Hidden Track

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 beginnin

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

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

When you think about it, being a YouTuber isn't so different from being a singer-songwriter.  In each case, you need to dig deep, be original, authentic and often get incredibly vulnerable – all while the world is looking on.  Canadian singer/songwriter Haley Blais has proven truly brilliant in both fields! This hit-YouTuber-turned-award-winning-musician shows us exactly why that is on her new album Wisecrack, and furthermore with the performance she shared with CKUA in this beautifully candid Hidden Track Session.  Haley has experienced a unique artistic evolution, to say the very least. Originally from Kelowna, BC, she started off her involvement in the arts as a classically trained opera singer, eventually making the move to Vancouver and cultivating a fruitful career as a content creator. But music has always been with her, and homespun musical performances proved to be hugely successful on her YouTube channel, including one ukulele-accompanied performance of an old pop song from the 1920s - which

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

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 Johns

'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 to brand-new, and some truly gaudy holiday apparel. Joining us in our Cozy Christmas Corner are CKUA favourites Baby Jey, VISSIA and Hawksley Workman!  Baby Jey share a wintery song from their debut album and a contemporary re-imagining of the traditional British carol "Deck the Halls." VISSIA performs her winter-embracing song Snowed In and Hawksley Workman is joined by his longtime piano accompanist Mr. Lonely for an inspired performance of material from his beloved holiday album Almost a Full Moon.  Plus, our guests spin us tales of gifts, treats, holiday albums, and Christmastimes past.  So... don we now

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.   Given the daunting task of summarizing such an incredible season, Grant decided to call in a little help! For this year-end episode, Grant Stovel is joined by Hidden Track producer Scott Zielsdorf to help share some great stories and songs from amongst this season's 21 episodes.   In particular, this collection of magical moments zeroes in on the idea of connecting to something larger through music -- whether that's connecting with family and friends, with community, with humanity at large, connecting with your own inner sense of humanity, even connecting with your true artistic self. That yearning to connect is

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 textures. And while the songs do vary widely, and occasionally tackle dark subjects, the overwhelming feeling is one of joy, connection, celebration, and togetherness.  Alloysius Maasaqoui, Kayus Bankole, and Graham Hastings have been together a long time. Hailing from the magical musical city of Edinburgh, Scotland, Young Fathers are a group of friends who met up as teenagers, and who have spun their undefinable blend of post-punk, soul, noise pop, hip-hop, and lo-fi electronica into a unique, compelling, Mercury Prize-winning body of work.  The latest album finds the group embracing a diverse swath of influences and inspirations. Two of the members of the group, Allosius and K

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 achieved renown as a documentary filmmaker and a chronicler of local hip-hop culture and history. Arlo Maverick is truly solidifying himself as an Edmonton hip-hop ambassador to the world.  Now, a library might seem like a funny place for a hip-hop show, but it makes all the sense in the world. For thing, CKUA's legendary music library is the home to music of all kinds, including a vast trove of music by Alberta artists. Plus, artists don't come much more studied about the history and culture of Alberta music than Arlo Maverick. And, as we hear in this episode, his eureka moment as a hip-hop creator happened in

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 community concert platform, Side Door Access; acting as a longtime vocal advocate for the de-stigmatization of discussions around mental health; or through his countless epic live performances over the years and seven albums to date... it's very clear that Dan cares, and he doesn't mind who knows it.  Ever since he first burst out of the Vancouver scene with his debut album, nearly two decades back, Dan's been deeply interested in trying to involve people in not just his music, but what music can do; drawing people into that shared experience. Sometimes he's bringing his dynamic range all the way down to whisper-quiet, making audiences lean in closer. Sometimes - as on the giant Going Somewhere tour which brought him to Alberta in Fall 2023 - it's sending out a phone nu

Many first knew Ariel Posen as the mind-bendingly gifted guitar player with fellow Winnipeg act, The Bros. Landreth. Over the years, he’s lent his six-string talents to a wildly eclectic array of artists, ranging from John Mayer to Tom Jones. Ariel Posen’s international stature as a rising guitar star became so substantial that it came as something of a surprise to many when in 2019, he put out his own debut album as a singer-songwriter, How Long.  Ariel's solo career, which initially began as a side project for this guitar ace, quickly became his full-time occupation. His work as a recording artist combines his guitar wizardry with a penchant for biting, heart-on-sleeve lyrics and a sweet, soulful voice. Over the course of several solo LPs and EPs now, Ariel’s unerring knack for timeless grooves and melodies has continued to evolve and his music now connects with audiences around the world. The September 2023 release of his third full-length album Reasons Why sees him headlining tours all across North A

