Please
note that the majority of music-oriented work
I have produced has been under the nom-de-plume
'Tom Sheriff'. This is simply to avoid confusion
with a namesake freelance music journalist.
Also please be aware that
much of this work was commissioned by publications
aimed at an adult readership. Therefore, some
samples contain instances of profane language
in the narrative. Such language was also occasionally
used by interview subjects and reported verbatim.
If you are easily offended by such irreverences,
please refer to non-music-based samples to gauge
my suitability to write for you. I have chosen
to include original work of this nature because
I believe the quality of writing is representational;
I have no intention whatsoever to offend any
visitor to thefreelancewriter.ca.
ALLISON CROWE: Good Tidings She Sings to You and Your Kin - Interview - The Beacon magazine, Bowser, BC (December 2011)
"I'll definitely have a party with my friends, I'm definitely going to make a cake, and I'll probably do some belly-dancing... or it'll be some combination thereof!"
JONATHAN CHALLONER: Among the Top Brass - Interview - The Beacon magazine, Bowser, BC (November 2011)
CALIFONE - Interview/Event preview - BeatRoute magazine, Vancouver, BC (August 2011)
THE LITTLE FESTIVAL WITH A BIG HEART - Event preview/Interview - The Beacon magazine, Bowser, BC (July 2011)
STRIKING ACCORD: Takin' it to the Streets - Feature/Event preview - More Living magazine, Nanaimo, BC (May/June 2011)
GERRY BARNUM: Walkin' in a Straight Line - Interview - The Beacon magazine, Bowser, BC (November 2010)
JOEY CLARKSON: The World is Her Strudel Crust - Interview - The Beacon magazine, Bowser, BC (October 2010)
"It is not every day, after all, that one encounters a song with an opening line like: 'In Grade 7 I had a science project where I had to make a model of the earth, including all the layers, and I chose to make mine out of pastry!'"
VANCOUVER ISLAND OPERA: Ten Years of Arias - Event preview/Interview - The Beacon magazine, Bowser, BC (September 2010)
AFRO-MUMANZI WORLD MUSIC SUMMER CAMP - Event preview/Interview - The Beacon magazine, Bowser, BC (August 2010)
"I can guarantee you now that those regal toes will have been tappin' away like Michael Flatley after a gallon of Brazilian espresso."
PHIL DWYER MUSIC FESTIVAL: Let the Music Play! - Event preview/Interview - The Beacon magazine, Bowser, BC (July 2010)
BETH MARIE ANDERSON: Hitting the Open Road - Interview - The Beacon magazine, Bowser, BC (June 2010)
ANDREA SMITH: Song-Smith Extraordinaire! - Interview - The Beacon magazine,
Bowser, BC (April 2010)
"I took a perfectly good set of lyrics about acute aviophobia and mashed them into unsingable, circumlocutory nonsense."
CAMERON WIGMORE: The Clean, Green Sax Machine - Interview - More Living magazine, Nanaimo, BC (March/April 2010)
"For here is a man who just under a decade ago was hurtling headlong into drug-fuelled oblivion, until he faced up to his addiction and committed himself to getting back on track."
ALEXANDRIA MAILLOT: Quite Simply, a Natural - Interview - The Beacon magazine,
Bowser, BC (February 2010)
"Imagine how I jumped, then, when I first heard Alexandria Maillot sing."
JAMES McRAE: Marching to the Beat of His Own Drum - Interview - More Living magazine, Nanaimo, BC (January/February 2010)
"Bewildered? Well, yes - as the revellers had expected a country band, not teenage pretenders to Pink Floyd's crown."
MARJORIE CULLERNE: Roses, Stars & Breezy Ballads - Interview - The Beacon magazine, Bowser, BC (January 2010)
"Thereby the bridge from my childhood to this article is complete."
ANDRE BELL: Who He Is Inside - Interview - The Beacon magazine, Bowser, BC
(December 2009)
KYLA
CAMPBELL: Girl With a Horn - Interview - The
Beacon magazine, Bowser, BC (September 2009)
"It goes deeper, in fact, when you consider
that Googling simply 'female trombonist' presents
the forum topic 'Why Don't Girls Play The Trombone?'
as the first two results."
Jazz
Pizzazz in the Garden - Event Preview - The
Beacon magazine, Bowser, BC
(August 2009)
COOMBS
BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL: It's Hoedown Time! - Event
Preview/Interview -
The Beacon magazine, Bowser, BC (July 2009)
THE
KERPLUNKS - Interview - The Beacon magazine,
Bowser, BC (June 2009)
Islands
Folk Festival 25th Anniversary Book Project:
The First Five Chapters
In early 2008 I was approached by the Cowichan
Folk Guild in Duncan, BC, with the idea
of producing a book to celebrate 2009's 25th
Anniversary of their Islands Folk Festival.
