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FYI

A Day with Alan Cross

On Sept. 24, 2018, Corus radio station Q107, in Toronto, introduced a familiar name as its new voice.

A Day with Alan Cross

By External Source

On Sept. 24, 2018, Corus radio station Q107, in Toronto, introduced a familiar name as its new voice. Said Program Director Tammy Cole: “Alan has been telling the story of rock music’s evolution for decades now, and he’s the perfect voice for Q107. We really wanted to bring rock back to ‘The Mighty Q,’ and who better to do it than Canada’s rock music expert?” It’s only slightly ironic that a man who’s become one of Canada’s most recognizable radio voices for introducing new music, will now be the voice of a station dedicated to a classic rock/greatest hits format.


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Alan Cross has been in the music business for the better part of four decades now, and to say he’s still keeping very busy would be an embarrassing understatement. Starting on radio in his native Manitoba, then arriving at Toronto’s CFNY in 1986, he’s pretty much stayed on the air for the next 32 years. He’s been a DJ, and an award-winning program director. He’s produced (to date) 833 hour-long episodes of The Ongoing History of New Music. He volunteers for several mentoring programs, writes books, artist bios, daily blogs, and weekly reports for his own website (A Journal of Musical Things) and for several Corus radio stations. He regularly posts on Facebook and Instagram, does voice work and audio books, and also gives speaking engagements, and consultations. On occasion, he even gets to watch some TV with his wife.

Cross wears many hats, so an average day is generally jam-packed with hourly, daily, and weekly obligations.

So what does an average day look like?

– Continue reading the interview conducted by Perry Stern on SOCAN’s Words and Music website.

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Full cast of 'Beautiful Scars' onstage
Dahlia Katz

Full cast of 'Beautiful Scars' onstage

Culture

Canadian Rocker Tom Wilson Brings His Fascinating Life Story to the Stage with 'Beautiful Scars'

The world premiere of the musical adaptation of the Junkhouse, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings and Lee Harvey Osmond songwriter's best-selling memoir about discovering his Indigenous identity begins a run in Hamilton on April 26.

Tonight (Friday, April 26) marks the official world premiere of Beautiful Scars, a musical based upon Tom Wilson’s best-selling 2017 memoir, Beautiful Scars: Steeltown Secrets, Mohawk Skywalkers and the Road Home. The play is being staged by Theatre Aquarius in Hamilton, Ontario, the hometown of Wilson, the charismatic rock-roots singer/songwriter, visual artist and author well-known on the Canadian music scene for his work in Junkhouse, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings and Lee Harvey Osmond.

The launch of the play has been keenly-anticipated, not just locally but beyond. Canadian literary icon Margaret Atwood visited Tom Wilson during rehearsals for the play, and many Wilson friends and fans from Toronto made the trek to Hamilton for the first preview show on Wednesday, one attended by Billboard Canada.

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