Spirit of the West Archives - Alan Cross' A Journal of Musical Things

The Ongoing History of New Music, encore presentation: Musicians with disabilities

The human body can be both very strong and very fragile. Given its complexity, it generally works pretty well. But

About a decade ago, I sat in vineyard amphitheatre in Niagara-on-the-Lake watching an acoustic performance by Jim Cuddy, Tom Cochrane,

John Mann, the frontman for Spirit of the West, continues to battle early-onset Alzheimer’s. He was diagnosed at 51 and

John Mann was the face of Spirit of the West, the band behind this iconic Canadian party song. John has

Canada is the sixth-largest music market in the world. Only the US, Japan, the UK, Germany and France are bigger.

As John Mann, the singer for Spirit of the West, continues to live with early-onset dementia, his friends have come

While Canada exports a ton of music to the world, there are some songs and acts that for whatever reason,

My brother and sisters throughout Corus Radio were asked to compile a list of 50 legendary Canadian songs and then

One of the most poignant music stories of the past couple of years has been that of John Mann, the

Happy 9th birthday, iPhone! And now, the music news. Iggy Pop has some interesting advice for the advertising industry. Seriously,

If you know of anyone who has been beset by dementia and Alzheimer’s, you’ll know how tragic it can be.

The Goldilocks of Canadian Production Companies – Mark Bishop in Conversation with TBP Podcast EP 037 November 25, 2021
Our latest guest on The Backstage Project podcast comes to us from the world of Canadian television. TBP was thrilled to have a chance to visit and catch up with marblemedia’s Mark Bishop. Mark is an accomplished entrepreneur, brand-builder and trusted media industry advocate. In 2001 Mark and Co-Founder Matt Hornburg founded marblemedia, one of […]
Andrew Dick
Chasing a Dream – Kevin Porter in Conversation with TBP Podcast EP 036 October 11, 2021
Many of us – at one time or another – dream of being professional athletes. Most of us realize in high school that we won’t be making it to the big leagues – unfortunately. The lucky among us flirt with the minor leagues in hopes of that big break. But what happens when that big […]
Andrew Dick
Being your Authentic Self – Richard Crouse in conversation with TBP Podcast EP 035 July 2, 2021
You would be given a free pass if you forgot that before the rise of the social media influencer there were already pundits and personalities on TV, radio and print. There’s just been that much exponential change in the media business over the last 15 years. Yet today, those who were formerly the audience are […]
Mark Silver