Hidden Track

We all remember the moment we discovered that secret song on one of our favourite albums. Often, those hidden gems provide a revealing peek behind-the-curtain, leading us to new insights about the artists and recordings we thought we knew. CKUA’s Hidden Track podcast aims to do the same, by bringing you stories that change the way you experience music. Any given week, we’ll get to the heart of the song with the musician who wrote it, reflect on a landmark recording with the producer and engineer who helped shape it, or examine the legacy of a musical icon with the critic, biographer or industry player who knows them best. Whoever the guest may be, each episode will provide a moment of discovery you won’t soon forget.

Reuben and the Bullhorn Singers | All These Roads, All These Rivers 06/20/2025

Amy Millan | Easy Now 06/06/2025

Rose Cousins | Believe in Love 05/23/2025

Captain Tractor | It's Gold Gold! 05/09/2025

Starpainter | Live from Cold Bones 04/25/2025

Alan Doyle | Great Big CKUA 04/11/2025

Caity Gyorgy & Mark Limacher | Modern Classics 03/28/2025

MOONRIIVR | A Magical World 03/14/2025

Wyatt C. Louis | Homespun 02/28/2025

Tony D | Electric Life 12/13/2024

Tony D | Electric Life We've got a live one here! This is a live session with the celebrated Canadian artist Tony D, who for decades has been known as an electrifying guitar talent, equally expressive in styles ranging from blues to swing to acid rock to flamenco! Tony has travelled the world playing music, and has a trophy case worth of awards; but somehow his new record Electric Delta is the first proper new Tony D solo offering of original material in a couple of decades! And the album release party for this long-awaited new record is what we hear in this highly celebratory live CKUA Hidden Track Session. Between his solo projects, the celebrated Canadian band MonkeyJunk, and plenty of other musical activities, he's toured everywhere from Memphis to Italy, and all across Canada! He's even performed in the northernmost continuously inhabited place in the world — Alert, Nunavut. Alberta has long been a kind of second home to Tony D; and these days he's actually a part-time resident of this part of the world, when he isn't on the road, as his partner and family live in the province. In this final episode of Hidden Track Season 5, we hear the electrifying Tony D performing in front of a rapt audience at CKUA's Live Performance Space in Edmonton, joined by his longtime bass player Joe Hawkins, as well as two superb Edmonton-based musicians: keyboardist Rooster Davis and drummer Jamie Cooper. The sparks really fly between these four musicians and the audience, as they perform a diverse set of original material — a Tony D classic called "Argentinian Surf Tango", plus two standouts from the new album, "Highway 7" and the rousing opening salvo: a dynamic instrumental workout entitled "NAS". Host: Grant Stovel | Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Graphics: Craig Taffs | Music: Doug Hoyer Recording/Mastering for this session provided by Brendan Cross. The Hidden Track podcast is a CKUA production, made possible by the generosity of our donors. Thank you for your support! /episode/index/show/hiddentrack/id/34424070

Hidden Track x Music Yukon | Part 2 11/29/2024

Hidden Track x Music Yukon | Part 2 When you consider that the Yukon's population density is estimated to be roughly 0.07 people per square kilometre, it's kind of amazing the cultural imprint that the territory has made — both in terms of Canadian and global culture! The majestic, dramatic land made world-famous in classics ranging from The Cremation of Sam McGee to The Call of the Wild has long inspired artists of all kinds, and it’s truly become a haven for musical creatives. From the territory's living Indigenous musical traditions, to the fabled folk songs of the Klondike, to the incredible people making original music today ranging from bluegrass to hip-hop, the story of Yukon music is a vibrant, diverse, and ever-evolving one — as we hear in this episode, the thrilling conclusion of our first-ever Hidden Track two-parter! Just as in Part One of our Music Yukon/Hidden Track collab, we’re treated to some truly thrilling live performances by artists from that vast territory, and we get a sense of how the Yukon impacts their lives and art practices. While Edmonton, Alberta is sometimes referred to as the most northerly large city in the Americas, with metropolitan population of more than one million people, you've got to make a roughly 2,000 kilometre-long trip southeast to get from the Yukon's capital city of Whitehorse to Edmonton! So, it was a pretty big deal when a whole troop of Yukon musicians made the big trek down south to perform as part of the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival in August 2024. This was thanks to the support of Music Yukon and a really cool partnership with the Edmonton Fringe. While they were here, CKUA was lucky enough to host a whole bunch of them for Hidden Track sessions in our Studio A in Edmonton. They shared stories and songs with us that evoke the unique natural beauty, highly personalized sense of expression, and vibrant community feeling that make the Yukon such a magical place for music. In Part 2, we hear from Alex MacNeil (leader of the outsider power-pop favourites Alex MacNeil and the Revenants, accompanied here by Hendika), the idiosyncratic punk-inspired stylings of Cryptozoologists, and the spirited soulful beauty of Bria Rose N' Thorns. Host: Grant Stovel | Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Graphics: Craig Taffs | Music: Doug Hoyer Recording and mastering for this episode by Brendan Cross. The Hidden Track Podcast is a CKUA production made possible by our incredible donor community. Thank you for your support! /episode/index/show/hiddentrack/id/34182010

