Podcasts about ckua

Looking back on 30 years of Captain Tractor's hugely successful, beloved classic album East of Edson, practically everything about it seems unlikely. They came together as a bunch of theatre and music school kids, and became known all over Canada. With the release of that record, the band also hit upon a signature song that remains a buzz track to this day. Enjoy their chat with CKUA's Grant Stovel in this episode of the Hidden Track Podcast.  Learn more about Hidden Track at ckua.com/hiddentrack. CREDITS Host: Grant Stovel Associate Producer: Scott Zielsdorf Executive Producer: Arianne Smith-Piquette Senior Producer: Jasmine Vickaryous Special thanks to the CKUA Events & Marketing Teams, and Brendan Cross for recording this conversation. The Hidden Track Podcast is a CKUA production made possible by the generosity of our donors. Thank you for your support! 

Cold Bones Fest was the site of this edition of the Hidden Track podcast, and Lethbridge band Starpainter takes centre stage.  Starpainter is a favourite on the CKUA airwaves, and they have been outspoken about their support of the CKUA community. Their latest album, Rattlesnake Dream, has received international acclaim, with one of its tracks being named #1 Song of the Year by Americana and UK. They also had the opportunity to tour Japan for the first time.  Enjoy this edition of the Hidden Track podcast, which was recorded live at the Drumheller Legion during Cold Bones Fest.  CREDITS Host: Grant Stovel Associate Producer: Scott Zielsdorf Executive Producer: Arianne Smith-Piquette Senior Producer: Jasmine Vickaryous Special thanks to the CKUA Events & Marketing Teams and a big thank you to Cold Bones Festival! The Hidden Track Podcast is a CKUA production made possible by the generosity of our donors. Thank you for your support!  Learn more about Hidden Track at ckua.com/hiddentrack.

Matt Anderson is one of CKUA's favourite artists. On the air and certainly with the audience. Matt is releasing his 11th solo studio album The Hammer and The Rose April 25th. I was delighted with all of that information until I got to"the date" April 25.    As you may know,  that's the first Friday for the CKUA Spring fundraiser.   I asked Matt's team if I could move the Stew interview to this Saturday - and they approved!!   So, we get the story of the album and we are the first play of several tracks, anywhere.   This album, about the relationship between the head and the heart, presents a different Matt. A slightly quieter Matt,  so you can hear the texture and grain of his voice. Great songs too. Co-writing the title track with Steve Dawson Co-writing with Tom and Thompson Wilson, Terra Lightfoot and Jesse O'Brien. Co-writing The Cobbler with producer/drummer Jason Van Tassel -  as a tribute to, and in memory of,  their Fathers. Includes a fine cover of JJ Cale's Magnolia. With  Afie Jurvanen on guitar and vocals.  

Canadian icon Alan Doyle shares his fascinating musical journey in this episode of the Hidden Track podcast. From his humble beginnings in Petty Harbour to performing on global stages, Doyle's narrative is filled with heartfelt reflections and vibrant storytelling. He discusses his evolution with Great Big Sea, his solo career, and his ventures into theatre and writing.   He talks about his educational background, influences such as Ron Hynes, and his new introspective album, Welcome Home. Listen for an engaging tale of music, humility, and gratitude, and enjoy a bonus acoustic performance of "Hard Old Hands," live in CKUA's Studio A.  CREDITS Host: Grant Stovel Associate Producer: Scott Zielsdorf Executive Producer: Arianne Smith-Piquette Senior Producer: Jasmine Vickaryous Special thanks to the CKUA Events & Marketing Teams!  The Hidden Track Podcast is a CKUA production made possible by the generosity of our donors. Thank you for your support!  Learn more about Hidden Track at ckua.com/hiddentrack.

Kassandra and Martin were looking for a new home in the core of the City and they hoped to include some green features in their home. But then they discovered Blatchford Carbon Neutral Community and as Martin said "Boom Done." They found Landmark Homes in Blatchford and their home is solar powered, heated by a super energy efficient air-source heat pump and it's super energy efficient. The big BONUS! This net-zero home has only one utility bill (electricity) and there's a good chance the cost will net out to zero cost over the course of the year. And they're protected from heat domes thanks to their heat pump, future energy costs and more. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast BLOG: GreenEnergyFutures.ca VIDEO: https://youtu.be/Oxm6nTABUtM This is part 5 in our Blatchford, Carbon Neutral Community Series SUBSCRIBE AND HEAT MORE THAN 400 inspiring stories about our green energy future.

Caity Gyorgy and Mark Limacher are a formidable musical duo known for their brilliance and creativity on and off stage. Caity, a two-time JUNO Award-winning singer and songwriter, and Mark, a versatile composer and pianist, share a unique bond that enhances their collaborative performances. Their ability to blend their talents creates an enchanting experience for audiences, whether they are performing music or engaging in conversation.  Recently, they reunited in Alberta for holiday performances before heading to Japan for a series of shows at The Cotton Club.   Their visit included a special session at CKUA, where they shared their inspired music and insights with fans.    CREDITS Host: Grant Stovel Associate Producer: Scott Zielsdorf Executive Producer: Arianne Smith-Piquette Senior Producer: Jasmine Vickaryous Theme Music: Doug Hoyer Mixing and mastering for this Hidden Track Session was provided by Brendan Cross. Special thanks to the CKUA Events & Marketing Teams! The Hidden Track Podcast is a CKUA production made possible by the generosity of our donors. Thank you for your support!  Learn more about Hidden Track at ckua.com/hiddentrack.

