Hidden Track

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 to some stellar production help from his old friend Afie Jurvanen and his band, Bahamas.

On tour through Alberta in summer 2023, Doug Paisley stopped by CKUA's Edmonton studios to serenade us with a pair of songs, and to trace his one-of-a-kind creative career. He told us about his musical beginnings with buck-a-Beatles LP buys; the lasting lessons learned in his early onstage experiences, ranging from bluegrass to reggae to performance art; the influence of everyone from outsider folk great Bonnie "Prince" Billy to '70s AM country's "Gentle Giant" Don Williams; the way Afie's and Bahamas' support helped unlock the creative breakthrough of Say What You Like; and how writing songs and playing guitar are a great release for the feelings that move you when, as the title track says, "those bygone times come back to visit."

Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Host: Grant Stovel | Graphics: Shaun Friesen | Music: Doug Hoyer | Sound Engineer: Duke Paetz

This episode of Hidden Track features live performances from Doug Paisley. Music is used with permission from the artist.

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.

In this episode of the Hidden Track Podcast, Pierre Kwenders tells us about his musical background: from growing up singing in church choirs as a kid in the Congo, to discovering the underground music scene in Montreal, where he moved as a teenager. He discusses the formative influence of Congolese musical heroes like Lokua Kanza and Papa Wemba, the importance of matriarchs on his life and how he takes his artistic moniker from his grandfather's name. We'll discover more about Pierre Kwenders' birth city of Kinshasa, which "vibrates with music", plus his personal vision for a globe-spanning, era-mashing Black futurism and his guiding philosophy that "love never dies on the dance floor."

Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Host: Grant Stovel | Graphics: Shaun Friesen | Music: Doug Hoyer

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 saw the release of what they call their "magnum opus" -- a Latin term that literally means "great work", and which in the ancient world of alchemy signifies transformation and transcendence. They describe You Must Change Your Life as "an openhearted manifesto -- a collection that embodies, then transcends bedrock elements of the band's 15-year career."

David Wax Museum fans can rejoice that their magnum opus is finally out in the world, just released in spring 2023 via Nine Mile Records. And they can also be glad that David Wax himself is here to savour the moment, too; as he and Suz will tell us, an unexpected and terrifying health concern interceded in the band's journey, just as they were on the verge of this album's triumphant release.

Suz and David joined us for a heartfelt conversation from their barn/studio in Charlottesville, Virginia, to talk about how they became a band, then a couple, and eventually a family; and how their creative journey has led from Harvard University to folk music studies in Mexico, from what seemed like a never-ending tour, to their backyard barn, and eventually to the syncopated truths conveyed on this truly transformative album.

To paraphrase the chorus from the song 'Luanne', this new record is a shape shifter and a fate twister; constructing a colourful, multi-layered dream world which speaks to both the most earthly and the most ineffable sides of our human existence. As David sings in 'Summer Wrapped in Gold':

"My heart still beats to that syncopated truth."

Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Host: Grant Stovel | Graphics: Shaun Friesen | Music: Doug Hoyer

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 recognition for his work with his sophomore album Reliever, and an homage to his dad and his roots with Gospel First Nation.

Spring 2023 sees the release of Stand in the Joy, a triumphant collection of bittersweet yet hopeful songs. It's an album that William says, "acknowledges pain but does not give it power. What I hope comes through are feelings of love, peace, and strength."

On tour through Alberta, William Prince stopped by CKUA's Edmonton studios for a visit, bringing his guitar, his brilliant songs and, of course, that incredible voice.

Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Host: Grant Stovel | Graphics: Shaun Friesen | Music: Doug Hoyer

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 experiences which have in some way inspired or informed her creativity over the years.

Some songs on her latest album are responses to societal issues like pervasive toxic masculinity and sexism, ongoing colonial attitudes, and the takedown culture fostered by of our extremely online current moment. Other songs on the record are simply about friends, family, and heartbreak.

While some moments do feel heartbreaking, others are powerfully affirming, even anthemic! She and longtime collaborator/producer James Bunton have hit a whole new level of sophistication in crafting this album, and Vivek is digging deeper than ever. The album is also accompanied by a companion short film that weaves some of these musical stories into a larger, visually spectacular arc.

This is Vivek Shraya | Singing Free and Loud!

Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Host: Grant Stovel | Graphics: Shaun Friesen | Music: Doug Hoyer

"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, creating something new.