Joel Plaskett | Four Tracks and the Truth 11/15/2024

Joel Plaskett | Four Tracks and the Truth Joel Plaskett first came to fame in the beloved rock band Thrush Hermit, a group who came together as teenagers in Halifax and barnstormed across Canada and beyond throughout the '90s with a dynamic stage show, plus an actual neon sign reading "Rock and Roll". In fact, last time Joel visited CKUA's Edmonton studios was five years ago during a Thrush Hermit reunion tour, and he told us about keeping that "Rock and Roll" sign in storage for many years. For his autumn 2024 tour, he certainly wasn't in need of the iconic "Rock and Roll" sign. It was just himself and his guitars (plus a reclining armchair and photo projector) for an album launch tour to celebrate his stunningly intimate acoustic album One Real Reveal. He's an artist who's been known to challenge himself to ever-greater thematic journeys in his solo work. There's his well-loved 2009 release Three— his third solo outing - a triple album which was largely made up of songs with triple-barrelled titles. Then there was 44, released the day before he turned 45, consisting of four albums of eleven songs each. He's come up with maybe an even more daunting creative challenge this time, scaling the process all the way down to the number one — a record made with a single microphone, created almost entirely by Joel alone. Except for one very notable exception, which he'll reveal to us in this conversation. An unparallelled storyteller and an artist of remarkable candour and curiosity, Joel Plaskett shared very generously with us about the serendipitous musical moment that sparked this whole album, how it represents a return to his roots in somewhat surprising ways, how spoken word suddenly introduced itself as part of his artistry, and the importance of embracing the presence, spontaneity, transience, and cyclical nature of music, art, and life. This is a Hidden Track Story: Joel Plaskett | Four Tracks and the Truth. Host: Grant Stovel | Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Graphics: Craig Taffs | Music: Doug Hoyer The Hidden Track Podcast is a CKUA production made possible by the generosity of our donour community. Thank you for your support! /episode/index/show/hiddentrack/id/33917082

Hidden Track x Music Yukon | Part 1 11/01/2024

Frazey Ford | Relentless Potential for Creativity 10/18/2024

Frank Turner | Acoustic Punk 10/04/2024

Frank Turner | Acoustic Punk In many ways, Frank is the perfect name for this well-loved singer-songwriter, producer, and eternal punk rock firebrand. Kind of like the many tattoos that adorn his arms, Frank Turner wears his heart right on his sleeve. Always unstintingly honest in all his artistic endeavours, Frank's music carries a candour and conviction that's incredibly powerful – devastating, even. Frank always manages always to have the ability to connect directly with the human heart – whether sharing tenderly of his own life's journey through his songs, or pushing back with snarling ferocity against fascism and injustice, his music resounds with urgency, authenticity, and humanity. No matter if you're talking about the all-out sonic assault of his fearsome band, Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls, or – equally powerfully – when Frank is in the intimate solo acoustic mode that we experience on this episode. As we'll hear during this Hidden Track Session, Frank Turner is an astoundingly intelligent and acute observer of the human condition, a seemingly tireless road dog, a devoted music nerd of the very highest order, and a truly humble soul. He carved out some time between shows to join us in CKUA Live Performance Space in Edmonton, as he passed through on a relentless world tour celebrating his triumphant 2024 release, Undefeated. The record arrives on the heels of his 2022 album FTHC (for Frank Turner Hardcore) which – 15 years into his solo discography – saw this folk-punk troubadour shoot all the way up to Number One on the British Album Chart! For context, other artists to score UK Number One albums that year were people like Ed Sheeran, Beyonce, and Taylor Swift. But rather than try to repeat that formula for success, Frank decided to take the opportunity to instead to make this new album without a major label; and for the first time in his ten albums to date, to produce it entirely himself, in his own home studio. And as Frank tells us, the songs on Undefeated are mostly derived from stories drawn from his own life journey. In conversation, Frank is a fount of wonderful stories, insights, jokes, and esoteric music trivia – while as a songwriter and performer, he distills all of his brilliance down to a razor-sharp point. Along with a characteristically brilliant conversation with Frank, we're treated to an absolutely exquisite, heartfelt performance of three songs from Frank's new album, solo acoustic in CKUA studios: "Letters", "Girl from the Record Shop", and one of his most beautiful compositions to date, "Somewhere in Between". Host: Grant Stovel | Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Recording/Mastering: Brendan Cross | Music: Doug Hoyer /episode/index/show/hiddentrack/id/33147352