Landmark Homes pioneered the most affordable net-zero homes in Canada and now the company has found the perfect home for their homes in Blatchford Carbon Neutral Community in Edmonton, Alberta. Their unique combination of solar and air-source heat pumps mean homeowners can wind up paying little or nothing for their utilities, a boon in an energy uncertain future. We talk to the company founder Reza Nasseri, Micah Dueck of Landmark and Kassandra Starkell and Martin Martinyiak a young couple who made their first home purchase a net-zero home. Oh, these net-zero homes also come with a battery storage system that's part of a pilot program to create a virtual power plant out of a network of similar homes. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast BLOG - GreenEnergyFutures.ca FULL VIDEO STORY - https://youtu.be/UZUyme2nXIc SUBSCRIBE TODAY for more than 400 stories on people building a sustainable future.

Josh Culling was looking for a green home powered and heated by green energy in the heart of the city with plenty of green spaces. Sounds impossible? He found his new home in Blatchford, the largest planned carbon neutral community in North America. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast Episode 399 - also see blog and video https://greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/399-green-spaces-green-energy-green-homes-josh-blatchford

MOONRIIVR is a band known for creating lush, cinematic, and atmospheric music inspired by timeless classics, yet uniquely personal in style. Comprised of seasoned musicians Gavin Gardiner and "Champagne" James Robertson, the duo brings a wealth of experience from the Southern Ontario music scene, blending indie rock, folk, jazz, and country influences. Their debut album, Vol. 1, and its follow-up, The Tascam Sessions, showcase their musical alchemy and innovative expression. We're treated to a sample of that magic in this Hidden Track Story, as the duo shares a bonus pair of live performances with us as part of this episode!   The Hidden Track podcast is a CKUA production made possible by the generosity of our donors. Thank you for your support! Subscribe to the Hidden Track podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. Host: Grant Stovel | Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Graphics: Craig Taffs | Music: Doug Hoyer

“What we love about Blatchford is that all of the homes here are heated with renewable energy,” says Heather MacKenzie," of their home in the largest carbon neutral community in North America. In Part 2 of our series on Blatchford Carbon Neutral Community we meet Heather and Justin, two of the early residents of this visionary community. Blatchford has a green building code, geo-exchange (geothermal) district heating and its located right in the heart of the city. Heather and Justin love the renewable energy heating, the downtown location of their home and the amazing amenities you would not expect in a downtown neighbourhood: a lake with wildlife, walking paths, green spaces, a pedestrian only street in front of their home, a playground, community garden and they really love that there is a light rail transit station right on site. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast Listen on CKUA.com Subscribe to our Podcast Check out our full length video in our blog at GreenEnergyFutures.ca

When Blatchford was announced as the largest planned carbon neutral community in North America it was seen as "wildly ambitious." "It's right in the heart of the city, connected to transit, and boasts short travel distances. There's a grocery store already, there's an LRT stop, it's all the things that new neighbourhoods often wait years and years for, uh, but they're already here in Blatchford," says Anne Stevenson City Councillor for Edmonton, Alberta. Today Blatchford people-centred urban design is attracting residents and near net-zero building standards are just what's needed to build the affordable, resilient and sustainable neighbourhoods of the future. In short this is where things are going and "We've got a great head start in Blatchford," says Stevenson. We talk to the city councillor, the developer and some residents who are now living in this super sustainable neighbourhood located right in the heart of the City. This is part 1 in a series we are doing talking to builders, home owners, heat pump companies about this amazing project in North America's most northerly big city. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast BLOG: https://greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/397-blatchford-the-largest-planned-carbon-neutral-community-in-north-america-is-wildly-ambitious VIDEO: https://youtu.be/3xsdx7V7rwc?si=01GryhWWp4kBDqf1

After releasing a captivating debut single called "Dancing with Sue" in June of 2020, Wyatt C. Louis created a stir that saw them gain fans across Alberta, Canada, and beyond.  But it would be nearly four years until Wyatt's debut full-length album was released. The album Chandler, released on May 27, 2024, shot straight to #1 on CKUA's weekly Top 30 chart.  Their songs are pensive, deeply felt, and slow burning, while their supple voice and guitar work express wonder and vulnerability. The candid solo performances that Wyatt shared with us in CKUA's Studio A are intimate and beautiful.  This live session took place in December 2024 — just as CKUA's music library team had crunched the numbers and determined that Wyatt's album, Chandler, had become the most played on CKUA's airwaves for the entire year. As a special bonus, we had the opportunity to surprise Wyatt with the joyful news that they were #1 for 2024! It's a moment of pure joy, alongside Wyatt's blissful music and conversation.   The Hidden Track podcast is a CKUA production, made possible by the generosity of our donors. Thank you for your support!   Host: Grant Stovel | Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Graphics: Craig Taffs | Music: Doug Hoyer Recording/Mastering for this Session provided by Brendan Cross.