For decades, Kid Koala's ethos has been all about togetherness. When he first burst onto the scene back in the '90s, he was bringing people together on the dance floor. His astonishing skills as a turntablist could instantly spark dance parties, as he joyfully spun funk, ska, jazz, and spoken word records into something new altogether.

In addition to that, Kid Koala's albums have always incorporated more to engage with, beyond the music: visual art, a hand-cranked cardboard turntable, a chess set, a graphic novel. His projects are often wildly ambitious—the Space Cadet Headphone Concert, an interactive Turntable Orchestra, a theatrical puppetry presentation. His latest album is a double LP that also happens to fold out into a playable board game.

Among his many featured collaborators on Creatures of the Late Afternoon is Lealani, a young art-pop firebrand who's very different from Kid Koala, yet a kindred spirit in many ways. Each one is a creative polymath and DIY dynamo.

He lives in Montreal; she's from Los Angeles, and there are decades between them, but artistically, they complement each other perfectly. And as we hear in this episode of Hidden Track, it turns out that these two one-of-a-kind artists can trace all kinds of surprising connections to one another.

They have many adventures together coming up, including a big summer 2023 tour. However, their first-ever jaunt out on the road together saw them play Calgary's Block Heater festival back in February.

The duo took time between their soundcheck and headlining show at Block Heater to come join us in CKUA's Calgary studios for a marvelous conversation. Between the ambient sounds of downtown Saturday night traffic, a band sound checking down the hall, and the wildly wide-ranging discussion, it almost felt like being inside a Kid Koala album. This is "Kid Koala x Lealani | Gather Round."

Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Host: Grant Stovel | Graphics: Shaun Friesen | Music: Doug Hoyer

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 this kind of success possible? In this day and age? Well, it's incredibly rare. But it certainly helps if you have the soul, grit, presence, work ethic, humility, smarts, and sheer mind-boggling talent of New Brunswick powerhouse Matt Andersen.

Matt's new album The Big Bottle of Joy is also the name he gives to his eight-piece band of brilliant musical pals. On their way through Alberta in April 2023, Matt generously shared some of his precious off time with CKUA. And he brought his guitar!

Matt popped by CKUA's Edmonton studios to tell us about his musical beginnings in the tiny town of Perth-Andover, New Brunswick; how he's crafted a stellar international music career in the true time-tested way, through an endless application of blood, sweat, and tears over more than 20 years; how his friends, family, and heroes have always kept him grounded and inspired; and how the songs and the giant band on the new record were products of these difficult past three years – the one time in his life he's ever stopped for a moment to catch his breath.

On top of his touching, hilarious, and wide-ranging conversation, Matt offers us a pair of exclusive performances. Given the size and scope of the band sound on the album, it's absolutely astounding to hear Matt Andersen pour his larger-than-life musical soul into an intimate, solo acoustic performance of two songs from The Big Bottle of Joy: "Only an Island" (written by his friends in the band Port Cities) and album closer "Shoes" (a song Matt wrote with Donovan Woods).

Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Host: Grant Stovel | Graphics: Shaun Friesen | Music: Doug Hoyer

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, music, and philosophy; a performer everywhere from Lilith Fair to Late Night with Conan O'Brien; a mother; a creative collaborator; a theatre creator; and now an author. At her core, though, Tara MacLean sees herself as... a sparrow.

In the title track to her new album Sparrow, Tara MacLean sings passionately of her need to "trust the wind and the open sky". And, to be sure, she's spent her life navigating a staggering series of soaring highs and gut-wrenching lows. Tara is a songbird by nature; songs are her way of expressing and grappling with life's often incomprehensible joys and sorrows. And her stunning new memoir Song of the Sparrow recounts her heartbreaking, inspiring, fierce, stranger-than-fiction life journey. In the pages of her book and the lyrics of its companion album, she brings us inside moments of horrifying trauma, transcendent triumph, unthinkable loss, and cosmic good fortune. Of what she's learned from walking this jagged road, she writes, "I propose that love has no opposite. It's all love in this messy, sad, heartbreaking world."

