Alison Garwood Jones

Gord’s triumph of narrative

Originally published in August 2016 in Blog

 Gord Downie in his last concert by Alison Garwood-Jones When I was a student at Queen’s University in the late 1980s and early nineties, my tape collection alternated between love anthems (Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey), girl bands with matte lips and cool hair cuts (Wilson Phillips) and duos with no hair cuts (Indigo Girls). […]

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Worst Enemy

Originally published in January 2016 in Blog

Two weeks, ago, a parade of friends made their way through singer Emma Lee’s Toronto apartment, one of those over-a-shop spaces that surprisingly cavernous when you step inside. We were responding to a call: “I’m shooting a lyric video for my upcoming single ‘Worst Enemy,’” she announced via email, “and am in need of your fabulous […]

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She loves me

Originally published in June 2015 in Blog

There’s a reason why guitar strummers always get the girl. Even base players have been taken aback over how easily the hugs and propositions flow after a show. We’ve been saying it since the 1970s: some guys are just more “sensitive.” Women notice men who can emote — or who, at least, convince us they […]

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Janis

Originally published in September 2013 in Blog

Photo: Still searching for credit I just discovered Janis Joplin. It only took me 40 years and three Dick Cavett CD’s to realize what a comet she was. My four year old self said she was a bad lady. She took drugs. My dad said so. I thought you were supposed to dismiss people like […]

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Spotlight: vanishing accents

Originally published in April 2013 in Blog

SPOTLIGHT is Society Pages’ newest column focusing on questionable occurrences I’ve been covering music, and especially music and the internet, a fair bit lately. Here’s a piece I published last year that tackles the mystery of singing and accents. Enjoy! In 1981, Sheena Easton was a 22-year old club kid with a glossy pout and a Lady Di shag […]

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Update on Emma-Lee

Originally published in April 2013 in Blog

When you start here, as the singer Emma-Lee did back in the early noughties … … and end up here, on the billboard at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto: You know the reversal in the music industry is complete. I wrote about Emma-Lee’s rise to prominence — starting on My Space, then YouTube — in […]

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Riding the tube

Originally published in November 2012 in Blog

Photography by Emma-Lee UPDATE: In June 2013, Emma-Lee’s album “Backseat Heroine” was the winner of Best Adult Contemporary album at the 2013 Independent Music Awards. [I] was propositioned by a guitar picker this summer. Or, rather, the writer in me was. And that’s “ghitaahr pick’r,” if you say it like you’re June Carter Cash, as I’m wont […]

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Spotlight: Vanishing accents

Originally published in April 2012 in Blog

I’ve been covering music, and especially music and the internet, a fair bit lately. Here’s a piece I published last year that tackles the mystery of singing and accents. Enjoy! SPOTLIGHT is Society Pages’ newest column focusing on questionable occurrences In 1981, Sheena Easton was a 22-year old club kid with a glossy pout and […]

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