Folk Festival Society of Calgary

She's a serene, peaceful soul who somehow always seems to be quietly creating and accomplishing a zillion things all at once that help to make this world a more joyful place for us all.

We caught up with Valerie as she was making her way toward Alberta for some summertime 2026 shows, including at the beloved Calgary Folk Music Festival.

Here is the Tennessee twang and profound wisdom of the great Valerie June in all her glory in this Hidden Track story.

Well, Valerie June, what a thrill to renew your acquaintanceship across CKUA's broadcast and digital spaces.

No doubt.

And of course, the feeling is mutual.

What is it that you love about maybe, you know, not just the Calgary Folk Music Festival, but the festival experience overall? What does that bring you that's special for you?

Honestly, I think it is that there are so many amazing artists that I get introduced to when I'm there.

Ora, thank you so much for joining us on the show here.

You're having a very busy year, and so far you've been touring Canada and the United States, including appearances at the Calgary Folk Festival and Pickathon in Oregon.

How has the road been treating you so far?

It's been really fun.

We had been, I guess you could say, off psychedelics for 25 years or so and embedded in yoga and healing modalities like this, transpersonal psychology and things like that.

And then I was at Calgary Folk Fest And the guy that I was paired with, who I narked on, which I deeply regret, passed me some micro-dosable mushrooms, which was very sweet of him, considering how I was going to betray him later.

And then Harmony insisted that we take these.

And I was like, I really don't respond well to being high.

Adrian Quesada... seems to be plastered all over the place at the moment as a touring musician.

We just saw him at the Calgary Folk Music Festival a few weeks ago, but also as a sideman, as a musician in his own right, releasing albums under his own name and with other projects.

And it's not hard to understand why he is such a popular, you know, adjunct to music.

So many other luminaries in the musical scene.

I don't know exactly how old these guys are, but just based on that evidence and based on some of the buzz I've been reading about this album, K. Barbaro, Austin, Texas, the intramurals are going to be a band to keep an eye on.

The CGSW reviewer says it's some of the grooviest, funkiest, discarga, tinge tracks you'll hear all year.

Recommend it if you like everything from, you know, to Hermanos Gutierrez, but he or she also has Parlor Greens in here, basically what I take that to mean is that if you are a fan of the sort of music you hear on Speaking in Tongues, the world music show, if you are a huge fan of the music you just saw and heard at the Calgary Folk Music Festival, if you're a fan of so much of the music you hear here at CGSW generally, you would like this album.

So the Animaros, keep an eye on them.