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 member, for them to add their own inspired contributions to the brew.   For a band that’s been known to spend literally years crafting elaborate, sprawling, world-building concept records, this is perhaps the most radical and adventurous idea they’ve ever undertaken. The resulting album is heartfelt, brilliant, and full of the musical imagination and raw emotional power that's made F*cked Up one of the most beloved bands in hardcore punk rock over the past two decades.   As a band, they go all the way back to when these musicians were not much more than kids, growing up in turn-of-the-century Toronto, and falling in love

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 busking 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 certified Platinum in 2013, and is one of the best-known and most oft-covered roots music songs of this century. Old Crow Medicine Show's 25th anniversary is being suitably celebrated in Summer 2023 with the release of the band’s 10th studio album, Jubilee.  Founding member Ketch Secor has remained a constant of the band through the last 25 years, and remains the band’s lead singer, songwriter and fiddle player. In his early childhood years, Ketch's parents moved him around the country, opening up a series of schools in many different pockets of the United States. It awoke in him a lifelong love of travelling, and of learni

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 new album, First There Were Feathers, those very human emotions are evoked by 17 songs that are all about birds.  Whether she's wielding a guitar, a kalimba, a looping pedal, or her trademark accordion, Wendy McNeill's been crafting a sound all her own throughout her acclaimed discography, ever since she started her recording career more than a qurter-century ago now.   Her art has always been global in nature -- both in the sense that she contemplates issues that affect us all, ranging from ecological concerns to the mysteries of the human heart; as well as in the way that her noirish folk music draws on influenc

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. It’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 blend of the cryptic and plainspoken - along with the specific, cinematic details - gives the sense that he’s on a distinct creative journey of his own, seemingly unrelated to trends in the larger musical world.  And yet, there are plenty of luminaries from that larger musical world that have collaborated with Doug on his greatly-acclaimed albums. In the past, Doug’s records have been graced by contributions from revered artists like Mary Margaret O’Hara and the keyboard genius from The Band, Garth Hudson. On his new album, Doug’s evocative songs, expressive guitar playing, and beautiful tenor voice are treated

Jose Louis Modabi is the given name of Colgolese-Canadian artist Pierre Kwenders, the exceptionally innovative music-maker behind the Polaris Music 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 personal and the universally human, Pierre Kwenders is a one-of-a-kind musical visionary. Drawing on jazz, Congolese rhumba, pop, electronica and disco, and singing or rapping in five languages -- Lingala, Kikikongo, Tshiluba, French, English – he constructs a whole sonic universe on his latest album. There are meditations on love, lust, spirituality, home, family, freedom, culture, and music; all of it deeply centred in his unique, highly personal aesthetic. The expanded Deluxe Edition of Jose Louis and the Paradox of Love released June 30,2023, further deepening the album’s artistic sweep of styles, textures and perspectives with bonus tracks and re-works.

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-Americana to psychedelic rock to Mexican folk traditions.  And yet somehow, the new album by David Wax Museum sees the band achieving a whole new level of depth and dimension, of scope and scale. Fittingly enough, it's called You Must Change Your Life.  Suz Slezak and David Wax are the creative couple at the heart of Charlottesville, Virginia's David Wax Musuem. Their heartfelt, deeply personal approach to songcraft is matched by a sound that's all their own, and by a wildly inventive, boisterous live show. They've been building a hardcore fanbase over their nine albums and countless miles on the road.  Mid-2023 sa

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 hearts. 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 a way, William Prince has spent his whole life exploring the ways that music can be a source of connection, communion, and healing. As a kid growing up in Southern Manitoba's Peguis First Nation, he played guitar with his father, who was as singer and songwriter in a gospel/country vein. After that up-close apprenticeship, he embarked upon a career of his own. He hit home almost immediately with his powerful 2015 debut album Earthly Days, which won him a Juno Award right out of the gate, signaling the arrival of a major new figure on the singer-songwriter scene. In the years since, he's garnered increasing international

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 an absolute joy on social media.  Vivek’s new album is Baby, You're Projecting, out now via Mint Records. Her debut label release offers a brilliantly crafted, heart-on-sleeve glimpse into her own personal experiences and perspectives. It traces deeply felt, masterfully created musical stories that ring so true, we can probably all see ourselves in them somewhere; they feel like they have something important to say to all of us.   Vivek's been writing songs since age 13 and crafting albums for a good 20 years now. Always at the core of her art is personal experience, offering a wide range of often very frank, unflinching perspectives. Being an Albertan of South Asian heritage, growing up queer, being trans, making pop music into her 40s - all are experien