be on it.
Letting Go - I wrote letting go
after a relationship I was in had
ended. After a while of not really
doing too well, I wrote this song and
it helped me move on.
Why was Home chosen as the
title track for the EP?
To me Home is a song that really
was a country artist mixed with a hip
hop artist. There were folk mixed with
rock. It was just a really, really diverse,
beautiful way to celebrate all the
musicians in our community. And so
when JD and I started rehearsing, it was
this instinctual, I think we both knew
“Oh, wow. Our vocal blend is really
good.” But, it took us a while to kind of
actually do something about it.
You have a new album coming out
this month. What can we expect?
I think we’re going play all the new
tunes, actually, at the festival. We’re
really excited about it because it’s very
Canadiana centric, in a sense, that all
the songs were pretty much written
either in Canada or about locations in
Canada.
We seem to gravitate towards
this general theme of home, and our
last album seemed to be a lot about
home, meaning going home, what we
consider home, and this new album is
other people’s homes and going out and
hearing stories of where other people
are from. And also this sense that JD
and I are not actually from Winnipeg.
We are transplants to Winnipeg, and so
what that’s like being embraced by this
community and now that we’re calling
it our home.
It’s a diverse album in that we also
co-wrote all the songs with other
artists, whether we co-wrote with each
pushes the boundaries of what
country music is and what it can be. I
feel like because of its unique sound
it really can catch the attention of
listeners and
that’s why I thought it was the
other, I think there actually is a third
writer on pretty much every song,
and all of the writers are Canadian
except for one. There’s was one fellow
from the States who’s a poet, and we
wrote one song with him. But yeah.
It’s really, really beautiful artists like
Catherine MacLellan, Lynn Miles,
James Callahan, Bruce Guthro, Ashley
Condon. It was a really interesting
project for us that way. And I think it
made the songs even stronger, actually,
having other peoples’ input.
perfect song to be the single and to
represent this EP.
Is there new music ahead for you
later this year?
Yes, I am going to be releasing
another short EP in early July!
The Small Glories Coming to London’s Home Country Folk Festival
By April Savoie
Why did you choose the title
Assiniboine and The Red?
Well, that talks about our coming
to Winnipeg from outside. I’m from
Alberta originally, and JD is from
Ontario, and we both found our way to
Winnipeg and we thought, “Oh, this is
a,” because it’s talking about home and
other people’s homes is the Assiniboine
and the Red represents Winnipeg
obviously, and it was other people’s
homes, and now it’s our home, too. So
a real sense of place.

Feminist Theatre Brings Judith Thompson’s Tragic Prison Story to Windsor
By Dan and April Savoie
Watching Glory Die is a riveting yet
deeply compassionate portrait of three
women, inextricably linked by shared
helplessness in the face of tragedy. The
2014 drama by Canadian playwright
Judith Thompson is being staged in
Windsor for the first time by the Windsor
Feminist Theatre at the Hatch Studio
Theatre, Jackman Dramatic Art Centre
at the University of Windsor from July
23 to 27.
We had a lengthy chat with Thompson
about the play and what inspired her to
tell such a dramatic and horrifying story.
Why did you write Watching Glory
Die?
I wrote it, I am not sure how many
years ago, maybe seven or eight years ago
in response to the tragic death of Ashley
Smith, who was a young girl from New
Brunswick who was incarcerated initially
just for, basically mischief, throwing crab
apples at a postman, literally. She was a
mischievous girl. She would dine-anddash,
and playfully knock into people,
strangers, that kind of thing. But nothing
criminal, ever. Basically like a lot of
young boys at that age.
Nothing criminal, ever, and they were
looking for a reason to lock her up, and
this crab apples gave them the reason.
And then, because she didn’t have a lot of
control, she was really lacking. The rest
of us would sort of put our head down and
do what we were told to get out of there.
She just couldn’t do that. She would
swear at the correctional officers, she
would throw her lunch on the floor, that
kind of thing, because they were hurting
her, and it was difficult, and she couldn’t
control herself. She did’t have whatever
it is in our brains that allow us to do that,
so she kept getting institutional charges.
