Hidden Track

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 alco...

'Tis the season to be jolly!   This holiday season, CKUA's Hidden Track team busted out the stockings, tinsel and trees, festooned CKUA's cozy music library with festive décor, and invited a few musical friends over for a special holiday episode!   Our guests brought with them some heartfelt reflections on the Yuletide season, some beautiful live performances of holiday songs ranging from ancient...

It's been an amazing Season 4 here at  Hidden Track . We've had visits with an astounding array of inspired artists, ranging from local heroes to global greats; from a reigning Polaris Prize winner to a newly minted Grammy Award winner; from hip-hop to hardcore punk to homespun folk. It's been such a wild 2023! So wild, in fact, that we felt the need to do a special episode to wrap up the season....

Made in a basement studio littered with instruments and synth gear, Young Fathers ' new album Heavy Heavy was created entirely by the three members of the band - with the exception of a single guest vocal from  a friend. The album  features layer upon layer of voices and instruments, creating a sonic maelstrom of dynamics, moods and text ures. And w hile the songs do va ry widely, and occasionally...

Arlo Maverick seems to be on a mission to ensure that Edmonton takes its place as a destination to be reckoned with on the hip-hop map. An award-winning artist, Arlo is a well-loved pillar of the hip-hop community here in Alberta. He's also toured all the way to the other side of the world and back, winning himself global fans and forging a wide network of collaborators.   More recently, he's achi...

Dan Mangan is fond of summing up his whole approach to a creative life in music with a simple axion: "It's cool to care."   Dan models that approach in everything he does. Whether he's starting his own label, Madic Records , or co- founding c ommu nity concert platform, Side Door Access ; acting as a longtime vocal advocate for the de-stigmatization of discussions around mental health; or through...

Many first knew Ariel Posen as the mind-bendingly gift ed guitar player with fellow Winnipeg act, The Bros. Landreth . Over the years, h e's lent his s ix -string talents to a wi ldly eclectic array of artists, ranging from John Mayer to Tom Jones. Ariel Posen's international stature as a rising guitar star becam e so substantial that it came as something of a surprise to many when in 2019, he put...

It's a testament to the connection and chemistry this band have built together over more than twenty years that they were able to pull off a unique feat of artistic daring for their latest album, 2023's much-acclaimed One Day . Each band member, on their own, composing and recording an entire album's worth of instrumental parts in a 24-hour span, then passing it down the line to the next band memb...

This year marks the silver anniversary of the barn-storming acoustic country music  juggernaut known as Old Crow Medicine Show . They're a group that traces their roots to  busk ing all across Canada and the United States. Since then, Old Crow Medicine Show has gained commercial success with their  distinctively contemporary spin on old-school traditions. The band's song " Wagon Wheel " became cer...

She's always had a way of finding those human stories that make us feel connected to some of the very big themes and questions that she tackles in her songs. Wendy McNeill 's music often deals with the epic, the mythic, the unknowable, the elemental... but in an artfully narrative, poetically detailed way that draws the listener right into the very human emotions at the heart of it. And with her n...

Considering how much he shares of himself through his frank, tender songs, and how down-to-earth and open he is in live performance and in conversation, Doug Paisley has always seemed to be a bit of an enigma.   For one thing, his music seems so truly timeless. I t's like the Toronto troubadour's lastest album Say What You Like could just as easily have been released in 1973 as in 2023. His unique...

Jose Louis Modabi is the given name of Colgolese -Canadian artist Pierre Kwenders , the exceptionally innovative music-maker behind the Polaris Mus ic Prize-winning album, Jose Louis and the Paradox of Love .   Bridging the gaps between musical worlds, the traditional and the future-leaning, his hometowns of Kinshasa and Montreal, and between the profoundly per sonal and the universally human, Pie...

They've always been musical alchemists -- melding worlds and traditions together, taking on the big questions, and crafting bold musical narratives. On greatly-acclaimed previous albums like Guesthouse and Line of Light , they've created poetic anthems addressing mortality, embracing our shared humanity, and, of course, longing for love. And they've done it while fusing everything from roots-Ameri...

