Cortes Currents

Immanuel McKenty / Folk U - Thanks for joining us on August 21st, 2026 for the 8th and final week of our Village Commons Music Series, a simultaneously live and live-broadcast show, happening on Fridays from 1 - 2:30pm on the new Pavilion stage.

Stand-in host Immanuel McKenty was joined by Paul Wolda, Cory, Cyrus, and Sean Coyote who played an in-the-round show and swapped songs and stories. Thanks to Francis McKenty for the live sound this week!

The Village Commons Music Series is produced by Jemma Hicken, Sean Coyote, and Bryan McKinnon. It is made possible by the Cortes Island Community Foundation, Cortes Community Radio, and FolkU.

Folk U Radio is taking old school viral every Friday at 1 p.m. and Mondays at 3 p.m./Wednesday at 6 a.m. @CKTZ89.5FM or livestreamed at cortesradio.ca. Find repeats anytime at www.folku.ca/podcasts.

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/ Folk U Radio - On July 20th 2026, host Manda Aufochs-Gillespie was joined by climate activist Max Thaysen and Fire Department chief Eli McKenty to talk about wildfires and what we’re doing on Cortes to prevent and prepare.

Folk U Radio is taking old school viral every Friday at 1 p.m. and Mondays at 3 p.m./Wednesday at 6 a.m. @CKTZ89.5FM or livestreamed at cortesradio.ca. Find repeats anytime at www.folku.ca/podcasts.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Twenty-five-year old Emily Lowan was declared leader of the BC Greens on September 24. 2025. She is believed to be the first member of generation Z elected to office. Lowan was one of the three speakers in a session Activate 2026 dedicated to 'Winning Campaigns: Stories & Tactics of Victories.' She credited her success to the aggressive recruitment of youthful members, which close to doubled the size of the party. When the votes were counted, close to 61% went to Lowan on the first ballot.

Despite her youth, the press release announcing her election states that Lowan had already "spent over a decade building campaigns for climate justice, Indigenous solidarity, and democratic reform. She has led high-impact campaigns at Climate Action Network Canada, published critical climate research, worked at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Corporate Mapping Project, and successfully fought for fossil fuel divestment as a student union leader."

I approached Lowan during the break that followed her presentation at Hollyhock's Olatunji Hall. The next session was about to begin, but she graciously agreed to an interview.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Harvey McKinnon has been one of North America's leading fund raisers for the past four decades. He's the author of six books and the producer of a wide variety of award-winning documentary films that have been aired on the BBC, CBC, ABC and PBS. He's also been a keynote speaker at conferences from Australia to Norway. Given the familiarity that he was received at Hollyhock,  I suspect this was not the first time he was there. Never-the-less, I know him from two presentations he made at Activate 2026: the 'Save the CBC' campaign and a workshop on 'How to Use Words and Language to Win Campaigns and Raise More Money.'

For this morning's broadcast I asked Harvey two questions:  Why was his 'Save the CBC' campaign so successful?, and How should we approach a government who sees extreme weather events increasing in number and size, but still maintains Canada should ramp up oil production as quickly as possible?

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The audio version of this story opened with Sixfoot Johnson playing 'Action is Expensive.' This is a band whose local roots are so deep they could be called a Cortes Island Institution. Dana Trueman, Garden Stein and Greg Osoba have been playing together for 24 years. Their final concert for this year will be the Gorge Harbour Marina from 7 to 9, on Friday August 21.

Greg Osoba:  “Our music is super diverse because all three of us are songwriters, and we all have our own styles. My stuff tends to be somewhat rocky and poppy. Dana’s is a bit more folk-rock, with a bit of country. Garden’s can sometimes be almost swampy, like Louisiana soul."

“When people ask us to describe what we do, first of all, 90% of our music is original. We’re always introducing new material, but we like to describe ourselves as swinging, original, psychedelic, surf, alt-country rock. That covers all the different fields, because people who come to our shows understand that it’s all danceable — every single song. But it often contrasts from one song to another: the feeling, the tempo, the mood, the style. It really varies, which I feel very happy about.”

Cortes Currents: What gives you a passion to play?

Greg Osoba: "When I recited that poem at Love Fest, there was a line in there about ‘being present, sensing mood, need, the inexplicable.’ It’s very difficult to put into words what the visceral and emotional feelings are when you are playing music with other people and you sense that something very, very special is occurring."

“It’s such a cliché to say ‘magical,’ but it truly is. With our music, since we leave quite a bit of room for improvised solos, the songs aren’t just rote. They’re never precisely the same way twice, and I just love that. It’s really a form of jazz when you get to improvise, intuit the moment, and see how that comes through you.

“You hit the nail on the head for me. It is my passion. Playing music is certainly what drives me.”

Cortes Currents: What brought you together?

Greg Osoba: It wasn’t my idea. I got invited to join the band. I think it was our drummer Garden Stein’s idea, but there were other people involved early on.

“The idea was to form a band to get ready for something he was staging at the Gorge Hall, many years ago, called the Battle of the Bands. We just started working on five or six tunes together for that.”

