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PODCAST

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

music music interviews

All Episodes

44:27

Dan Mangan | It's Cool to Care

Hidden Track ·

2023/10/13

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

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43:58

Ariel Posen | Restless by Design

Hidden Track ·

2023/09/29

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

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54:40

F*cked Up | A Day in the Life

Hidden Track ·

2023/09/08

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

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42:49

Old Crow Medicine Show | It Started as a Trip

Hidden Track ·

2023/08/18

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

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39:34

Wendy McNeill | Wild Wisdom Wrapped in Verse

Hidden Track ·

2023/08/04

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

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46:43

Doug Paisley | Be Who You'll Be

Hidden Track ·

2023/07/21

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

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32:16

Pierre Kwenders | Love Never Dies on the Dance Floor

Hidden Track ·

2023/07/07

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

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47:26

David Wax Museum | Syncopated Truths

Hidden Track ·

2023/06/23

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

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46:08

William Prince | The Truth About Love

Hidden Track ·

2023/06/09

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,

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49:40

Vivek Shraya | Singing Free and Loud!

Hidden Track ·

2023/05/19

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

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46:48

Kid Koala x Lealani | Gather Round

Hidden Track ·

2023/05/05

"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, visual, and otherwise—is always about gathering around: humans joining together, in shared experiences,

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36:03

Matt Andersen | Uncorked

Hidden Track ·

2023/04/21

He'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 been exceedingly homespun and genuine. In fact, a bunch of his best friends are in his band! How is

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52:28

Tara MacLean | Love Has No Opposite

Hidden Track ·

2023/04/07

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 has been an international hitmaker; a survivor of horrific childhood abuse; a lifelong student of art,

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38:05

Andy Shauf | A Normal Record

Hidden Track ·

2023/03/24

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. But listening carefully, it starts to become clear that there's something a whole lot more sinister going

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56:15

Aysanabee | Where Do We Go From Here?

Hidden Track ·

2023/03/10

"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 Aysanabee, who, as a child, was taken away from his family and sent to McIntosh Residential School in

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01:01:33

Alex Cuba | Essence of the Soul

Hidden Track ·

2023/02/24

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, along with his twin brother Adonis. In the years since then, he's been digging deep into his astounding

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54:04

Tanika Charles | With Love and Light

Hidden Track ·

2023/02/10

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 kind of transformation. But as she tells us, "rebirth, transformation and transition" are what

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48:05

July Talk | Bring Out That Human Side

Hidden Track ·

2023/01/27

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 of the maelstrom are lead vocalists Leah Fay Goldstein and Peter Dreimanis. Leah and Peter are on a

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47:30

Whitehorse | Breaking Up With Society

Hidden Track ·

2023/01/13

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 Whitehorse. Released on January 13, 2023, the duo's eighth studio album, "I'm Not Crying, You're

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50:50

Kadhja Bonet | Learn How To Celebrate

Hidden Track ·

2022/12/16

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 space for herself in the world of holiday music and culture. This most unexpected journey to

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108 results

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