Given free reign to write in my own style, I
set to work. The five complete chapters presented
here accompanied grant applications specifically
targeted at funding this project. Unfortunately,
funding could not be secured, so work on the
book has been suspended. It may be resurrected
and completed one day, but until then I remain
proud of this work, feeling in some ways it
can stand alone as is. I hope you enjoy it.
WIL:
Where There's A Wil... - Interview - The Beacon
magazine, Bowser, BC (February 2009)
"And so it transpired, not one 'official'
question posed for the first 45 minutes of our
spirited telephonic confab!"
HALEY
BREEDLOVE: Adventures in Music City, USA - Interview
- The Beacon magazine, Bowser, BC (January 2009)
WHAT
GOES ON? NATALIE GERMANN: And Lovely With It
- Interview Feature - More Living magazine,
Nanaimo, BC (November/December 2008)
HO-HO-HOMEGROWN!
A WHAT GOES ON? Seasonal Special - Review Feature
- More Living magazine, Nanaimo, BC (November/December
2008)
COFFEE
HOUSE CONCERTS: MUSIC + COFFEE = A HEADY BREW
- Feature - The Beacon magazine, Bowser, BC
(November 2008)
"He was obviously as dryly droll as he
was nifty at fugues and stuff."
WHAT
GOES ON? VALHALLA: Rock of Teen Ages - Interview
Feature - More Living magazine, Nanaimo, BC
(September/October 2008)
"Lisa strutted her rock chick stuff while
the be-Stetsoned Spencer hammered holy hell
out of the drums."
HELEN
AUSTIN: Of Funny Bones & Heartstrings -
Interview - The Beacon magazine, Bowser, BC
(September 2008)
"Queen devotees may view the cheeky arrangement
of 'Bohemian Reality' as sacrilegious, but I'm
convinced mum would have appreciated it as much
as she detested the target of its acidic wit."
NO
HORSES - One-Sheet for Vancouver alt.country-rock
band (June 2008)
WHAT
GOES ON? Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer
... - Feature - More Living magazine, Nanaimo,
BC (July/August 2008)
"A friend who shares my fondness for quicksilver
rustic banjo recently described the Coombs event
to me as 'a riot.'"
THE
BIG TIME OUT - Feature - The Baynes Sound Current
magazine, Bowser, BC
(Summer 2008)
"I've certainly been there, grinding out
such as the hideous girlypop of Atomic Kitten
and an excruciating solo set from the Spice
Girls' Mel B when desperate to see just R.E.M.
at South Africa Freedom Day in London eight
Aprils ago."
CELTIC
CHAOS - Interview - The Beacon magazine, Bowser,
BC (June 2008)
WHAT
GOES ON? SUBWAY: With Rhymes and Reasons - Interview
- More Living magazine, Nanaimo, BC (May/June
2008)
"Rap and its attendant culture now thrives
in every country on this planet that's ever
been exposed to it and has, make no bones about
it, become a lifestyle choice for millions."
TODD
BUTLER: Rock 'n' Droll Star - Interview - The
Baynes Sound Current magazine, Bowser, BC (Spring
2008)
"The man who describes himself as 'a 46-year
old Canadian with the body of a 65-year old
Swede' is one of this country's sharpest wits
with over twenty years of acclaimed performances
behind him."
WHAT
GOES ON? ERIN O'BRIEN: Mover, shaker, music
maker - Interview - More Living magazine, Nanaimo,
BC (March/April 2008)
"All things considered, Erin O'Brien redefines
'ubiquitous' in a small city like ours."
RICHARD
SALES - Interview - The Beacon magazine, Bowser,
BC (March 2008)
"I asked him why this is, only to
be informed: 'I get on 'em at night and take
magic carpet rides into the ether and beyond.
Guitars are rockets to heaven!"'
AMBRE
RIPPON - Interview - The Beacon magazine, Bowser,
BC (February 2008)
WHAT
GOES ON? IRA PELLETIER: The Mandolin Man - Interview
- More Living magazine, Nanaimo, BC (January/February
2008)
"On a peaceful Sunday morning in the busy
living room of his farmhouse home, Pelletier's
two indefatigable dogs smothered us with slobbering
affection as he recalled the moment the rescued
mandolin changed his musical outlook forever."
GERRY
BARNUM - Interview - The Beacon magazine, Bowser,
BC (January 2008)
"What a satisfying feeling it is to be
able to pinpoint a massively significant moment
in your life, one that seismically changed its
course forever to shape every second that followed."
JUDY
NORBURY - Interview - The Baynes Sound Current
magazine, Bowser, BC
(Winter 2007)
'It's not so often you'll encounter a CD containing
lyrics about toads, motherhood, Black Widow
spiders' mating rituals and mathematical ineptitude.'
