Q with Tom Power

Martin Andrijasevic and Hamzah Al-Emad, best known for their YouTube channel Slushy Noobz, have experienced a meteoric rise since beginning their collaboration three years ago. Earlier this summer, they livestreamed their way across Canada, introducing their Gen Z audience to some of the country’s biggest attractions, overlooked destinations and classic tourist locales. Martin and Hamzah sit down...

Seven years after her last album, Sara Bareilles is back with Good Grief — a record born out of some of the hardest years of her life. The two-time Grammy winner, actor and Broadway lyricist lost two close friends, went through years of IVF, and found herself asking what we hold on to when the people we love are gone. Now, she’s turned those experiences into songs about memory, friendship, loss an...

At first glance, punk and folk seem to live in two different worlds. But look below the surface and you’ll find the two genres have more in common than you might think. Nova Scotia folk duo Mama’s Broke (Amy Lou Keeler and Lisa Maria) sit down with Q guest host Garvia Bailey to talk about their new album, Reunion, and the kinship between punk and folk. 

Yesterday, the world lost one of country music’s greatest legends, Dolly Parton, who died at age 80 in Nashville. A few years ago, Dolly spoke with Tom Power about her extraordinary career, how growing up in a family of 12 kids turned her into a country icon, and the stories behind her best-loved songs, like Jolene, I Will Always Love You and Coat of Many Colors. In memory of Dolly Parton, we revi...

Sometimes the songs just stop coming. Simone Schmidt, the songwriter behind Fiver, found themselves unable to write before finding their way back to song through an unexpected metaphor. Years after a psychic gave them a ritual to clear their apartment of "stuck energy," Simone realized they needed to do the same thing with their mind. They started sorting through old melodies, unfinished songs and...

Jean-Michel Blais has been a celebrated figure in the post-classical piano world since the release of his critically acclaimed debut album in 2016. This fall, he’s releasing a new concept album, mirador, inspired by his childhood memories and personal journey as a queer person living with Tourette syndrome. Ahead of the album’s release, he joins Q guest host Garvia Bailey to talk about the shift f...

Justine Williamson and Greg Vardy are the Canadian sketch comedy duo behind Tracy and Martina, two fun-loving best friends from Cape Breton. Those characters got their start on YouTube, where their sketches racked up hundreds of thousands of views. Since then, Tracy and Martina have appeared on CBC Comedy, Trailer Park Boys+ (formerly SwearNet), and even landed their own Christmas special. Now, th...

It’s been 10 years since the iconic Canadian band The Tragically Hip performed together for the last time with their fearless frontman and friend, Gord Downie. To commemorate the anniversary, the band is releasing a live album documenting the group’s final tour, alongside a CBC re-broadcast of their historic 2016 farewell concert in their hometown of Kingston, Ont. The Hip band members Rob Baker a...

When acclaimed playwright, actor and theatre director Jovanni Sy went back to school a few years ago, he was told to direct something funny. He originally wanted to take on The Way of the World — William Congreve’s British Restoration comedy from 1700. But over time, that morphed into a modern-day, fast-paced Asian rom-com set in Singapore. It’s called The Tao of the World, and it opens at the Str...

Not too long ago, Max McNown was sitting on a pier in Southern California. He had just taught himself guitar and was busking for change. Though he grew up singing, he didn’t see himself becoming a professional musician. But busking gave him the confidence to go all in on music, and within a few years, he was performing on some of the biggest stages in the world. Now, he’s releasing his third recor...

English singer-songwriter Laura Marling has spent years writing songs about imagined futures, family and motherhood. First she wrote the album Song for Our Daughter before she had kids, then Patterns in Repeat after becoming a mom. Now, she's surprised everyone with an entire album of Raffi songs. Laura speaks to Q guest host Garvia Bailey about discovering one of Canada's most beloved musicians,...

For 75 years, American Girl in Italy has been one of the world's most famous photographs. The image of a young woman walking through a crowd of men has been interpreted as everything from street harassment to female empowerment. To mark the anniversary, photographer Ruth Orkin's family is releasing a never-before-seen frame captured moments before the iconic shot. Ruth’s daughter, Mary Engel, join...