This week in part 2 we return to see the straw bale dream home 8 years after filming a story on the Making of the Straw Bale Dream Home. This home features some of the most innovative features we've seen in any green home. Lance and Wendy Olson lead us on a tour of their version of a passive house that is heated mostly by passive solar energy. The home has many innovative features including passive solar energy storing rammed Earth walls, a solar thermal in floor hydronic heating system and solar PV modules to provide the electricity. Then there are recycled materials in the form of cupboard doors made from hardwood seat backs from the Jack Singer Concert Hall and many other quirky features too. Get ready to be inspired! This is our 4-minute CKUA Radio feature. You can see these and more features in our full length video: https://youtu.be/38akJEh2j4A GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Audio Podcast Check out our blog for more in this amazing story. Subscribe today on the usual podcast services.

In part 1 of our series on a Net-Zero Straw Bale Dream Home we meet Lance and Wendy Olson as they were building their straw bale home. They wanted to downsize, reduce their footprint and build the most energy efficient home they could. After a lot of research they landed on the idea of building a straw bale home. But they didn't stop there, this straw bale home has loads of innovative features in it from the rammed Earth walls, to solar thermal heating and solar PV for electricity. Their goal was to reach net-zero. We were there when the Olsons worked with partners at SAIT and Habib Gonzalez, the guru of straw bale building in Canada. In part one we see how the home is built and some of the unique features of this amazing and sustainable homes. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast PART 1 - Making a Straw Bale Dream Home ✅ BLOG - GreenEnergyFutures.ca ▶️ YOUTUBE - https://www.youtube.com/greenenergyfuture/

In Part 2 of our series on the worst case scenario for an air-source heat pump, improvements were made, the post reno energy audit is done and we check back a year later after installing an air-source heat pump in a cabin with 2x4 walls and R12 insulation in the cold Canadian north. Full story GreenEnergyFutures.ca VIDEO story https://www.youtube.com/greenenergyfuture/ GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast Subscribe to hear new stories every week - check back on our more than 400 stories!

Energy efficient heat pumps are revolutionizing home heating. So we wanted to know, can we install an air-source heat pump in a cabin with energy inefficient 2x4 walls? This is part 1 of that story that starts with an energy audit. Energy efficient builders hold tight to the maxim "envelope first" which means focus on improving insulation and other measure that reduce your energy needs first before looking at your mechanical systems. But what if you are on a budget? What if its a seasonal cottage? What if you can't spend tens of thousands of dollars on those improvements? We set out to answer these questions and to determine the limits of air-source heat pumps that are taking the world by storm these days. Learn more in our blog and video story and watch for part 2. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast

In part 2 of our Solar & Sheep series first generation farmer Janna Greir adds Kunekune pigs to her solar & sheep farm. It turns out these cute little oinkers are symbiotic with the sheep. They eat parasites and worms left behind by the sheep thus interrupting their lifecycle keeping the sheep healthier. www.GreenEnergyFutures.ca www.CKUA.com Podcast Full story https://greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/394-first-generation-farmer-janna-greir-builds-thriving-operation-by-combining-sheep-and-solar Be sure to check our part 1 and Subscribe Today for 400 more stories just like this!

It's a Monday installment of The EST Hangout! Matthew Iwanyk and Tom Gazzola are joined by Dave Jamieson and CKUA's Mark Rodgers! Presented by Sentinel Storage!

Gary Holden of Lodestone Energy in New Zealand says making solar energy available to everyone is the secret to building an affordable, resilient, net-zero electricity grid. The idea is to build solar projects in or near every town and offer the solar to consumers who can't put solar on their homes or businesses the opportunity to go solar. He also says this distributed energy, when coupled with energy storage will save money on grid infrastructure expansions, provide cheap energy and ultimately be a key link in transforming the electricity grid to net-zero. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast Learn more in our blog at GreenEnergyFutures.ca

It's our first-ever Trans Canada Christmas - starring the Trans Canada Highwaymen. Steven Page - BNLadies and Steven Page Trio Moe Berg - Pursuit of Happiness Craig Northey - Odds and Steven Page Trio Chris Murphy - Sloan   They are great friends, each with his band and career. What they have in common is a sense of the music they grew up with and a welcome sense of humour.   These Christmas sessions began in the '70s at CBC Vancouver with Producer Susan Englebert: Shari Ulrich, Valdy, Terry Frewer, Roy Forbes, and several guests. 5-6 years of gathering around a series of microphones, playing Christmas songs and telling Christmas stories. Such fun. Sadly, we lost our friend Susan to cancer and the Christmas show to time itself. The concept returned at Roundhouse Radio in Vancouver in 2015 and we enjoyed three years of Christmas in the Round with Barney Bentall and his assorted friends. We've played all three years on past Christmas Stews.     Now comes CKUA's turn to host the same tradition. Each Highwayman brings a Christmas song and stories of past Christmas tales. 5 songs in total. Craig Northey's was co-written with Brent Butt of Corner Gas. Steven's is about cheese logs. Chris's is about kids coming home and Moe's is the Christmas Classic Mistletoe and Holly.  They finish with Do they know it's Christmas.   Thank you to Arianne, Duke, Jasmine, and Bren for their production skills in bringing this show to air. Amazing work. And to Corey Wood for his skills and friendship in the edit and graphic studio here on Vancouver Island.