She was then transferred at 18 to a federal
prison. Grandview Valley Correctional
Center in Kitchener where she tried
numerous times to take her life, because
she kept getting charged for anything.
Literally, they’d put handcuffs on her
and she’d say, “Ow, that hurt,” she’d get
another six months.
You can see it all on YouTube. Her
mother insisted on even her death
remaining on YouTube, because she
wants the world to know. And if you
watch all of these videos, Ashley is never
out of turn. She just says, “Please, you’re
hurting me,” kind of thing. What any of
us would say. They illegally gave her
drugs for psychosis, which she didn’t
have. She was never properly diagnosed.
They would come into this young, sweet,
chubby girl’s cell in full riot gear. Like six
men. To transport her on an airplane, they
kept moving her to institutions, because
even then, legally, you were not permitted
to have an inmate in segregation for
longer than 45 days. Now, to me, 45
days is extremely excessive anyway, but
because basically they were too lazy to do
the paperwork, and the paperwork would
not justify keeping her in. They just didn’t
know how to handle her.
For instance, when she was sent to
Saskatoon to a prison for the criminally
insane, which is ridiculous, she wasn’t
at all, there’s a whole video in The Fifth
Estate documentary of a nurse coming in,
and at first, Ashley was difficult. I think
she threw her lunch in her face. But then,
the nurse just kept talking to her, and she
was absolutely fine. She was fine with
her mother. They moved her so much
that her mother would buy plane tickets
to visit her, and then be told, “Oh, she’s
been moved,” and of course, she’d never
get the money back. I could talk forever
about it.
And then, what finally happened,
She’d tear ligatures from her own gown
and store them in her orifices, because the
guards have to get consent of the prisoners
to check them now, and she would try to
strangle herself a lot. That happened quite
commonly. So, the psychologist at the
prison said, “Well, don’t go in until she’s
blue, until she’s completely blue and
stopped breathing.” So, the guards were
ordered to wait. One day, they did as they
were told. She was blue, and you can see
this on YouTube, and she had died. It’s so
horrific, the whole thing, start to finish.
Even if she had been a criminal, but she
wasn’t. She was just obstreperous and
maybe needed some medication.
Finally, in civic court, it was ruled
a homicide, thank God. But who was
punished? The frontline guards, not the
evil psychologists, or the warden, or any
of those in charge who, in fact, ordered
the guards to stand there. And I wrote the
character of the guard, Gail, as well as the
character of Glory, who is my fictional
representation of Ashley, just inspired
by her story, and her mother, too. Her
real mother is named Coralee and this
person’s name is Rosellen. And I’m very
sympathetic with the guard, and a lot of
correctional officers came to the show. It
was both here in Toronto and Vancouver.
What they have to endure, and they’re
forced to endure is unbelievable. This
is their job. They have pensions that
they couldn’t risk. People are blaming
the people on the frontline who are just
tools. It’s easy to just up and quit and
start a riot if you have a trust fund, or you
can lose your job without worrying. But
it’s very complex. They were undoing
these ligatures every day, and they have
no help, they have no guidance. One of
them, you will see if you watch the video,
screams out when she sees Ashley’s dead,
“My God, I haven’t had CPR in 11 years.”
Well, what is a frontline correctional
officer doing not having had a CPR in 11
years? I have a friend who is a lifeguard,
and they have to redo it every year.
Has Ashley’s family watched the
play?
Yes. Coralee, her mother, has in Nova
Scotia. There was a tour in Nova Scotia
with one young actor playing all three
roles. She was very gratified that the play
was created, and wants as many people
to see it as possible. So, that was very
important, to us to have her blessing, even
though it is completely fictionalized, it’s
inspired by Ashley’s story. And there are
some true details, too.
You became Glory in the premier in
2014. It was the first time that you took
the stage since 1980, so you obviously
connected with the story and really
wanted to tell it.