Goldie Boutilier | Quiet on Set 09/20/2024

Goldie Boutilier | Quiet on Set As an artist, she's always been a bit of a shapeshifter. Over the course of her wildly diverse career, she's touched on numerous different genres, been signed to a series of major record labels, and made music under several monikers. Her journey has taken her from a tiny community on Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island, to the bright lights of Los Angeles at age 20, to the City of Light – Paris, France. Her latest work sees her returning to Canada, coming back to her musical roots in many, taking ownership of her art and her story, and reverting to her real nickname and surname, Goldie Boutilier. We were lucky enough to catch up with Goldie during a breathless 2024 tour which saw her paired up for a run of dates across the continent with Orville Peck. And this autumn sees her rolling back through these parts – this time on her debut North American headlining tour, to celebrate the release of her brilliant new album, out September 27th – The Actress. Her latest music is inspired by some of the music she grew up hearing – ranging from Tammy Wynnette to Fleetwood Mac, Alison Krauss to the Twin Peaks soundtrack. The songs are informed by the transformations and heartbreaks she's undergone over the years and by her profoundly disturbing real-life experience -- living out the youthful dream of signing a major label deal and moving to L.A. As we'll hear, show business can be a cold, cruel, predatory enterprise; one that many artists only triumph over by reclaiming their narrative and artistic selves, on their own terms. That's what Goldie has done in her recent evolution, beginning with her arresting 2022 EP Cowboy Gangster Politician, carrying on through 2023's Emerald Year, and now The Actress. If Goldie's wild career arc were a Hollywood screenplay, it might seem a little too far-fetched to be believable. But, as Goldie sings on the title track to her new EP: "I am the actress, and you're in my movie." Host: Grant Stovel | Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Graphics: Craig Taffs | Music: Doug Hoyer Mixing for this session provided by Brendan Cross. /episode/index/show/hiddentrack/id/32980477

Michael Bernard Fitzgerald | A Real Kind of Freedom 09/06/2024

Michael Bernard Fitzgerald | A Real Kind of Freedom Michael Bernard Fitzgerald is an artist who’s always expressed what’s most important to him through his songs. He's also been incredibly meticulous throughout his career, taking care to build a unique and heartfelt connection to his audience and striving to create an unforgettable live setting for his music. He’s elevated the sharing of live music to a high art in itself — whether it’s inviting Calgary Folk Fest goers to join him at picnic tables to eat pie in the sun, taking to the stage with 300 backing singers at the Jubilee Auditorium or, as we hear him in this particular setting, going into his Farm Tour mode to immerse audience and performer alike in a whisper-quiet, impossibly intimate moment of musical expression. Although his brand-new album Horizon Lines contains colossal hooks, massive production flourishes, and the trademark sense of pop music maximalism that has always made MBF’s work so exhilarating. Although, the heart of his songcraft, as ever, lies in his voice and his guitar. That’s the sensibility that he foregrounds during his very intimate Farm Tours, which is the very mode in which we caught up with him for this Hidden Track Session in CKUA’s Live Performance Space in Edmonton. Just ahead of the September 27th release of Horizon Lines, Michael Bernard Fitzgerald played beautifully hushed, solo acoustic renditions of the title track, first single “After a While”, and MBF staple “Good Plates”. He also shared some insight behind where the songs mugs come from, the inspiration he draws from his burgeoning family, and just exactly what a Farm Tour is all about. Host: Grant Stovel | Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Graphics: Craig Taffs | Music: Doug Hoyer Mixing assistance for this Session provided by Charlotte Carr. The Hidden Track Podcast is made possible by the generosity of our donor community. Thank you for your support! /episode/index/show/hiddentrack/id/32812297