This week we speak to Tristan Walker one of 40 people appointed as a fellow of The Energy Futures social innovation lab to have the hard conversations about how our energy systems can evolve to meet net-zero objectives. Tristan Walker of Massif Energy is working on the Alberta's Electricity Future initiative with a diverse group of Albertans. While the social sphere is dominated by polarization, and us-verses-them narratives the people in the lab from a wide cross section of society and industry come together to find common ground on some of the biggest issues of our time, such as how to get Alberta to net-zero. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast Learn more in our blog at GreenEnergyFutures.ca

We've got a live one here!   This is a live session with the celebrated Canadian artist Tony D, who for decades has been known as an electrifying guitar talent, equally expressive in styles ranging from blues to swing to acid rock to flamenco! Tony has travelled the world playing music, and has a trophy case worth of awards; but somehow his new record Electric Delta is the first proper new Tony D solo offering of original material in a couple of decades! And the album release party for this long-awaited new record is what we hear in this highly celebratory live CKUA Hidden Track Session.   Between his solo projects, the celebrated Canadian band MonkeyJunk, and plenty of other musical activities, he's toured everywhere from Memphis to Italy, and all across Canada! He's even performed in the northernmost continuously inhabited place in the world — Alert, Nunavut.  Alberta has long been a kind of second home to Tony D; and these days he's actually a part-time resident of this part of the world, when he isn't on the road, as his partner and family live in the province. In this final episode of Hidden Track Season 5, we hear the electrifying Tony D performing in front of a rapt audience at CKUA's Live Performance Space in Edmonton, joined by his longtime bass player Joe Hawkins, as well as two superb Edmonton-based musicians: keyboardist Rooster Davis and drummer Jamie Cooper.   The sparks really fly between these four musicians and the audience, as they perform a diverse set of original material — a Tony D classic called "Argentinian Surf Tango", plus two standouts from the new album, "Highway 7" and the rousing opening salvo: a dynamic instrumental workout entitled "NAS".    Host: Grant Stovel | Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Graphics: Craig Taffs | Music: Doug Hoyer Recording/Mastering for this session provided by Brendan Cross. The Hidden Track podcast is a CKUA production, made possible by the generosity of our donors. Thank you for your support!  

The Energy Futures Lab is like a breath of fresh air in today's polarized world, where meaningful discussions about real-world problems are scarce. Every year, they invite 40 talented individuals from various fields to join their mission and tackle some of the most challenging issues facing us, like how to get Alberta to net-zero emissions. To celebrate their 10th anniversary, we caught up with Maureen Kolla from the Energy Futures Lab and Tristan Walker, an energy consultant who's part of the 40 fellows in 2024. Tristan is part of the Albertas Electricity Future group which is head up by Maureen Kolla and they recently released a vision for Alberta's electricity future, and we're excited to share it with you! GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast Learn more at GreenEnergyFutures.ca SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

When you consider that the Yukon's population density is estimated to be roughly 0.07 people per square kilometre, it's kind of amazing the cultural imprint that the territory has made — both in terms of Canadian and global culture! The majestic, dramatic land made world-famous in classics ranging from The Cremation of Sam McGee to The Call of the Wild has long inspired artists of all kinds, and it's truly become a haven for musical creatives. From the territory's living Indigenous musical traditions, to the fabled folk songs of the Klondike, to the incredible people making original music today ranging from bluegrass to hip-hop, the story of Yukon music is a vibrant, diverse, and ever-evolving one — as we hear in this episode, the thrilling conclusion of our first-ever Hidden Track two-parter!  Just as in Part One of our Music Yukon/Hidden Track collab, we're treated to some truly thrilling live performances by artists from that vast territory, and we get a sense of how the Yukon impacts their lives and art practices.  While Edmonton, Alberta is sometimes referred to as the most northerly large city in the Americas, with metropolitan population of more than one million people, you've got to make a roughly 2,000 kilometre-long trip southeast to get from the Yukon's capital city of Whitehorse to Edmonton! So, it was a pretty big deal when a whole troop of Yukon musicians made the big trek down south to perform as part of the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival in August 2024. This was thanks to the support of Music Yukon and a really cool partnership with the Edmonton Fringe.  While they were here, CKUA was lucky enough to host a whole bunch of them for Hidden Track sessions in our Studio A in Edmonton. They shared stories and songs with us that evoke the unique natural beauty, highly personalized sense of expression, and vibrant community feeling that make the Yukon such a magical place for music.  In Part 2, we hear from Alex MacNeil (leader of the outsider power-pop favourites Alex MacNeil and the Revenants, accompanied here by Hendika), the idiosyncratic punk-inspired stylings of Cryptozoologists, and the spirited soulful beauty of Bria Rose N' Thorns.  Host: Grant Stovel | Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Graphics: Craig Taffs | Music: Doug Hoyer Recording and mastering for this episode by Brendan Cross.  The Hidden Track Podcast is a CKUA production made possible by our incredible donor community. Thank you for your support!