I did, but I wasn’t going to act in it. But
this Iris, this dramaturge is a very pushy
person, and she said, “You get on the
stage. You’re a director, you’re a writer,
and you’re an acting teacher. You’ve got
to remind yourself of what it takes.” And
she was right. It was really important
that I did it, and really hard to memorize
my own lines. Oh my God, when I was
young, I would have three rehearsals,
and I’d know them all, because I’d had
years as an actor, from basically 11 to 30,
or so. And I had a terrible struggle. But
once an audience was there, I was fine.
Strangely, the old muscles kicked in. It’s
really exhausting though. I don’t know
how they do it. I’d much rather be sitting
there as a director or a playwright and
giving notes.
When you took on Glory, why
did you choose to take on all three
characters?
Well, my director dramaturge and I
felt that ... I had originally wanted three
women, but A) It’s the cost. It reduces
the cost of the production, and B) She
felt that all three women are one woman
in a sense. We all have deep thread of
commonality, that we are all sisters. There
is a mother in us, there is a daughter in us,
there is the guard in us, the person having
to work for the man kind of thing. It was
fun switching between the characters,
but I really love having three incredible
actresses, Kelli Fox, who has been at
Shaw for years, and years, and years. Just
extraordinary. And Kathryn Haggis, who
I’ve worked with before, really brings a
depth and an earthiness to the guard. And
a wonderful young newcomer, Nathanya,
who brings the energy, the innocence of
Glory to life.
What do you hope the audience will
get from seeing the show?
I hope that they will be as outraged as
I am by the system that they support by
paying taxes. I hope that they will also
have an empathy and understanding of
what it is to be absolutely in the grip of
a system the way the guards are, that they
can’t, really, don’t have the resources to
fight. And I hope they understand the
pain of a mother, whether it’s in this case,
Rosellen, whose daughter’s in prison and
she’s absolutely helpless. Even though
she has really good people fighting for
her. She had Kim Pate, who’s now a
senator, fighting for Ashley. It didn’t do
any good. And many mothers are in that
position. The mothers of many missing
and murdered indigenous women, for
instance. Young women who go missing,
who become addicted to opioids, that kind
of thing. Just that absolute helplessness.
Your followed up Watching Glory
Die with Who Killed Snow White,
last year. That’s another very dark
and tragic story. There must be a part
of you that is compelled to get those
stories out there into the open.
I think that, although they do come out
in the news, and we heard about, Speaking
of Who Killed Snow White, of Amanda
Todd and Rehtaeh Parsons taking their
own lives after being, sexually assaulted,
and then harassed online, or blackmailed
online, in the case of Amanda Todd.
And there’s something about public
humiliation and online trolling that is
almost worse than the assault itself for
these young women. This is what’s
happening now in the contemporary
world. I know what it’s like to get bad
reviews. I’ve got them in the past, believe
me, and that is very humiliating. Even if
we know its nonsense and people love
the play, it’s to have something public.
And we know, from grade school and
middle school, something spread around
about you, or there’s a public shaming,
is something I think humans fear, maybe
more than anything. We look at a lot of
people in powerful positions are rightly
being shamed now, and this is a good
thing, but when it’s for no reason, for
something online, or flashing online, or
something like that, it’s horrifying to a
young person, especially.
They cannot withstand it, partly
because they are unable to stay offline.
Whereas, people my age, I don’t ever
check about myself online. It’s easy for
me to stay away from because I’m almost
65. Most of my life, I grew up without it.
But I think if you are young, you sound
young, it’s almost impossible to be
offline, right?

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SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO’S ENTERTAINMENT NEWSPAPER
519
Issue 13 - July/Aug. 2019
FREE
Where the Stars Hang Out in Southwestern Ontario
A Canadian Icon Returns to Form
JACQUI CHILDS
ALICE COOPER
RUSSELL DICKERSON
DANIELLE BRADBERRY
BARBARA DIAB
RAY STERN
KELSI MAYNE
A TRIBUTE CONCERT TO KIM KELLY
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