Pat Blythe – Tom Petty, Burton Cummings, Scott Holt and Bill Durst…..

I open today’s column with great sadness. Tom Petty, a true rock ‘n’ roller and one of the most respected individuals in the music business today, as both as musician and a person, has died just days before his 67th birthday. Social media was on fire with the news, jumping the gun just a tad early (thanks CBS) but nonetheless, we instinctively knew in our hearts he wasn’t going to make it. I traversed the 70’s and 80’s with Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, listening to and loving his work. Not your “classic” rocker, in both appearance and musically, but we all knew Petty was pure talent. The “humanness” of his lyrics, his way of combining them with a unique melody and his distinctive voice, touched a certain part of your psyche and drew you in. You stopped to listen. There will be so much written about him over the next few days and weeks I won’t drag it out here. Suffice to say this is one rocker I will truly miss. I send my condolences to his wife Dana York, his two daughters Adria and AnnaKim, his step-son Dylan and his extended family.

Pat Blythe – The Stories Behind the Songs Part 4….

It’s a miserable, cold, sodden, rainy, pathetically dreary, rather dismal night. Moisture and freezing temperatures will create your very own skating rink on the sidewalk, front lawn and even the roadway. I look out the window and see everything enveloped in ice. Jane Harbury had very kindly invited me down to her Discoveries series at Tranzac tonight but between prior commitments and the weather, my ass is safely ensconced on the couch writing this. I have one artificial hip…..I don’t need two and I’d prefer to keep any modicum of dignity intact.

Cameron Carpenter – 10 CC – Single Me Out

Well, the show was not half bad. There were no cringe-worthy duets, the pace was pretty quick, the set looked good, there was no blatant pimping of other CTV properties and, for the most part, the performances were pretty good. The one major complaint I have is they need to go a little simpler on the camera work. There is no need for the 360 shot, followed by the zoom out, followed by the zoom in followed by the reverse 360 shot. Keep it simple. Focus on the performance, cut away for the solo (of there is anyone actually playing a solo), and then, come back to the performance. I don’t need to see crowd shots of people watching the show through their smart phones. Also, the annoying Google Play commercials reminded me of why I can’t stand karaoke.

Cameron Carpenter: The ABC’s Of Rock – Heavy Metal Thunder

Defining what constitutes heavy metal is now damn near impossible. Much like the debate on what is or is not classic rock there are not set guidelines. In the seventies heavy metal was pretty easy to define: fast, hard rock, blues based and guitar dominated. Bands such as Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin were the poster boys for the genre.  Things changed in the late seventies with the introduction of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. Post punk bands relied less on the blues and performed a faster more aggressive version of metal.