I met Simon Lindley at Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway in Dawson Creek, British Columbia. His passion for EV trucks inspired him to create a YouTube Channel called Trucked Up EVs to look into the good, the bad and the ugly of EV Trucks. He has a passion for busting myths and had just wrapped up a cross Canada tour on which he tested the limits of his Ford F150 Lightning and took stock on the charging infrastructure from province to province. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast Subscribe today! And see our blog at GreenEnergyFutures.ca

Joel Plaskett first came to fame in the beloved rock band Thrush Hermit, a group who came together as teenagers in Halifax and barnstormed across Canada and beyond throughout the '90s with a dynamic stage show, plus an actual neon sign reading "Rock and Roll". In fact, last time Joel visited CKUA's Edmonton studios was five years ago during a Thrush Hermit reunion tour, and he told us about keeping that "Rock and Roll" sign in storage for many years.  For his autumn 2024 tour, he certainly wasn't in need of the iconic "Rock and Roll" sign. It was just himself and his guitars (plus a reclining armchair and photo projector) for an album launch tour to celebrate his stunningly intimate acoustic album One Real Reveal.  He's an artist who's been known to challenge himself to ever-greater thematic journeys in his solo work. There's his well-loved 2009 release Three— his third solo outing - a triple album which was largely made up of songs with triple-barrelled titles. Then there was 44, released the day before he turned 45, consisting of four albums of eleven songs each. He's come up with maybe an even more daunting creative challenge this time, scaling the process all the way down to the number one — a record made with a single microphone, created almost entirely by Joel alone. Except for one very notable exception, which he'll reveal to us in this conversation. An unparallelled storyteller and an artist of remarkable candour and curiosity, Joel Plaskett shared very generously with us about the serendipitous musical moment that sparked this whole album, how it represents a return to his roots in somewhat surprising ways, how spoken word suddenly introduced itself as part of his artistry, and the importance of embracing the presence, spontaneity, transience, and cyclical nature of music, art, and life. This is a Hidden Track Story: Joel Plaskett | Four Tracks and the Truth. 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 donour community. Thank you for your support! 

In a recent episode we talked to Jeremy Kureluk of Rental Bus Lines about how much they like their electric buses and how they hoped one day to connect them to a virtual power plant to feed electricity to the grid. Turns out this is already happening in Canada. Rob Safrata owns a tour bus company and he too wants to go electric. So he started FUSE Power Management, based in Vancouver, to set up the infrastruture and contracts needed to use electric buses as virtual power plants which would make going electric even more lucrative. Peaking power is valuable and fleets of electric buses that are parked during the evening peak electricity period could make revenue helping the grid when it needs electricity. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast See blog at GreenEnergyFutures.ca to learn more or subscribe to our video podcast on YouTube.

The wheels on this electric bus have been going around and around since 2017. We talk to Jeremy Kureluk of Rental Bus Lines based in Stony Plain, Alberta about owning and operating an electric school bus in the cold Canadian north. Turns out they love their electric buses and want more. We dive into all the questions you might have including range, winter performance, maintenance, and more. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Pocast

For this special episode, Hidden Track is doing something utterly different. This isn't a feature on one artist, song, or album. It casts a spotlight on a whole scene—on a whole Canadian Territory, in a sense!   Yukon is a Canadian territory that's bigger than most countries on Earth, but its nearly half-million square kilometres are inhabited by only about 40,000 people.  In partnership with both Music Yukon and The Edmonton Fringe, CKUA invited five acts into CKUA's Studio to share some of their music and their story with us. In Part 1 of this unique collaboration, we hear from Ellorie McKnight and her longtime musical collaborator Brigitte Jardin, touring veterans Diyet & the Love Soldiers, and the incredibly soulful Elijah Bekk (and band).  The Hidden Track Podcast is a CKUA production, made possible by the generous contributions of our donors. Thank you for your support!  Host: Grant Stovel | Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Graphics: Shaun Friesen | Music: Doug Hoyer Associate Producer: Aajah Souter Recording and mastering for this Session provided by Brendan Cross. 

The ballots have been counted and the winners have been announced of the Energy Innovation Challenge hosted by Decentralised Energy Canada and the City of Medicine Hat. The winners were announced at the Decentralised Energy Canada Forum in Whistlers, British Columbia. (https://www.deforum.ca/) The winners solutions will be piloted on the Medicine Hat Grid to help integrate decentralized energy resources such as solar, wind, EVs, batteries and heat pumps. The solutions are a mix of software and hardware designed to use these resources to expand the capacity of the grid, provide cheap energy and better utilize existing underutilized 20th Century grid infrastructure. It's the first step in creating a resilient, affordable and reliable grid of the future. We talk to the winners from Edgecom Energy and Arcus Power. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast Subscribe today and lean more in our blog and YouTube Channel.

It's a ticking time bomb - how do we integrate millions of solar, wind and battery projects along with 250 million EVs by 2030 into our outdated 20th Century Grid? Old school utilities often think of building more power plants, distribution, and transmission, but that would cost too much and could never happen fast enough. At least part of the answer lies in software, AI and smart grid technologies. This week on Green Energy Futures we talk to Sabine Erlinghagen, the CEO of Siemens Grid Software about how to build the smart, affordable, resilient and reliable grid of the future. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast

She's a musician whose artistic vision and songwriting are every bit as distinctive and expressive as that spectacular voice of hers. Frazey Ford's trademark tremulous croon first became well-known as part of the vocal blend for globally-renowned Vancouver folk music mainstays The Be Good Tanyas. While that band's aesthetic leaned toward the folky and jazzy, Frazey's own instincts have always been strongly inclined toward a classic soul music feel.  Her 2010 debut album Obadiah began to chart her own unique artistic course, which she further developed with 2014's Indian Ocean, and 2020's U Kin B the Sun.  In this free-wheeling conversation, we'll learn about the rather stunning experiments in creativity that led to her beautiful latest release; as well as the nearly stranger-than-fiction story behind Indian Ocean, which turned 10 years old in October of 2024. Those sessions took place in Memphis, in the studio where many of her all-time favourite soul songs were recorded in the 1970s – with the very musicians who helped to craft them.    And as a special bonus treat (and a meta experience of sorts) – we conclude this episode of Hidden Track with an actual hidden track! One that appears at the end of the streaming version of Indian Ocean. This is a Hidden Track Story from a dressing room at the Arden Theatre with the wonderful Frazey Ford.  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 donor community. Thank you for your support!     