Kaia Kater | Appetite for Healing 08/16/2024

Ellen Doty | Kaleidoscopic 08/02/2024

Cadence Weapon | Hometown Hero 07/19/2024

Cadence Weapon | Hometown Hero A couple of seasons back, Hidden Track released a big Cadence Weapon special. We spoke with Rollie Pemberton (Cadence Weapon) himself, along with some key family, friends and collaborators. A whole lot has happened for Cadence Weapon since that episode’s release. So, we felt it was time to catch-up during his brief visit back to Edmonton during the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. It’s certainly been an exciting two years for Cadence Weapon! The major headline being that, in 2022, he won the Polaris Music Prize, the biggest and most illustrious music award there is in Canada! And, that same year, he released his greatly-acclaimed memoir, Bedroom Rapper. Jumping forward to 2024, he's recently put out an incredible new record, ROLLERCOASTER. Another noteworthy development brought Cadence Weapon back home to Edmonton somewhat unexpectedly. In early June 2024, the hockey team he's been cheering for all his life made a storybook run, from the bottom of the National Hockey League standings at the start of the season, all the way to the Stanley Cup Championship. Seized by sudden inspiration, Cadence Weapon created a new version of his anthem for Edmonton Oilers' sensation star centre and captain, Connor McDavid. Cadence Weapon released the first version in 2017 at the beginning of McDavid's NHL career, and he felt called to update it for this momentous occasion. Ever the hometown man, Cadence Weapon made time during his Edmonton playoff visit to chat with CKUA’s Grant Stovel for this episode of Hidden Track Stories. Here's our first in-person visit in many a long year with Cadence Weapon, who was very much in championship form. CREDITS Host: Grant Stovel | Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Graphics: Craig Taffs | Music: Doug Hoyer Special thanks to Cadence Weapon for allowing us to include the opening instrumental to My Computer in this episode of Hidden Track. The Hidden Track Podcast is made possible by the generosity of CKUA’s donour community. Thank you for your support! /episode/index/show/hiddentrack/id/32185972

DakhaBrakha | Ethno-Chaos 07/05/2024

The Slackers | The Star We Aim For 06/21/2024

The Slackers | The Star We Aim For Inspired by the energy, the soul and the message of classic ska, The Slackers have truly become legends themselves over the past 33 years. They first came together in New York City back in the early '90s, and studied at the feet of the masters, including members of Jamaican ska originators the Skatalites, who had relocated to the States. The Slackers rose to prominence alongside a wave of ska-oriented artists who came to fame in that decade, in what became known as "Third Wave Ska". However, long after Third Wave hitmakers like The Mighty Mighty Bosstones had sort of faded away, The Slackers remained true to their roots, and have continued to craft vibrant, original and important music for the past 33 years and counting. Lead singer/ lyricist/ multi-instrumentalist Vic Ruggiero and sax player David Hillyard have been doing this a long time. So, it's remarkable how much freshness and sense of purpose they perpetually bring to everything they do. The band's now legendary series of livestream concerts from New York during the early days of the pandemic are a great example of how they continue to lead the musical charge with imagination, originality and a sense of community. That run of livestreams eventually led to the Billboard chart-topping album Don't Let the Sunlight Fool Ya, along with a series of reissues of their past discography via Pirates Press Records – also home to punk and ska luminaries like Rancid, the Aggrolites, and Subhumans. Long after the days of those global livestreams, The Slackers continue to connect globally with fans across the world. Alberta is a shining example of this. The band is very well-loved here, and both Vic and David have plugged into the scene here for music projects of their own, performing and/or recording with Albertan luminaries like Jory Kinjo and Audrey Ochoa. But there hadn't been a proper Slackers tour through Alberta in seven years! At least, not until June of 2024, when they played sold-out shows in Edmonton and Calgary- which represented the last of the tour dates they had to postpone back in 2020. Befor playing those shows though, they kicked off their Alberta tour with a stop at CKUA studios for this epiosde of Hidden Track Stories! They shared an insightful, fun, heartfelt conversation about their roots, their latest record, and what drives them to create meaningful music about... stuff. The Hidden Track Podcast is made possible by the generosity of our donour community. Thank you for your support! Host: Grant Stovel | Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Graphics: Craig Taffs | Music: Doug Hoyer /episode/index/show/hiddentrack/id/31830952

