your one stop shop for Canadian classic rock and more!
A native of Halifax, Ritchie Oakley first picked up the guitar at the age of 10, and although Eric Clapton was one of his idols, he began playing Johnny Cash tunes, and performed in front of an audience for the first time at 13. After high school he joined the first of several groups, and …
Hailing from Toronto, New Regime was the brainchild of Midland High School friends Kevin Connelly and drummer Neil Taylor. After Connelly’s covers act Persons Unknown was going nowhere, they formed a David Bowie tribute called Diamond Dogs with guitarist Les Stroud and bassist Jon James. Before long, Bill Telep replaced Stroud, and Tim Durnford replaced …
During the early 1960s, it was ‘the norm’ for highschool garage bands to swap members, and Edmonton was no different. Gary Frizzell first aligned himself with one of the city’s top gigging highschool groups, The Shame Trees. They played the local dances and did the gravel road tours throughout central Alberta, and even tried on …
< Originally from London, England, ten year-old Nick Gilder’s family moved to Canada in 1961. After settling in Vancouver, he found his love for music, entertaining family and friends as a youngster, then graduating to garage bands before joining Rasputin with high school friend and guitarist Jim McCulloch. The foundation of the group evolved into …
Other than former NHL’er Lanny Macdonald, nobody has put Hanna, Alberta on the map like Nickelback. The difference is one of them has sold over 35 million albums worldwide, and still counting. Formed in 1995 by the Kroeger brothers, the band’s name stems from Chad’s days working at a coffee shop, where he often told …
Not to be confused with several groups called ‘Noah’ before or after, Dutch immigrant Barry “Buzz” Vandersel started his first band, Buzzy & The Belvederes at 14 years old. With himself handling bass and his cousins Peter and Marinus Vandertogt on guitars and drums, the Trenton, Ontario kids recruited Paul Clapper as lead vocalist and …
Originally called The Colonials, The Halifax Three centred around highschool friends and guitarists Denny Doherty and Richard Byrne, and drummer Pat LaCroix. Gary McDonall succumbed to cancer in 2010. With notes from Dave Hutton, Dwayne Osepchuk BODY ELECTRIC The More Things Change Stop The Music Judy’s In Her Room Living Two Lives Midnight Madness Somewhere …
The culmination as so many prairie bands always are, Saskatoon highschool friends Bryan Potvin and Jay Semko bounced around in a number of bands including Seventeen Envelope, The Idols and Doris Daye. By 1984 they settled on naming themselves after a fish (closely resembling a jackfish) and added Meryl Bryck on guitars with Potvin. Drummer …
Northwest Company was like many other early groups in rural Canada at the time, a bunch of friends that began in the garages, graduating to dances at curling clubs and high schools. Hailing from Haney, BC, they started out in ’66 as a poor man’s power trio with guitarist Ray O’Toole, Gowan Jorgenson on bass, …
The group’s origins stem from when highschool friends guitarist Dave Tamblyn and keyboardist Greg Brown grew up in London, Ontario playing in a number of bands on the weekends, finally settling in as Leather and Lace, which featured Janice Morgan on vocals. They moved to Yorkville and became staples on the folk scene through the …