The City of Medicine Hat has partnered with Decentralised Energy Canada to host the Energy Innovation Challenge, a tool they are using to navigate energy transition and transform new energy resources such as solar, EVs, batteries and managed loads into assets instead of liabilities. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast Medicine Hat & The Energy Innovation Challenge: Navigating Energy Transition Medicine Hat stands out in Alberta's energy landscape due to its independent, discrete electricity grid. This allows the city to implement innovative energy solutions and set its own rates and policies. • Quote: "Medicine had, unlike other cities, has its own discrete electricity grid and sets their own rates and policies for residents so they can also implement creative energy transition solutions if it makes sense." Key Program: Hat Smart The Hat Smart program incentivizes residential energy efficiency and renewable energy adoption through rebates for devices, rooftop solar arrays, and water conservation measures. • Impact: The program has provided $6.2 million in rebates since 2008 and led to a 14-16% reduction in water use this summer. • Popularity: Rebates for rooftop solar arrays are fully subscribed by spring each year, highlighting the high demand for solar energy. • Innovation: A new PACE-like financing option called the Clean Energy Improvement Program allows residents to invest in clean energy improvements and repay through property taxes. • Quote: "We've just launched the clean energy improvement program and that it's really a financing option for residents to access top up payments to their property taxes essentially in order to do similar things in order to invest in rooftop solar or other sorts of clean energy improvement options at the household level" Current Energy Mix & Transition Plans Medicine Hat currently relies on three gas-fired power plants (300 MW capacity) and a 6 MW wind farm. They are actively exploring new energy transition avenues: • Utility-scale solar: A 325 MW solar project within city limits is economically viable and under consideration, with a request to the Alberta Utilities Commission to build in stages due to its size. • Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS): While Medicine Hat holds an exploration permit for a CCS hub, analysis suggests it is less economically viable than solar at present, with success hinging on carbon pricing. • Energy Innovation Challenge: This initiative with Decentralized Energy Canada aims to generate solutions for managing increasing demand from EVs, heat pumps, and solar projects. Quote: "We have found that utility scale wind and utility scale solar is economically viable today. So the city is currently looking at a utility scale solar array up to 325 megawatts of generation capacity within the urban limits of Medicine Hat. The city is looking at a whole host of other options including carbon capture and sequestration for hard to abate businesses." Conclusion: Medicine Hat demonstrates proactive leadership in transitioning to a cleaner energy future. Through programs like Hatsmart and exploration of large-scale renewables and CCS, the city provides a valuable case study for other municipalities seeking to decarbonize. The Energy Innovation Challenge further highlights their commitment to finding practical solutions for the evolving energy landscape. #solar #windpower #electricity #energytransition #EV #electricvehicles #decentralizedenergy

The long-held dream of using geothermal energy to satisfy our needs and save the earth is ready for a big breakthrough. Today we take a deep dive into Green Energy Futures complete guide to geothermal with hosts Sarah and Michael, our AI hosts from Notebook LM. Geothermal and its cousin Air Source Heat Pumps are ready to provide heat and power to our homes at every scale from single family homes to entire Cities. This is our complete guide to geothermal, geoexchange and because it makes so much sense, air source heat pumps. Let us know what you think and please SUBSCRIBE an SHARE our story. This podcast is based on our story written for The Earth and I magazine and reprinted at GreenEnergyFutures.ca along with our CKUA.com radio podcast. You will never think of geothermal the same again. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Deep Dive Podcast with AI Hosts Sarah and Michael of NotebookLM This episode is based on Green Energy Futures Episode 384 https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/384-geothermal-rising-big-breakthrough-is-coming

The Energy Innovation Fair is back again this year on Oct. 18-19th. We talk to organizer Rene Michalak of ReThink Red Deer about the speakers, panels, displays and demos that will be featured this year. The theme is economic diversification in Central Alberta and there are speakers on geothermal, solar, carbon storage, agrivoltaics and much more. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast Learn more about the fair at https://energyinnovationfair.ca/

