Chad Allan has left us
John Einarson / Local Music Spotlight Chad Allan was the voice of Winnipeg music in the 1960s. Just hearing him singing the opening lines “When you move in right up…
The DNA of a symphony musician
The remarkable talent lineage of our WSO musicians By Arlene Dahl Human beings are the product of three hundred thousand years of genetic selection to produce the characteristics that define…
Is that a violin? No – It’s a fiddle!
The Red River contribution to great music The fiddle is at the centre of traditional Métis culture in Western Canada, heard at weddings, New Year’s celebrations and other social gatherings…
The legendary Lenny Breau, Winnipeg’s own
As a Guitarist Lenny Breau is the best-known graduate of the Winnipeg jazz scene. “Lenny came up with a way of addressing the instrument technically that actually no one had…
Guitar guy
Winnipeg’s Chad Allan once wrote and recorded a song entitled I Wouldn’t Trade My Guitar For A Woman for Brave Belt’s 1971 debut album. Thankfully, I’ve never faced such a…
Mickey & Bunny were bigger than the Guess Who
In the mid 1960s, the biggest selling Manitoba-based recording act was not the Guess Who but Ukrainian language country duo Mickey & Bunny. Their recording of Woody Guthrie’s This Land…
Winnipeg-born Lucille Starr shone brightly around the world
Quand le soleil dit bonjours aux montagnes. Whether you speak French or not, the opening line to Lucille Starr’s million-selling 1964 hit “The French Song” is instantly recognizable. Produced in…
The 1965 Teen Fair
Back in 1965 when the annual June Red River Exhibition summer fair (sadly cancelled for this year) was held around the Winnipeg Blue Bombers football stadium north of Polo Park,…