Major Love | Majorly Live! 06/07/2024

Major Love | Majorly Live! For our first-ever live Hidden Track Session in front of an audience, we really lucked out! We wanted to do something special that brought artists together with members of the CKUA community for a spontaneous, in-the-moment experience – an intimate and exciting live musical performance alongside a conversation that takes us deeper into the music. We were hoping to find an artist with deep roots in the community, a vibrant onstage musical presence, oodles of charisma, and some new music to share with the world. And yes, we lucked out huge! We ended up with good vibes, incredible music, a tremendous sense of togetherness, and Major Love. While they certainly would be considered a supergroup of Alberta talents, Major Love has a sound and an identity that goes far beyond what the sum of these parts can account for. Drummer Shea Connor, bass player Murray Wood, and guitarist Trevor Mann have been playing together since they were kids. For the past 15 years, they’ve been a band called Scenic Route to Alaska – taking their name from a well-known sign near their hometown of Edmonton.. The four members of Major Love joined us at CKUA’s Edmonton studios, in our Live Performance Space, alongside a room full of CKUA supporters for a session that had our crowd dancing, crying and laughing in turns. In this episode, we hear from this insightful and ever-charming group of friends – both in conversation, and in the live performance of music from their long-awaited brand-new album Live, Laugh, Major Love. We’ll hear three beautiful selections: "One Woman", "Time", and "The More I Know/Mountain Standard Time". This is Major Love - Majorly Live! The Hidden Track Podcast is a CKUA production made possible by the generosity of our donor community. Thank you for your support! Host: Grant Stovel | Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Graphics: Craig Taffs | Music: Doug Hoyer Audio captured by Nick Adkisson Sound mixing by Brendan Cross Special thanks to the CKUA live events team for their help with this Hidden Track Session! /episode/index/show/hiddentrack/id/31618387

Corb Lund | A Country Past and a Speed Metal Future 05/17/2024

Corb Lund | A Country Past and a Speed Metal Future Ever the masterful crafter of musical stories, Corb Lund has just released his eleventh album El Viejo — a new collection that weaves together inventive narratives and introduces us to some compelling characters. On this record we encounter: a veteran card sharp dealing out hard-won wisdom, a down-on-his-luck journeyman MMA fighter, a speed addict trying to kick the habit on the family farm, and on the album’s title track, a true-life heartfelt tribute to the recently departed country great Ian Tyson, known to some friends as “El Viejo” — or “The Old Man”. Listen closely, and you’ll hear lots of Corb’s own story, too — there are a few tales of adventures and misadventures on the road, and the song “I Had It All” in which he muses about having a “cowboy past and a speed metal future”. Corb’s professional life in music began with a stint in jazz college, followed by a dozen years in a celebrated band who played a blend of psychedelic rock, hardcore punk, and speed metal -- not exactly a textbook beginning to a fruitful career in roots country music. Corb Lund initially embarked upon his career as a singer-songwriter as an acoustic side project - one that stood out in sharp contrast to the decidedly heavier stylings of his internationally renowned rock band, The Smalls. It allowed Corb to develop his personal sense of expression and storytelling, while also connecting with the roots music that he heard growing up in the rural foothills country of Southern Alberta. Eventually, The Smalls broke up and Corb's solo project became his primary focus. True DIY success would soon follow with a series of gold records, international tours and meeting personal heroes like Ian Tyson. Throughout it all, he’s been determined to walk his own path and to keep his roots at the center of everything he does. El Viejo takes Corb’s homespun philosophy to a whole new level. The first Corb Lund album since the 1990s to feature exclusively acoustic instruments, it was recorded in his own Southern Alberta living room, performed live off the floor in a circle with his bandmates. The international El Viejo tour saw Corb Lund and the Hurtin’ Albertans take a spin through Corb’s home province, and he shared an intimate backstage conversation just ahead of soundcheck at his Edmonton show. He reflected on his journey, how he’s still bridging the metal/country divide, being outspoken in his advocacy for preserving the Rocky Mountain foothills, the long shadow of his friend and mentor Ian Tyson and finding new ways to be as personal as he can with the art that he creates. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Host: Grant Stovel | Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Graphics: Craig Taffs | Music: Doug Hoyer The Hidden Track podcast is a CKUA production made possible by the generosity of our donors. Thank you for your continued support! /episode/index/show/hiddentrack/id/31307392