In many ways, Frank is the perfect name for this well-loved singer-songwriter, producer, and eternal punk rock firebrand.  Kind of like the many tattoos that adorn his arms, Frank Turner wears his heart right on his sleeve. Always unstintingly honest in all his artistic endeavours, Frank's music carries a candour and conviction that's incredibly powerful – devastating, even. Frank always manages always to have the ability to connect directly with the human heart – whether sharing tenderly of his own life's journey through his songs, or pushing back with snarling ferocity against fascism and injustice, his music resounds with urgency, authenticity, and humanity. No matter if you're talking about the all-out sonic assault of his fearsome band, Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls, or – equally powerfully –  when Frank is in the intimate solo acoustic mode that we experience on this episode.  As we'll hear during this Hidden Track Session, Frank Turner is an astoundingly intelligent and acute observer of the human condition, a seemingly tireless road dog, a devoted music nerd of the very highest order, and a truly humble soul.  He carved out some time between shows to join us in CKUA Live Performance Space in Edmonton, as he passed through on a relentless world tour celebrating his triumphant 2024 release, Undefeated. The record arrives on the heels of his 2022 album FTHC (for Frank Turner Hardcore) which – 15 years into his solo discography – saw this folk-punk troubadour shoot all the way up to Number One on the British Album Chart! For context, other artists to score UK Number One albums that year were people like Ed Sheeran, Beyonce, and Taylor Swift.  But rather than try to repeat that formula for success, Frank decided to take the opportunity to instead to make this new album without a major label; and for the first time in his ten albums to date, to produce it entirely himself, in his own home studio.  And as Frank tells us, the songs on Undefeated are mostly derived from stories drawn from his own life journey. In conversation, Frank is a fount of wonderful stories, insights, jokes, and esoteric music trivia – while as a songwriter and performer, he distills all of his brilliance down to a razor-sharp point. Along with a characteristically brilliant conversation with Frank, we're treated to an absolutely exquisite, heartfelt performance of three songs from Frank's new album, solo acoustic in CKUA studios: "Letters", "Girl from the Record Shop", and one of his most beautiful compositions to date, "Somewhere in Between".  Host: Grant Stovel | Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Recording/Mastering: Brendan Cross | Music: Doug Hoyer

It's been described as a ticking time bomb. Our electricity grids were designed to accommodate a few giant power plants. But what happens when millions of solar, wind, EVs, heat pumps and other Decentralized Energy Solutions come online? The Energy Innovation Challenge was created to find new and creative solutions to not only integrate these new energy resources but to turn them into assets in a more robust, clean energy grid of the future. The challenge is being run by Decentralised Energy Canada and the City of Medicine Hat a city that has one of the largest microgrids in Canada - what better place to pioneer to approaches to integration? We take you to Medicine Hat to learn more about solving this vexing challenge. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Radio Podcast Also see GreenEnergyFutures.ca for more

This episode of the podcast features long-time CKUA radio host and co-founder of The Edmonton Blues Festival, Cam Hayden. Perfect face for radio! Shit faced! Capitalist pigs! Sh**ty blues!! It's great to be back. We love you!

Michael Bernard Fitzgerald is an artist who's always expressed what's most important to him through his songs. He's also been incredibly meticulous throughout his career, taking care to build a unique and heartfelt connection to his audience and striving to create an unforgettable live setting for his music.  He's elevated the sharing of live music to a high art in itself — whether it's inviting Calgary Folk Fest goers to join him at picnic tables to eat pie in the sun, taking to the stage with 300 backing singers at the Jubilee Auditorium or, as we hear him in this particular setting, going into his Farm Tour mode to immerse audience and performer alike in a whisper-quiet, impossibly intimate moment of musical expression.  Although his brand-new album Horizon Lines contains colossal hooks, massive production flourishes, and the trademark sense of pop music maximalism that has always made MBF's work so exhilarating. Although, the heart of his songcraft, as ever, lies in his voice and his guitar. That's the sensibility that he foregrounds during his very intimate Farm Tours, which is the very mode in which we caught up with him for this Hidden Track Session in CKUA's Live Performance Space in Edmonton.  Just ahead of the September 27th release of Horizon Lines, Michael Bernard Fitzgerald played beautifully hushed, solo acoustic renditions of the title track, first single “After a While”, and MBF staple “Good Plates”. He also shared some insight behind where the songs mugs come from, the inspiration he draws from his burgeoning family, and just exactly what a Farm Tour is all about.  Host: Grant Stovel | Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Graphics: Craig Taffs | Music: Doug Hoyer Mixing assistance for this Session provided by Charlotte Carr.  The Hidden Track Podcast is made possible by the generosity of our donor community. Thank you for your support!

Kaia Kater has learned her craft through the influence of a diverse group of musical heroes, ranging from Herbie Hancock to Rhiannon Giddens. She recently turned her lens simultaneously inward and outward, to confront difficult truths and injustices – personally, historically, societally, and made them into album titled Strange Medicine. CKUA's Grant Stovel caught up with Kaia shortly after the album's release, as she was entering the summertime festival season. And she's very much a child of the Western Canadian folk festival experience.   Host: Grant Stovel | Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Graphics: Craig Taffs | Music: Doug Hoyer The Hidden Track podcast is a CKUA production and made possible by the generosity of our donors. Thank you for your support! Subscribe to the Hidden Track podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.

The joy in the everyday, the continuous arc of life's changes and the way a simple shift in perspective can utterly transform one's experience...  Ellen Doty's new album is a kind of musical meditation, a collection of songs that aims to bring some gentle joy to the listener's heart. Every Little Scene is gorgeous set of songs that relate how if you pay mindful attention, small moments and subtle shifts can bring about great beauty and peace.  It's interesting that Ellen herself was undergoing just about the biggest life change that there is, as she was crafting these songs. In this episode, we hear all about how these songs were created in parallel with a transition into parenthood. We'll also hear stunning renditions of three songs from the new album, "Kaleidoscope", "Coming Back to Me", and the title track to Every Little Scene, as performed with her band.  Reflecting the gracious, spacious beauty of the songs themselves, the musical setting is spare and poetic. Ellen's voice is in dialogue with the lyrical keyboard playing of Devin Hart, and the painterly textures of drummer Peter Hendrickson. Their instruments combine together with a kind of graceful, crackling energy that seems to imbue every note with richness and resonance. There's a roominess to the sound of this trio that creates space for that magical, transcendent quality that the songs invoke.  This is Ellen Doty, as seen on Hidden Track Sessions. You can check out the video version of this episode on CKUA's YouTube channel! Host: Grant Stovel | Producer: Scott Zielsdorf | Graphics: Craig Taffs | Music: Doug Hoyer  The final mix for this session was provided by Brendan Cross. The Hidden Track Podcast is made possible by the generosity of CKUA's donour community. Thank you for your support! 

