Tommy Solo's famous friends

Bernie Labarge's musical career started in 1967 & he has hardly looked back since. A seminal, journeyman guitarist for most of his career, he is a peer with other Canadian top shelf players like Danny Marks & the late Domenic Troiano. He's also worked with other awesome guitarists including Alex Lifeson. Working with a very young Daniel Lanois, he landed a deal with WEA in 1981 for his smash singl...

Andy Curran first came into public view as bassist & co lead singer in the iconic Canadian band, Coney Hatch. Since then, he has worn many hats in the music business including that of record company executive where he worked with acts like Big Wreck. The Tea Party, & Rush. While Coney Hatch is still a going concern after all these years, Andy's personal friendship with Rush's guitarist Ale...

Nick Panaseiko started promoting teen dances in the early 1960s. He eventually worked his way to becoming one of Canada's most prolific record promoters in the golden era of the record business. Nick has promoted records for everyone from Donna Summer, Phil Collins, Kiss to Queen & beyond. His story has been a long time coming & is quite fascinating to say the least. Partnered with photographer to...

Who plays guitar with Crash Kelly, Nelly Furtado, Carole Pope, Coney Hatch, Helix & Emm Gryner? Sean Kelly does. And he teaches music in an elementary school at the same time! In this episode, we talked about all this & more. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tommy-solo-s-famous-friends--4318572/support .

Kim Berley was a teenager when he 1st connected with Mel Shaw who was one of the 1st music promoters in Calgary Alberta. It was Mel who put together the Stampeders, who had many global hits including "Sweet City Woman" which charted number one in Canada & reached number eight on the Bill board charts in the USA. He managed them through their most successful years & kept them in the recording studi...

In part two of my chat with Bob Segarini, we discussed everything from the signing of his band "All the young dudes, to his work on TV, radio & more. There isn't much in the world of arts & entertainment that Bob hasn't been a part of over the years, & he has a lot to say about it. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tommy-solo-s-famous-friends--4318572/support .

Bob Segarini is a long time veteran of the entertainment business. Inspired to become a singer/songwriter as a young boy growing up in a sleepy little farm town called Stockton in California, his dreams would start to materialize early. He wrote his first song in class while school was in session at his middle school & it wasn't long before luck introduced him to artists like Fabian & Tuesday Weld...

In part one of this episode I discussed with Ritchie the early days and formation of April Wine. In part two we talked about his career after April Wine & how the "Dudes" was formed. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tommy-solo-s-famous-friends--4318572/support .

This is the Christmas special episode that I recorded for the 2020 Christmas season with the hope of giving people something to smile about during the height of the first wave of the Covid 19 pandemic. In this episode I had several of my previous guests give their Seasons Greetings followed by a Christmas song of their personal choosing. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com...

Ritchie Henman is an original founding member of the iconic Canadian band April Wine. He was the original drummer for the band that he & his brother David Henman along with cousin Jim Henman formed after recruiting Myles Goodwyn into the fold. In this part one of our interview, Ritchie recalls how April Wine was formed & how the three Henman boys ended up leaving the band. In part two we discuss R...

Adrianna Stekar is a 16 year old student at H.B. Beal school for the arts in London, Ontario. She recently illustrated a new children's book authored by Shannon-Lee Kelly, "Six feet apart". In this short episode, we discussed her passion for art & how she became a published illustrator while still a high school student. $1 from every copy of Six Feet Apart is supporting a project of Good Neighbors...

Domenic Troiano was one of the most seminal guitarists in the world. When he was a mere 17 years old, he was recognized as the best guitarist in Toronto & the top guitarists in the world would soon be flocking to see him play with acts like the Mandala. His brother Frank took inspiration from the pandemic to tell his story in book form & with the help of his co-author, Mark Doble they have recentl...

Earl Johnson is primarily known as the lead guitarist with the iconic Canadian rock band, Moxy. He has come along way in his evolution as a musician since those days, & he is back with a brand new band. The Black Cadillac is a crossover between rock, r&b & the blues. In this short episode, we discuss how this new band came to be, & their brand new music. https://www.facebook.com/LBCXBluz Become a...

