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MUSIC NEWS: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2015

 

 

POLARIS - PRIZE

 

Buffy Sainte-Marie has won this year's 50-thousand dollar Polaris Music Prize. A jury of 11 music critics, bloggers and broadcasters named the album ``Power in the Blood'' the best Canadian record of the last year. The folk icon beat out nine other finalists for the award including rap superstar Drake, former Polaris winner Caribou and Toronto rockers Alvvays. Sainte-Marie, who already had a crowded trophy case heading into Monday night's award ceremony, told the audience she didn't expect to win the Polaris and appreciated its cash prize. The award show, which was held in Toronto, was hosted by Juno-winning children's entertainer Fred Penner. 

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U2 - CONCERT SECURITY

 

Police in Stockholm, Sweden, are investigating whether one of their own is to blame for a security breach that shut down a U2 concert. A police spokesman says they are looking into a suspected weapons offence. An internal affairs unit has been alerted. He says organizers called off Sunday's concert after someone was not properly searched at a security checkpoint. Swedish media report an off-duty police officer was wrongly allowed to enter the venue with a gun. No one was arrested and no weapon was found in the arena. The concert has been rescheduled for tonight. 

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RYAN ADAMS - TAYLOR SWIFT

 

Ryan Adams says it was ``incredibly humbling'' to cover Taylor Swift's entire ``1989'' album. He released his version yesterday. Adams says it felt ``no less genuine than any song I've ever written for myself.'' Adams played the album for Swift before releasing it. They've known each other about four years. Adams says he got to work different parts of his brain, his heart and the musical aspects of his personality. He says it's not the same record as Swift's, but ``its own thing.'' 

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BRETT ELDREDGE - ALBUM SOUNDS

 

You can credit Brett Eldredge with playing both guitar and stapler on his new album, ``Illinois.'' Eldredge says he was in the studio beatboxing, and producer Ross Copperman was recording him the whole time. Eldredge says he was fidgeting with a stapler and told Copperman to record that too. Pretty soon they had built a groove out of the beatboxing and the stapler clicks.

Eldredge says that's what he loves about making music: he can make it out of anything. ``Illinois'' is out now. 

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INXS - MUSICAL

 

Former INXS manager Chris Murphy is working on a stage musical based on the band's songs. Murphy tells Billboard magazine he's working with creative people in the New York and London theatre scenes on two different story treatments. One will be based on the band's story, while the other is not. Murphy says he will decide in the next 30 days which one to go with. He says it will be the one that's best for an audience, ``not what works best for the band or their egos.'' Murphy hopes to get the musical staged by 2017. 

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B.B. KING - STREET RENAMED

 

A three-mile stretch of Third Street in Memphis, Tennessee, is now B.B. King Boulevard. A street sign revealing the new name was unveiled Wednesday. The street eventually becomes U-S Highway 61, known as the Blues Trail. 

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(The Associated Press)