Cortes Currents: How did you get the name Six Foot Johnson?

Greg Osoba: “Our rhythm guitarist, harmonica player, songwriter, and singer, Dana Trueman, has a stage name he’s been using for decades: Dannfver Johnson. He’s over six feet tall. That’s how it was explained to me when I was away one winter, and the other three band members at the time said, ‘Oh, we’re changing our name from Mixed Greens to Sixfoot Johnson.’ They said it was sort of a play on Dana’s stage name.

“Now it’s kind of funny, because at the Gorge Marina show, this past July, people asked, ‘How come you call yourselves Sixfoot Johnson?’ As we were just getting the show underway, Dana pointed to Garden, the drummer, and said, ‘See him? He’s got two feet.’ Then he pointed to me: ‘Greg, bass player, he’s got two feet. I’ve got two feet. That makes six feet — Sixfoot Johnson.’

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Saru Jayaraman, the President of One Fair Wage, is one of those people who it is easy to overlook, until she starts talking. Suddeny this outwardly quiet little woman is transformed into a torrential stream of passion. Everyone in the recent Activate program, at Hollyhock, was transfixed when she screamed 'F_____ Democrats!' on behalf of the 14 million restaurant workers in the United States. The Democrats have made promises, but have failed to deliver ANYTHING to increase wages for the poorest working sector in America.

That was the moment I realized her message was applicable to Canada. Why are so many poor Canadians voting for parties whose policies are causing extreme weather events, like this year’s wildfires, while essentially enriching American shareholders? Yes, I’m talking about the oil sands — which not only increase our emissions, in turn contributing to extreme weather events like wildfires, but  over 70% of the profit goes outside the country and mostly to the USA.

I wish I had recorded Saru's address, but my audio from meetings is usually mediocre. She agreed to be interviewed in the lawnchairs outside the lodge.

Jemma Hicken/Folk U - Thanks for joining us on August 14th, 2026 for the 7th week of our Village Commons Music Series, a simultaneously live and live-broadcast show, happening on Fridays from 1 - 2:30pm on the new Pavilion stage.

Stand-in host Jemma Hicken was joined by Katie Welch & Jodi Peters, Dude Lenon, and Louis Belcourt, who played an in-the-round show and swapped songs and stories. Listen in for 4 musicians talking about their creative process, their breakfast routines, how they made Cortes home, and a few singalongs.

The Village Commons Music Series is produced by Jemma Hicken, Sean Coyote, and Bryan McKinnon. It is made possible by the Cortes Island Community Foundation, Cortes Community Radio, and FolkU.

Folk U Radio is taking old school viral every Friday at 1 p.m. and Mondays at 3 p.m./Wednesday at 6 a.m. @CKTZ89.5FM or livestreamed at cortesradio.ca. Find repeats anytime at www.folku.ca/podcasts.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - A little over two weeks ago, Laurel Dault, Director of Impact at Hollyhock, invited Cortes Island non-profits to take part in the Activate program as her guests. A number of us wanted to go, but in the end, I believe only three local residents actually made it.

We joined more than 60 activists, non-profit leaders, digital media workers, and progressives for an incredible five-day experience that went beyond a smorgasbord of ideas to include everything a Hollyhock experience has to offer.

Normally, I would cover this event in a single broadcast, but there were simply too many interviews that need a space of their own. So I decided to write a series of stories, starting with one about the Activate program.

Laurel Dault explained:,“Activate is about bringing together people who are working every single day toward human rights, justice, climate, more-than-human rights, and giving them a space to learn from one another, to share their challenges, to develop their skills, to rest, and most importantly, to develop a network of people who support each other day to day and year-round.”

“The wins that these participants are having in their day-to-day lives, and the losses that they’re having, impact every single human in this country and potentially even the world. They’re working in politics. They’re working in policy. They’re working in how people show up. At this time of wildfires, we have, I think, 20 climate organizers here this year. what better thing could we be doing with this place, these facilities, and our skills in convening than serving those folks who are trying to solve problems that impact not only every Canadian, but every single person on the planet?”

Jemma Hicken/ Folk U - Thanks for joining us on August 7th, 2026 for the 6th week of our Village Commons Music Series, a simultaneously live and live-broadcast show, happening on Fridays from 1 - 2:30pm on the new Pavilion stage.

Stand-in host Jemma Hicken was joined by Amos Mercier, Good Enough Dave, and Mike Desj, who played an in-the-round show and swapped songs and stories. Listen in for 3 songwriters sharing about their process, their favourite grandparents, and even a few dinosaur facts.

The Village Commons Music Series is produced by Jemma Hicken, Sean Coyote, and Bryan McKinnon. It is made possible by the Cortes Island Community Foundation, Cortes Community Radio, and FolkU.

Folk U Radio is taking old school viral every Friday at 1 p.m. and Mondays at 3 p.m./Wednesday at 6 a.m. @CKTZ89.5FM or livestreamed at cortesradio.ca. Find repeats anytime at www.folku.ca/podcasts.

Unedited audio of Rick & Amy Bockner song