This week Song Talk Radio welcomed Gilbert Neal to our studio. A master song craftsman, Gilbert Neal – on his latest release Mistakes of Memory shows the depth and diversity of his influences: Leonard Cohen, Pink Floyd, ELO, Stevie Wonder, Steely Dan, Stephen Sondheim. Relying on his mastery of musical theatre and zeal for classic …
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Remembering John Prine
On this episode we are talking about the great John Prine. This American treasure, perhaps a modern day Mark Twain, a peerless songwriter and chronicler of the lives of regular folk sadly passed away recently – one of the many victims of the Covid 19 pandemic. Since his death, many of todays music’s stars have …
Turning emotions into songs with poetry with Loryn Taggart
This week we welcomed Loryn Taggart back to the show, after her first appearance almost five years ago! The fast-rising jazz artist just released her album Irene, but showcased two of her other songs, The Guest and The Wedding Song. We talked about: the recent passing of Little Richard, Dave Greenfield (keyboardist for the Stranglers), …
Throwback Thursday Themeshow: Unusual Lyrics
For this Throwback Thursday, we’re going back to 2016 for a special episode with guest co-host Janice Ho to look at three songs with unusual lyrics and what that means to communicate your song.
Donna Linklater: Songwriting and Composition, What’s The Difference?
This week SongTalk welcomed Donna Linklater to our studio. Soprano and composer/songwriter Donna Linklater studied opera with Sylvia Richardson at Brandon University. Toward the end of her studies, she began to focus on new music and was especially taken with the aleatoric music of John Cage which gave her greater freedom of creative expression. Her …
Keeping It Real with Blair Packham
This week SongTalk welcomed our old friend Blair Packham to our studio. The Toronto-based artist, first gained attention for his work with ’80’s power pop band The Jitters. He is now an acclaimed solo artist and musician. Blair released two strongly-reviewed solo albums before shifting his focus to composing music for TV and films, teaching …
How Featurette add emotion to Electro-Pop
This week SongTalk welcomed FEATURETTE to our studio. The Toronto-based duo FEATURETTE, formed by singer Lexie Jay and drummer, Jon Fedorsen, makes emotionally-charged, heavy-hitting electro-pop music that has been met with international critical acclaim. After receiving their first full recording grant from FACTOR Canada, the duo released their debut LP CRAVE in October, 2016. The …
Heartfelt blues (and no trucks) with Steve Strongman
Juno-award winning recording artist Steve Strongman joined us to talk about his take on the blues. Steve is a multiple Maple Blues Award winner, 2019 International Blues Challenge Best Guitarist (solo/duo). He’s opened for BB King, Buddy Guy, Joe Cocker, Johnny Winter, and toured all over the world. We talked about: What’s the blues anyway? …