Sign in Become a member

Gillian Turnbull

Why Regular Radio Sucks

It often takes a shitty experience to inspire a post – and so my three reviews and an interview go on waiting for another day... Today, I took my cat to the vet for her annual checkup. I get these postcards in the mail of animals dressed in veterinary garb with

Anatomy of a Great Song IV: Kris Kristofferson’s “Duvalier’s Dream”

This, to me, is the best example of what can happen to a song once it’s out in the world and its meaning is no longer controlled by the writer. Let me set up the context in which I was hearing Kristofferson’s “Duvalier’s Dream”, so that what

Country Biographies Part I: Dick Damron

Country Biographies Part I: Dick Damron

I have this great used bookstore in my neighbourhood; every time I go in, I find some rare Canadian or country music book. I avoid the store, because if I went in regularly, I’d spend all my money on filling my place up with books I don’t have

Singer-Songwriters of the Calgary Roots Scene Part 1: Tom Phillips

Leader of the local country scene, Tom Phillips generates awe and envy wherever he goes in Calgary. Other country singers are persistent in their efforts to reach his level of success, and his audience treats him like the local celebrity he has become. With a catalogue of jumpin’ honky tonk

Sometimes I Just Don’t Feel Like Listening to Music

My friend has taken to introducing me as her “friend with a Ph.D. in music, but whenever I go to her house, she doesn’t have any music playing!” The other day, I was listening to an interesting program on CBC Radio, about a woman who wrote a book

Lost Record of the Week: Paint it Black: An Alt-Country Tribute to the Rolling Stones

Time to revisit this column, since I’m starting to find little windows of time where I can go back to my record collection and review old/lost stuff. This album raises the perennial question of what a cover song should do. Should it be an interesting, unpredictable interpretation of

Lost Record of the Week: Corb Lund, Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier!

This album nearly killed me. Not in a bad way...it’s just been so long since something grabbed my attention right away, wouldn’t let me go, and was brilliant from start to finish. Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier! is a true work of art in an age when the