The Bros. Landreth | Years Passing By 05/03/2024

The Bros. Landreth | Years Passing By The Bros. Landreth return to Hidden Track for a Season 5 Session! When they started their band, it was just an excuse to spend time together, given that the brothers David and Joey Landreth were often embroiled in their careers as top–call players in the Winnipeg music scene. The brothers came together to write some original songs and their first album as The Bros. Landreth was born. Released independently without much fanfare, Let It Lie soon drew them an audience from across the world. It's somewhat ironic that the album is titled “Let It Lie”, as it did anything but lay down - especially where the Bro’s musical careers are concerned! Ten years on, this beautiful album continues to resonate and do astonishing things in the world. For instance – it would have seemed impossible for David and Joey to believe in 2013 that a decade later, they could say that a song on this album has been recorded by one of their all-time heroes, Bonnie Raitt – and that it won a Grammy Award! It says a lot about the work ethic of the Bros. Landreth that their way of celebrating the debut record's 10th anniversary was no mere victory lap. Instead, they created a whole new version of the album – featuring acoustic re-interpretations of all the songs on Let It Lie – and took it on the road for a gigantic tour. It was during that tour that the band found themselves with a couple days off in Alberta! Between their sold-out concerts, the Bros. Landreth elected to play a free Saturday covers set at a local pub and took a trip down to CKUA's Edmonton Performance Space for this beautiful Hidden Track Session. Something of an intergenerational affair, this Session features David Landreth on bass (and some harmonica). Then, on acoustic guitars, we have: Joey Landreth, long-time collaborator Murray Pulver, (from hitmaking Winnipeg bands like Crash Test Dummies and Doc Walker); and the band's drummer, Roman Clarke, a great young multi-instrumentalist, who like everyone else in this session, is an absolute monster singer and musician – as well as a kind-hearted, down-to-earth, sincere, and hilarious human being. This episode is a candid visit with the Bros. Landreth – in conversation, plus live performances of three songs from Let It Lie: "Nothing", "Where Were We", and that Grammy-winning song of theirs, "Made Up Mind". Host: Grant Stovel | Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Graphics: Craig Taffs | Music: Doug Hoyer Session recording: Scott Zielsdorf | Mixing: Duke Paetz | Video Editor: Jasmine Vickaryous. The Hidden Track podcast is a CKUA production made possible by the generosity of our donors. Thank you for your support! Subscribe to the Hidden Track podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. /episode/index/show/hiddentrack/id/31095253

The Rural Alberta Advantage | Found a Home Here 04/19/2024

The Rural Alberta Advantage | Found a Home Here The Rural Alberta Advantage's much-anticipated October 2023 album The Rise & the Fall - their first in a half-dozen years - is once again chock full of Albertan references. However, it has also managed to connect with fans from around the world! Renowned UK newspaper The Independent named it one of their Best Albums of 2023, alongside albums by Olivia Rodrigo and Lana Del Rey. Perhaps the most exciting part of this new album, and its subsequent world tour – is that it sees all three original members – and longtime great friends – back in action together. They are Nils Edenloff (the Alberta expatriate who's the chief singer, songwriter and guitarist in the band), drummer extraordinaire Paul Banwatt and Amy Cole, who does pretty much everything else! Keyboards, bass pedals, harmony vocals – she's an orchestra unto herself! She took a break from the band back in 2016 and returned to the fold just in time for the new album and ensuing tour. Appropriately enough, the tour saw the band take a swing through Alberta, which included a visit to CKUA’s studios for this episode of Hidden Track Stories - and what stories they are! In this episode, we hear all about the band's rich history, the Alberta folklore that's fascinated them and their fans for so long, how they keep themselves grounded with family and careers outside of being internationally-celebrated musicians, what it's like to play for 50,000 fans and several dozen NHL hockey players at this season's Edmonton Oilers/Calgary Flames Heritage Classic and - more than anything – the shared love, respect, and chemistry that's gotten them to this point. Host: Grant Stovel | Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Graphics: Craig Taffs | Music: Doug Hoyer Recording and mixing provided by Brendan Cross. The Hidden Track podcast is a CKUA production and made possible by the generosity of our donors. Thank you for your support! /episode/index/show/hiddentrack/id/30854968