Following his 2024 breakout hit, Big Dawgs, Hanumankind has become a global rapper. Born in Kerala, India and growing up all over the world, Hanumankind quickly drew interest at local open mics in India for his Houston rap influences and his ability to freestyle on a whim. In 2023, he signed with Def Jam India and by the next year, he was playing Coachella and working with artists like A$AP Rocky....

Skiifall is a Montreal-based rapper and producer whose music exists at the intersection of grime, electronic music, hip-hop and forward-thinking bass culture. His unique sound brought him early success and caught the attention of artists like Drake and the late designer and DJ Virgil Abloh. Known for his distinctive vocal delivery and genre-defying approach, Skiifall continues to carve out a singu...

Hannah Einbinder is the award-winning actor and comedian known for her breakout role in the HBO series Hacks. On the heels of the show’s series finale, she’s branching out with a new film, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. On the surface, it’s a bloody slasher, but underneath is a tender story about coming into your true identity and accepting yourself fully. Hannah joins Q guest host Gill Dea...

What would you do if you suddenly couldn't go out in the sun? That's what happened to dancer and choreographer Sara Porter in her early 20s after developing a rare autoimmune disorder that left her unable to tolerate UV light. She's now turned that experience into Hello Sunshine! — a new solo performance that blends dance, music and memoir to explore life with an invisible disability. Sara joins Q...

Husband-and-wife roots rock duo Whitehorse is back with their ninth studio album, All I Want Is All of It, which asks the question: can you really have it all? Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland have been touring the new record with their family band, while also playing alongside musical friends and heroes like Bryan Adams and Sarah McLachlan. They join Q guest host Garvia Bailey to talk about wha...

Rotterdam-born Naomi Sharon is part of a generation of European female artists attempting to break through to global audiences. She’s also the first female artist signed to Drake's OVO Sound, blending neo soul with an electronic influence rooted in her Dutch and Caribbean heritage. Naomi sits down with Q guest host Garvia Bailey to talk about stepping into her own on her second studio album, No Sl...

Megan Park (Sterling Point, My Old Ass, The Fallout) is a Canadian writer and director who got her start in front of the camera, starring in teen dramas like Life with Derek and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. But something about those early jobs never felt quite right. The roles often lacked authenticity, and there was little room for collaboration on set. Now, Megan has made it her mis...

The indie rock band Kiwi Jr. has been rocking, rolling and riffing for more than a decade. In Q’s recurring New Music segment, lead singer Jeremy Gaudet joins guest host Garvia Bailey to talk about their latest single, Photos Of The Reenactment, which was inspired by true crime podcasts. The band’s new album, Blowin’ Up, comes out on Aug. 14.

Candi Staton has been a gospel prodigy, a Southern soul powerhouse and a disco icon. Now in her 80s, she’s back in the spotlight with her Grammy-nominated album Back to My Roots, which marks her return to the gospel music where it all began. From segregated Alabama churches to ’90s dance floors, her career includes timeless hits like Young Hearts Run Free and You Got the Love. But it’s also a jour...

Samar Hejazi is a Palestinian Canadian artist whose multidisciplinary work spans sculpture, textiles and printmaking, challenging traditional perceptions of reality. After spending years in Toronto, she now lives and works in Dubai. She’s one of the primary contributors to the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute’s latest exhibit, Costume Art, which debuted at the Met Gala in New York. Sam...

In her new memoir, Even the Good Girls Will Cry, Montreal-born musician Melissa Auf der Maur pulls back the curtain on the alternative rock and grunge scene of the ’90s. Earlier this year, she joined Tom Power to talk about the chaotic, often destructive dynamics within Hole — and how, through it all, frontwoman Courtney Love emerged as one of rock’s most powerful feminist voices.

Les Louanges (a.k.a. Vincent Roberge) is one of the defining francophone artists of his generation in Québec, and yet he’s almost entirely unknown to anglophone Canada. He’s got two Juno Awards for francophone album of the year, and now his latest album, Alouette!, has been shortlisted for the prestigious Polaris Music Prize. Les Louanges joins Q guest host Garvia Bailey to talk about the stories...

Grammy-nominated neo soul singer Glenn Lewis is considered one of the forefathers of R&B in Canada. Born in Kitchener and raised in Toronto, he broke through in the early 2000s with his debut album, World Outside My Window. Now he's back with his first new album in more than a decade, Overture. Glenn joins Q guest host Garvia Bailey to look back on the early days of his career, reflect on his...