This is part two of my latest conversation with iconic Canadian guitarist (April Wine) (the Dudes) (Brave & Crazy) (Henman Rose) David Henman. In this episode, David continues telling me about his time with a band that could have been huge if it wasn't for meddling management & poor executive decisions from the record company. And we discuss where we are in the world of music these days. Become a...

In this first half of my latest interview with original founding member of the iconic Canadian band April Wine, David Henman, we discuss how that band was formed. We also talked about how they ended up moving from Canada's East coast to Montreal & their meeting Donald K Donald & Terry Flood. All this and more... Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tommy-solo-s-famo...

Shannon-Lee Kelly has been a lifelong educator & longtime school Principal. When the global Pandemic hit, she took inspiration from the indomitable spirit of the children who were relegated to on-line learning due to lockdowns. She embarked on a yearlong journey that resulted in her new Children's book, "Six Feet Apart". Along with her illustrator,15 year old High school student Adrianna Stekar, S...

Ronnie Hawkins immigrated to Canada from Arkansas in the 1950s. It didn't take him long to call Canada his home, & he made a huge splash playing in the bars in downtown Toronto. He was not only successful with his own musical career. He is also widely respected for helping to launch the careers of artists like Robbie Lane, David Clayton Thomas, Levon Helm, Robbie Robertson & a host of others. In t...

Henry Small has been a fixture on the Canadian music scene since moving here from Up State New York in the late 1960s. His first success was in a band called Scrubbaloe Caine where along with Paul Dean (Lover Boy) & the rest of Scrubbaloe were signed with RCA records. They built their sound & found their groove while playing an extended gig in Quebec city at a notorious biker owned bar called the...

This is my third installment of "Pop Trivia" featuring Bullseye records president & author of the Canadian pop music encyclopedia, Jaimie Vernon. This episode begins with me quizzing Jaimie about a few lesser known Canadian bands like Cracker, Luba & Haywire. We ended up drifting off into several different directions of pop trivia & it was awesome! https://canpopencyclopedia.home.blog/ https://bul...

Robert Swartz & his brother Mike were still in high school when they were discovered after having recorded a three song demo tape at the Mercey Brothers recording studio in Elmira Ontario. There manager shopped the tape to various record labels & it happened that Quality records was looking for a Canadian version of Kiss. They thought that Rob & Mike's band, Black Wheat fit the bill & signed them...

Ray "Rabbit" Harrison is an iconic pianist/keyboardist who has played professionally since the early 1960s. Over all these years, He's played with several top shelf acts including the Grease Ball Boogie Band, Shooter, Crowbar, Downchild & the Cameo Blues Band. In this installment of "Rock & Roll Stories from the bar, we discussed everything from how he got the nickname "Rabbit" to eventually havin...

I've interviewed Mitch Field in the past when we focused mostly on his beginnings in music & his dealings with CBS records. In this installment of "Rock & Roll Stories from the bar", we discussed adventures of traveling across North America while enduring brutal winter driving conditions, dealing with unscrupulous bar owners & a whole lot more! Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.sprea...

In our premier episode of our new series "Rock & Roll stories from the bar", I chat with Frank Soda. Frank dedicated years of his life advancing his musical career while touring the bars & nightclubs across North America. From backing up Thor with his band The Imps to scoring his own record deals, Franks has seen just about all there was to see during the glory days of making a living playing Rock...

Alec Fraser Jr immigrated from Scotland to Canada as a young boy & although he was upset at having to leave his original homeland, was quick to assimilate himself into Toronto's then burgeoning music scene. He is a multiple Juno award winning record producer & has made an honest living over the years as a journeyman musician backing up the stars. When the pandemic took hold, he decided to get to w...

Brian Gagnon has been a full time musician for most of his life. Having played in the popular bar band, Dillinger before forming the classic Canadian band, the Hunt. He put the Hunt together with former members of Dillinger & former Max Webster drummer Paul Kersey. They were signed almost immediately to a record deal & enjoyed significant radio success in North America & Europe. Eventually with a...