From her earliest childhood years in the wilds of Prince Edward Island, she was surrounded by the performing arts and music. Also surrounding her from an early age, however, was horrific sexual abuse. As a child, she taught herself to cope with her tumultuous existence by pouring her heart into writing and singing songs. Her life as a singer-songwriter began as a raw, elemental urge to express and create. However, it set her on a path that saw her ascend onto the world stage in the late 1990s, just at the very tail end of a golden age for the music industry, in the moment of blazing glory just before the online music phenomenon popped that bubble.

In this free-spirited, open-hearted conversation Tara tells us about the dizzying journey she's been on, including a hippie 1970s PEI upbringing; being "discovered" while jamming on the top deck of a ferry; being mentored early in her career by Sarah MacLachlan; playing her songs during touchstone moments of '90s culture, ranging from the Lilith Fair tour to the movie Coyote Ugly; the need to retreat and revitalize after years of working herself nearly to death on the road; summoning the courage to confront the demons in her life; her devotion to family, the loss of loved ones, and being a mother; discovering an urge to share her story on the printed page with this new book; how on this new album, she reinterprets songs she wrote decades ago, alongside perspectives offered in the record's three fresh new songs; and the unforgettable moment that began this whole sparrow's journey, when a 9-year-old Tara stepped onto a county fair stage, and fell in love with sharing her music with the world.

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 on here.

There's a lot to process and ponder. Andy gives you just enough detail that you can begin to put the plot's puzzle pieces together, but he also masterfully maintains a great deal of space in this story. It's a space where your imagination can wander, where you might find yourself reflecting on some big questions, and which becomes increasingly unsettling as the album unfolds.

Andy's previous album-length narratives like The Party and The Neon Skyline have garnered him Juno Award nominations, and landed him on the Short List for the Polaris Music Prize. And although this is another beautiful-sounding, long-playing yarn... well, he's going in a dramatically different and darker direction with Norm. It's a bit like a chilling, slow-paced novel; or a sinister movie; or a true crime podcast that involves divine intervention. It's certainly an album like no other.

Norm was released February 10th, 2023, via Anti- and Arts & Crafts. Originally from Estevan, Saskatchewan, Andy Shauf returned to the Canadian prairies in March of 2023 as part of an international album release tour. While preparing to play a big concert hall show at The Winspear Centre, he generously made space in his busy schedule to spend some time at CKUA's Edmonton studios - and he brought his guitar!

In this episode, he shares intimate solo acoustic performances of two songs from Norm: "Halloween Store" and the album's title track. And in a wide-ranging conversation, he tells us all about the record; he relates how a scrapped disco album was part of the process; the way a borrowed synthesizer reinvigorated his songwriting, and fired his imagination for this project; what it's like to have gone from playing small clubs to concert halls in the matter of a few years; why a pop-up Halloween store in Regina, Saskatchewan, holds such special fascination for him; and how he considers himself a storyteller who happens to use music as his medium.

"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 Northwestern Ontario, where he was forced to change his name and put aside his language, culture, and traditions. After many painful years, not only did Watin survive his traumatic residential school experiences, but he also met his eventual life partner; together they began a new life and a family of their own. Watin's story is a powerful one and now, more than half a century later, it has inspired a stunning work of art.

During long phone calls in the pandemic's initial stages, Watin shared these tales with his grandson, an aspiring singer-songwriter who worked as a professional journalist under his birth name, Evan Pang. Though the original objective of those long sharing sessions was to record this important family history, these tales gradually began finding their way into songs that his grandson was writing, and later some of those recorded phone calls were woven into the resultant full-length album.

Aysanabee's debut LP is a heartfelt tribute to his family and his roots; and so is the artistic moniker that he took on, which is a reclaiming of his family's name. On tour through Alberta in early 2023, Aysanabee stopped by CKUA's Edmonton studios to share intimate, live in-studio performances of two songs from Watin: "Nomads", a song of gratitude to his grandfather for being a guiding light and one who has "passed the fire", and "River", which relates the sweet story of how his grandparents escaped together as youngsters, against all odds, embarking upon a new destiny.

In this gracious and candid visit, Aysanabee also shared some of his own amazing life's journey: growing up in Northern Ontario and Manitoba; humble musical beginnings and diverse early influences; being a soft-spoken person who's blessed with an absolutely thunderous singing voice; working these days with Ishkōdé Records, a visionary new label led by renowned Indigenous women; finding himself suddenly thrust onto the biggest stage in this country, performing for the 2023 Juno Awards gala telecast; and the unique path that led to the creation of his breathtaking, triumphant debut album.