CKUA Radio Network

Well, what a blast it has been to spend some time getting to know a few of the gifted creative artists who help to make the Yukon's music scene such an amazingly vibrant, collaborative, and eclectic space.

This is year three of a CKUA collab which sees us inviting Yukoners into our studios while they're here in Alberta to perform at the music stage of the globally renowned Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival, North America's biggest and longest serving such festival, and one of the top three fringe fests in the world.

It's our pleasure to partner with Music Yukon and the Edmonton Fringe, who make all this magic happen.

Last time around, we heard some exhilarating funk and hip hop from Farts North, and the thrilling conclusion of this year's two-parter is equally exciting, yet this time out featuring musicians who work within more of an acoustic-oriented framework, steeped in roots, blues, folk, jazz, country, western swing, and beyond, with the double bill of Ryan McNally and Claire Ness & The Rubies.

Welcome to the Hidden Track Podcast, a CKUA production.

My name's Grant Stovel.

This episode features a pair of brilliant, tremendously distinctive, and multi-talented artists, both based in Whitehorse, whose early artistic backgrounds were heavily influenced by everything from an antique shop on the one hand to circus school on the other.

In the case of Claire Ness, she describes her music on her Bandcamp page as being country meets jazz cabaret and playfully original folk blues nostalgia from a wild Yukon wordsmith.

My name is Terry David Mulligan.

This is Mulligan Steel in the CKUA radio network.

Year 30, friends.

But we're going to go past the year 30.

So it's been nothing but fun and good times so far.

Yeah.

This is self-serving, but I want to congratulate CKUA for picking up the ball on this band and running with it.

And we're all different.

Well, this is actually a good way for me to introduce some of the other players who aren't on the podcast today.

But I was reading an article by CKUA talking about the upcoming record.

And I was struck by how each player was basically saying in different words, I absolutely love this band.

One after the other, after the other, after the other.

Her single, Doin' It for Country Music, reached number 11 on the Hot Disc Country Music Charts in the UK, will walk you home, ranked in the top 100 tracks of the Canadian Indie Country Music Countdown.

The album has received airplay on CBC, BBC, CKUA, and more than 100 radio stations across North America, Australia, and Europe.

Now, she's performed at festivals across Canada, the United States, and Europe, including Big Flat Folk Fest, Philburg Fest, the Oregon Trail Fest, the Oregon Country Fair, and has showcased at Folk Alliance International.

And your roots are showing in Ireland.

But whatever snowy, sepia-toned notions that might happen to come to mind when you hear the words Yukon music, it might be a good idea to lay those aside for right now as we get to some seriously killer high-energy performances by an irrepressible rapper filled with golden retriever energy, as he describes himself, and a powerhouse funk band purpose-built to set dance floors aflame in the North and across this globe.

Welcome to the Hidden Track Podcast, a CKUA production.

My name's Grant Stovall, and this is the first of a two-parter, which is itself the third edition now of our annual Hidden Track collaboration with the lovely arts organization Music UConn.

and the artists which they support in heading down south to perform as part of the Edmonton International Fringe Festival.

All this results in the kind of artists that we're excited to visit with on this episode, hugely expressive musicians with an eclectic array of abilities, whose mission is to bring people together in dance and celebration.

Major Funk is going to show and tell us all about that coming up in the back half of this episode.

And we'll kick things off with a returnee to this Music Yukon Edmonton Fringe CKUA collab, John from Dawson.

Hailing from Dawson City and based currently in Whitehorse, John has been all over the place since we last visited with him, geographically and musically.

I'm also a polka fan.

And Ben does a really incredible show on CKUA in Edmonton called This Is Pop, Wednesdays from 2 to 3.

And I said to Ben, I was like, you know what's shocking to me is that there really has been so many polka songs that should have been top 40 hits, but they never were.

So we actually, not long after we met, did a special segment of his show called This Is Polka Pop.

My name is Terry David Mulligan.

This is Mulligan Stew on the CKUA Radio Network and the Mulligan Stew podcast.

Steve Dawson has joined me.

He, of course, is one of the Volcano Brothers.

Anybody you want to just say hello to?

Oh, I don't know.

Everyone at CKUA who I have not seen for a while.

It's pretty cool.

And it's a struggle which has in turn led her to create work that's become a spark for people all around the world to foster joy, hope, love, and empathy in their own hearts, lives, and circles.

Welcome to the Hidden Track Podcast, a CKUA production.

My name's Grant Stovall.

As Valerie chronicles in My Life is a Country Songs, a track taken from her greatly acclaimed latest album, Owls, Omens, and Oracles, she faced great hardship personally and professionally early in her music life.

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.

Thanks for joining us on this particularly beautiful summer occasion.