WHAT
GOES ON? FASCINATING RHYTHM - Interview - More
Living magazine, Nanaimo, BC
(November/December 2007)
"Having spent almost as many hours in music
stores during my lifetime as I've spent awake,
I know my way around one pretty well."
EMMA
POSTL - Interview - The Beacon magazine, Bowser,
BC (October 2007)
"Postl bippity-bop-skoobie-oobie-doobie's
her way through 'Trading For' like a veteran."
XAVIER
RUDD - Feature - The Baynes Sound Current magazine,
Bowser, BC
(September 2007)
"Xavier Rudd is really popular. Like, really."
LAYLA
ZOE - Interview - The Beacon magazine, Bowser,
BC (September 2007)
"As I state unequivocally concerning 'Someday,'
expressing herself is something Zoe does with
cogent aplomb."
HAYLEY
SALES - Interview - My first article for EyesOnBC's Bowser-based magazine
The Beacon (August 2007)
WHAT
GOES ON? - The debut of my monthly column -
More Living magazine,
Nanaimo, BC (July/August 2007)
"For the frenzied frug of your life,
catch them at all costs riding that swell like
champions,
whammy bars on fire."
BELINDA
BRUCE - Press Release, Vancouver, BC (2007)
"Whilst the rustic whimsy and masterful
grasp of pop melody that so characterized 'Dream
Yourself Awake' remain undisturbed, 'The Good
Life' is a grittier proposition altogether."
'SOUND
OUT' - Concert Previews - The Source magazine,
Brighton, UK (March 2006)
'SOUND
OUT' - Concert Previews - The Source magazine,
Brighton, UK
(June 2005)
'SCOTTISH
TONY' (Local celebrity) - Interview - The Source
magazine,
Brighton, UK (2004)
"Namedropping is part of the spivish shiftiness
of this engaging character, so there are few
around town that don't know of when he met Isaac
Hayes or had dinner with Thurston Moore."
JUNE
CARTER CASH - 'Wildwood Flower' - Review - Comes
with a Smile magazine,
London, UK (2004)
"In the case of Johnny, near hysteria gripped
the room, with an ovation to the announcement
as if his resurrected, giant, black-clad frame
had entered the room on that cue."
ROBERT
FISHER of WILLARD GRANT CONSPIRACY - Interview
feature -
Comes with a Smile magazine, London, UK (2004)
"Robert looks at me quizzically, and rightly
so under the cosh of such a question."
KURT
WAGNER of LAMBCHOP - Interview feature - Comes
with a Smile magazine,
London, UK (2004)
"In short, a band that just follows instincts,
and one that has freely explored any genre it
saw fit, charting new territory with old maps."
'BONNIE
"PRINCE" BILLY and the Rise and Rise
of Americana' - L.U.V. magazine,
Brighton, UK (2003)
"He seems mysterious, eccentric and reeking
of the unidentifiable darkness we perceive of
the American south, beyond its unfortunate history."
'The
Top 20 Most Important Country Songs of All-Time
- Today' - L.U.V. magazine,
Brighton, UK (2003)
"It will have to do with the gleeful 'captive'
audience laughter present on the live recording
- that of a room full of dangerous criminals."
'Nu-Jazz'
(Genre-specific section of larger feature) -
The Source magazine,
Brighton, UK (2002)
"It's a matter of syncopation."
KEN
BEATTIE of RADIOGRAM - Interview feature - Comes
with a Smile magazine,
London, UK (2002)
"Wired, jetlagged and unshaven with eyes
like saucers, he twitchily scans everything
around him."
AARON
RICHES of ROYAL CITY - Interview feature - Comes
with a Smile magazine, London, UK (2002)
"I suspected it originated from another
world - a very scary world, where all is restless."
CLOUDDEAD
- 'Clouddead' - Review - Comes with a Smile
magazine, London, UK (2001)
"It's harrowing and hugely uplifting by
turns, and although tempo and mood change without
warning, it flows like lager on New Year's Eve."
DANIELSON
FAMILE - 'Fetch The Compass Kids' - Review -
Comes with a Smile magazine, London, UK (2001)
"Like Geddy Lee on helium, he squeals tales
of spiritual struggle backed by the Arkham Asylum
house band."
BIG
YOUTH -'Natty Universal Dread 1973-1979' - Review
- The Latest magazine, Brighton, UK (2000)
"As inconceivable as it may seem to most,
Mick Hucknall does actually have a valid role
to play in some of our lives, including mine."
'THE
STAX STORY' - Review - The Latest magazine,
Brighton, UK (2000)
"While I was chatting to a local bloke
in that bar, a white-haired man with cataracts
tottered in, chuckling and clutching a Bloody
Mary."
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