Virtual power plants are simply networks of small energy producers (solar, wind, backup generators etc.) and energy storage devices that can provide power to the grid when needed. It's the digitization of the grid. It's very efficient, costing 40% less than speaker power plants and it's absolutely essential to start managing the millions of distributed energy systems (solar, batteries, EVs) coming on to the grid each year. We talk to Dwayne Caldwell CEO of ENSPI a company that helps companies understand, manage and save energy and then network their resources into a Virtual Power Plant to make money and help the grid. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast Blog GreenEnergyFutures.ca Subscribe today!

Farmer Shawn Morton just said "no" the first time he was approached by solar developers. But Morton found an ally in Claude Mindorff a farmer who was working for the solar company. So he cut a deal to lease 300 acres to a solar project and to keep grazing and farming that land in the lease. It's called Agrivoltaics, or the integration of solar with farming or grazing and Shawn says it just might be the thing that can help keep his 100-year family farm in the family. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast Blog GreenEnergyFutures.ca

Solar plus farming, called Agrivoltaics is helping farmers generate new sources of income, keep the family farm viable and keep farming in the solar farm. We meet up with farmer, former oil and gas guy and current renewable energy developer Claude Mindorf at the Joffre Solar Farm in Alberta to talk about agrivoltaics. It turns out Canada could produce all of its electricity from renewable energy that would occupy less than 1% of farmland and enhance the viability of farming itself at the same time. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Video Podcast

In this episode of ill communication, I'm digging into my archive and rebroadcasting one of the top fan-favorite episodes. This quick episode will help you write stronger, clearer, and more compelling copy by removing one simple word. We are talking about the trouble with “that.” You may be surprised to find you can eliminate it (and other unnecessary filler words) from most of your copy, and it still reads the same while sounding so much better. Topics We Cover in This Episode: The secret to stop using “that” so muchOther filler words you can easily remove from your copyWhy this simple adjustment works so well and keeps your readers engaged Let's go way back to episode six for the trouble with “that” and other words to cut from your copy!Show notes are always available at https://www.kimkiel.com/podcast!!Resources Mentioned:Check out CKUA: https://ckua.com/Listen to episode 99: 3 tips to make business and life easier over the summer: https://www.kimkiel.com/podcast-1/3-tips-to-make-business-and-life-easier-over-the-summerI would love to connect on Facebook: www.facebook.com/KimKielCopy, Instagram: www.instagram.com/kim_kiel_copy, and Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/kimkielText me a question or comment!

Alberta phased out its coal-fired electricity in record time representing the largest single action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Canada. The trouble is a lot of the coal was replaced by natural gas which produces 60% of the emissions of coal. Can the fossil fuel-infatuated province also capitalize on its amazing renewable energy resources to build the net-zero grid of the future? We talk to Scott MacDougall of the Pembina Institute to look at the challenges. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast Part 2 in our End of Coal series Subscribe today for more stories about building the sustainable future we need.

Alberta's last coal-fired power plant stopped burning coal on June 16, 2024 at 10:57 pm. The coal phase-out was originally proposed for 2061, but in 2015 a new target was set for 2030. On June 16 the last lump of coal was burned to produce electricity six years ahead of schedule. The phase-out represents the largest reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of any initiative. We talk to Scott MacDougall of the Pembina Institute about what this all means for Alberta's grid. King Coal is Dead, so we set out to find out who the new king is and how long the new monarch will reign. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast

This is huge! EAVOR believes they've cracked the geothermal nut. Using closed-loop technology they have pioneered a new kind of Geothermal that can be built almost anywhere without uncertainty. We look at EAVOR's pilot project in Alberta and their full-scale geothermal plant in Germany that will provide electricity for 8,000 homes and district heating for 120,000 homes. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast

EAVOR has pioneered a new kind of geothermal that can provide heat and power almost anywhere on the planet. This could be the missing link in the energy revolution that could not only help electricity get to net-zero. It also helps solve the even bigger challenge of how to heat buildings with zero emissions. We talk to Jeanine Vany of EAVOR, a company from Calgary, Alberta that has pioneered the new technology. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast See full story at greenenergyfutures.ca

Here's what Green Infill looks like! Built to the super energy efficient Passive House standard this 16-unit townhouse style infill project replaced two underutilized single-family homes in Edmonton, Alberta. The homes require just 10% of the heating energy of a regular home, and have no natural gas or bills. We take a tour of this amazing project with developers David and Melissa Campbell of Homestretch, a multifamily developer. The project utilized an unique EPS wall system with embedded structural steel, an ICF foundation and Air Source Heat Pumps which required no backup heat in 10 of the 16 units in a City where temperatures reached -40C last year. The Coup de Gras is the homes are powered mostly by solar electricity and 10 of the 16 units are net-zero. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast See blog at GreenEnergyFutures.ca