William Prince 's rich baritone voice resonates with amazing warmth, light, and wisdom. Along with the poetic songs and stories that it delivers, his voice just seems to have a way of instantly finding a place in people 's heart s . It's no wonder that William's voice and songs have taken him all the way from the small Manitoba community where he grew up, to great acclaim all across Canada .   In...

Vivek Shraya is a constantly churning force for creativity. She's an author, playwright, filmmaker, a professor of English Literature, a poet, an active champion of BIPOC, women- and femme-identifying artists though initiatives she's launched, and she's a n absolute joy on social media.   Vivek's  new album is Baby, You're Projecting , out now via Mint Records. H er debut  label release offers a b...

"Hey, you! Come and gather round!"   That's one of the lyrics from " Things Are Gonna Change , " Lealani 's collaboration with Kid Koala on his new album, Creatures of the Late Afternoon .   It's a song about coming together, about engaging with one another, sharing a common pursuit, and pushing toward something new and exciting.   For both Kid Koala and Lealani, their work as artists—musical, vis...

H e's currently traversing the continent, along with a band and a production that are so big, they won't all fit on just one tour bus. He's selling out dozens of shows at concert halls that seat thousands of people. And what's he playing? Pretty much exclusively his own original roots, folk, and blues songs; and a handful written by some good friends of his. Matt's whole music career has always be...

CONTENT WARNING: This episode of Hidden Track contains multiple references to childhood trauma and sexual abuse. Although the content does not go into explicit details, some listeners may find these topics of discussion uncomfortable.  "Looking back, I am astonished at times by what I have done in search of love, and just to survive."   Over the course of her astounding life story, Tara MacLean ha...

At times, the protagonist of Andy Shauf 's new album Norm might strike you as a charming, shambling sort of fellow. Norm likes getting high, he watches The Price Is Right , he's been known to lock his keys in his car, he seems excited when Halloween is coming up. Those moments all seem innocuous enough, and it's certainly easy to get lost in just how flat-out gorgeous the songs on this record are....

"What's your name?"    On the stunning debut album by Oji-Cree singer-songwriter Aysanabee , we hear his grandfather pose that question at the end of the song " Nomads ". It is a voice that is woven through the entire album; and so is that fundamental idea of reconnecting with identity and truth.   Aysanabee's much-acclaimed November 2022 release Watin tells the story of his grandfather, Watin Ays...

He is without a doubt the only winner of a Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album ever to make their home in the northwestern B.C. town of Smithers, population 5,316. Alex Cuba originally hails from Artemisa, Cuba; but he's called Smithers, BC home for two decades now. He first visited CKUA 20 years ago, back when he was known as Alexis Puentes, one half of the Juno Award-nominated Puntes Brothers...

At home in Canada, Tanika Charles is a multiple nominee for both the Juno Awards and the prestigious Polaris Music Prize. She's also a sensational success in Europe, where she's been building an enthusiastic fan base for many years. Looking at Tanika's successes in the lead-up to her latest album, you might be forgiven for being surprised that this internationally-renowned R&B artist felt the need...

For a dozen years and four albums now, July Talk has been relentlessly working toward a more just, humane, compassionate world, via the medium of their uniquely cathartic brand of groove-laden epic rock'n'roll.   Juno Award-winning band  July Talk is Ian Docherty on guitar, bass player Josh Warburton , and double drummers (double Dani/Dannys, in fact) Danny Miles and Dani Nash .  And at the centre...

CKUA's Hidden Track Podcast returns for Season 4!    Kicking things off in 2023 is (currently) Manitoba-based folk rock duo  Whitehorse ! Composed of husband-and-wife duo  Luke Doucet  and  Melissa McClelland , Whitehorse's sound spans from folk/americana to groove-driven pop rock. Doucet and McClelland have always been talented musicians, and both had successful solo careers before joining forces...

As a child, Kadhja Bonet 's Christmas holiday tradition was to spend the whole festive season taking refuge under her bed, or in her closet. Growing up with Asperger's Syndrome, the continuous Christmas clamour just made her want to shut out the world until December's end. It wasn't until recently (owing largely to a Yuletide-loving partner) that she took it upon herself to try and carve out a spa...