Way back in November I found myself at the Casby Awards after party trying to socialize with whomever I came across. One person who I chatted with that night was a guy named London Spicoluk, from the band Closet Monster. At that time I havent heard of them but I remembered his name and checked out their band out of interest. After looking in them and their music I realized that much like many other Canadian band they were great, and were hidden from me until now. Exploding all over with their political views and messages put into punk, London shares a little about what him and Closet Monster...

So, you think youd like to learn to play guitar, but youre put off by the high cost of lessons? You dont want to put up with a teacher showing you a bunch of theory and boring songs that you dont want to learn and wont get you where you want to go? Look no further, online instruction is now available that provides comprehensive beginner guitar lessons to anyone who wants to learn to play guitar quickly and easily. Do I need to read music? No! Most online programs use a very visual approach, using picture diagrams and videos that actively demonstrate techniques so you hear what you need to play,...

Weve all heard of them. Child prodigies who begin composing music at some ridiculously young age. For instance, history reports that Mozart was writing minuets by the time he was five years old. Amazing. At five years of age, Im not sure that I knew the difference between my finger and my thumb and I certainly wasnt composing music. Now there is no doubt that the fact that Mozart was composing music by the age of five does not prove that any of the rest of us ever could compose music, but a number of studies conducted over the past fifty or so years indicates that most children can begin composing...

For most of us, making any major purchase, such as a new refrigerator, or a new car, is a cacophony of options and confusion; do we want the silver one or the black one? How much can we afford to spend? Will it last over time? If nothing else, we at least know what we need these appliances to do: the microwave needs to make the food hot quickly, the car needs to get us from one place to the other without breaking down. When confronted with the purchase of a new guitar, even experienced guitarists can have trouble deciding what exactly they want and need. However, if you follow a few simple suggestions,...

Most people look forward to the summer months because they bring warmer temperatures, vacations, outdoor gatherings, and longer days. Those are all fine and dandy, but what really gets my fires stoked for the warm season is when the Queen of Rock (a.k.a. Pat Benatar to the uneducated) takes her show on the road. Always the dutiful parents, Pat and her husband/producer/lead guitarist Neil Geraldo wait for school to let out before beginning a tour so that they can bring their children along for the trip. Some kids get to visit Disneyland or the beach during their summer breaks; these kids get to...

In the beginning, you see, there were only the stars. There were the music hall stars, then there were the radio stars, then you had the movie stars, and after came pop and rock stars. Eventually a whole industry grew up around them to tell us all about them, about their likes and their dislikes, their lives and their loves, and to document, wherever possible, their every waking moment.It got to be so that, eventually, there was more media to comment upon them than there were of stars themselves – just not enough to go round – so the media industry turned towards the environment that...