Hidden Track CKUA Radio

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! 

DakhaBrakha combines traditional folk and punk, drawing inspiration from their Ukrainian homeland with a global sensibility.
Melodies from the ancient past collide with future sounds. They like to describe their style as “ethno-chaos.”
At CKUA, we were treated to a visit from touring dignitaries DakhaBrakha while they were on tour. It was the full four-piece band in all their full, distinctive instrumentation, in full regalia and in all their glory.
For this episode of Hidden Track Sessions, the band set up in CKUA’s Edmonton performance space and shared a scorching set of three epic songs, as well as a very rare English language interview.
Host: Grant Stovel | Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Graphics: Craig Taffs | Music: Doug Hoyer
Mixing for this session 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!

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

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!

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.  

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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!

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! 

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