Haley Blais | Cracking Wise 04/05/2024

This Is The Kit | Be Okay 03/22/2024

This Is The Kit | Be Okay Careful of Your Keepers, the sixth full-length album by This Is the Kit, ends with the mantra-like benediction of "Be Okay". It's a beautifully delicate place to land, after ten songs that navigate their way through a world full of actions, their equal and opposite reactions, and the inextricably linked, overwhelmingly human dance between beauty and pain. It's an album that starts with a goodbye. Or more precisely, it starts with a track called "Goodbye Bite", which carries on with plenty of bite throughout. The lyrics and imagery are are full of teeth and clawing and chewing. As Kate Stables sings on the chorus to the song "Inside Outside" – quoting Ralph Wiggum's celebrated Valentine note to Lisa on an episode of The Simpsons – "Bite off as much as you can chew/ I chew chew choose you." Kate Stables is the singer/ songwriter/ multi-instrumentalist/ banjo enthusiast at the heart of this project. She grew up and fell in love with music in Winchester, one of Old England's oldest cities. She then moved on to the magical music city of Bristol, also the birthplace of groundbreaking acts like Portishead and Massive Attack. It's been a couple of decades since she moved to the artists' mecca of Paris, along with her husband (and fellow musician/bandleader) Jesse Vernon. She and her musical collaborators have quietly built a body of work that's seen This Is the Kit become one of the most revered and distinctive creative forces in folk music. Their much-acclaimed 2023 album builds on 20 years of creative evolution, and finds them collaborating with a hero of Kate's from back in her teenage years – Gruff Rhys, who came to fame as the frontperson for Welsh '90s indie rock deities Super Furry Animals. During the course of a wintertime 2024 tour through Alberta, Kate Stables stopped off at CKUA's Calgary studios to share an illuminating conversation about the elliptical nature of reality, her musical beginnings and creative evolution, drawing inspiration from a century-old banjo discovered in someone's attic, her surprisingly robust connections with Canada and/or Canadian music, working with one of her heroes, and what she always carries in her handbag. /episode/index/show/hiddentrack/id/30427218

Sunny War | Punk Rock is a Gateway Drug 03/08/2024

Sunny War | Punk Rock is a Gateway Drug She's truly a study in contrasts – right from her chosen moniker, Sunny War. Her story is an utterly extraordinary one, in terms of both her brilliant musical arc and her often-tumultuous life journey. She spent much of her teens and early 20s as an itinerant busker, living where she could, sometimes hopping trains around the States, experiencing trouble with the law, and battling drug and alcohol addiction. All along, Sunny War's lone constant companion – her true lifeline – has been her guitar. The folk/ punk/ gospel/ blues artist was born Sydney Ward into a musical family in Nashville, steeped in rock, folk, and classical music, and started playing guitar as a child. Moving to L.A., she discovered punk rock in her early teens, which led her to a true DIY musical apprenticeship busking on the streets of Venice Beach. It was there that she began to develop her unique artistic voice, one that utterly transcends genre and era. She cites the influence of everyone from 1930s blues greats like Robert Johnson and Skip James, to 1980s reggae/punk firebrands Bad Brains and current experimental rap artist JPEGMafia. Her 2022 album Anarchist Gospel was mainly written in the wake of a devastating breakup, in the loneliest depths of the pandemic, just before she decided to pull up stakes and move back to Tennessee. There, she made this album with producer Adrija Tokic (who has worked on albums by folks like Alabama Shakes and Hurray for the Riff Raff) and with collaborators like roots music heavyweights Allison Russell and David Rawlings. Anarchist Gospel draws on the sense of duality that's at the heart of her work – these are heart-rending songs about romantic pain, family strife, and doomy environmental woes, yet the album overall is somehow strangely uplifting. We hear that in the songs she shares with us in this episode of Hidden Track: "New Day", "Whole", and "No Reason". She performed them solo in a breathtakingly intimate session, as she travelled through Alberta playing a pair of wintertime music festivals. Travelling solo, of course! Hidden Track Sessions are produced by CKUA Radio and is made possible by the generous contributions of our donors. Find out how you can get involved at ckua.com/donate! /episode/index/show/hiddentrack/id/30264003

A Hidden Track Holiday | Join the Chorus 12/19/2023

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