Random PlayHosted by All In A Day'sAlan Neal

Alan Neal

Alan Neal is host of Ottawa's favourite drive home show All in a Day, on CBC Radio One, 91.5 FM. In addition to hosting All in a Day, Alan is now a published author, releasing his first children’s book Ava and the Little Folk in 2012.

Amos the Transparent

Amos the Transparent is a Canadian folk-rock band formed in 2006 in Ottawa, Ontario and are best known for their instrumental arrangements, layered sounds and full harmonies. Amos the Transparent has performed on CBC’s Q Radio show, Ottawa Bluesfest and Canadian Music Week. They have also shared the stage with Patrick Watson, Jeff Beck, Sloan and many more. Their latest album, “This Cold Escape”, was released in 2015 and they are currently back in studio writing new music for their next record set to release in 2017.

Hannah Georgas

The opening moments of Hannah Georgas’ sprawling and lyrically-evocative third album, For Evelyn, sets the stage for her most ambitious and personal record yet. With its dreamy soundscape of fuzzy, wistful horns, Hannah’s dulcet voice begins as a whisper that ascends layer-upon-layer, against a sparse backdrop of drums. “I wake up in the middle of the night / thinking o my god who the hell am I? My whole life is gonna pass me by / I wake up out of my mind. What if the best times are all up?”For Evelyn is named after Hannah’s “compassionate, patient, kind and beautiful” 98-year-old grandmother, who has been a lifelong inspiration to her. “She's lived almost a century on this planet and has witnessed so much. It's sometimes difficult to find peace within myself and not to react out of fear. When I see my grandma now, I wonder if she's made it to that place. I have a lot of respect for her and she inspires me. This album is an acknowledgment of that."For Evelyn’s sonic landscape shifts between tracks that prompt solo dance parties to poignant and introspective songs in Hannah’s collaboration with producer Graham Walsh (Holy Fuck). Throughout the record they explore a variety of effects that alternate between playful, suggestive, funky, and foreboding, adding depth to Hannah’s compositions. “Graham is extremely talented and creative when it comes to finding original sounds,“ she says. “He offered a different perspective on things and challenged me in a really positive way. After years of working together, we have developed a great sense of trust and friendship."?? Hannah turned to Nicolas Vernhes to mix the record. She was moved to work with Nicolas based on her admiration of the work he did on records by Wye Oak, War On Drugs and Daughter. Hannah recruited Andy Shauf, Howie Beck, and Ryan Guildemond to complete the recording process. Making music with old friends and working with Graham weren’t just smart creative decisions, but also a chance to anchor herself in the places and with the people that still felt like home in the midst of personal chaos. “I decided to uproot myself and leave Vancouver, which was kind of crazy,” thinking back about her decision to relocate to Toronto while recording For Evelyn. “I moved my entire life in four days, and then went back into the studio.”For Evelyn offers an intimate front row seat to the vast spectrum of Hannah’s emotional highs and lows. Songs range from “Evelyn”, a high-octane sassy and soaring anthem to “Loveseat”, a semi-sweet lament about taking one’s own advice in matters of the heart. “Naked Beaches” is a shimmery and upbeat, reflection on a night of reckless abandon. “Crazy Shit” with its whimsical, coy lyrics exudes restrained chaos, “It's your fault I misbehave…you’ve got that look in your eye that makes me feel so alive.” These more buoyant tracks stand out in sharp contrast to the album’s most heart-rending songs, like the ridiculously catchy first single “Don’t Go” and the beautifully haunting lower tempo “Walls”, both resonating with the breadth of emotions one goes through when faced with losing someone you love. “Lost Cause” finds Hannah delving into darker lyrical territory, quietly confessing, “life could be so sweet if I knew how to change” before letting her voice soar into a million directions, refracted layers of despair, “no one wants to see somebody fall to their knees cryin.” The album’s final track, “City,” is a bittersweet elegy for everything Georgas left behind when she returned to Ontario after eight years in Vancouver. “I’m at my best when I’m not guarded or holding anything back,” she says. “Be honest, be real.”Hannah’s desire to divest herself of worry and self-doubt echoes throughout For Evelyn, but that’s just one-half of the album’s thematic landscape. “I have these moments in my life where I feel so empowered and thankful for everything that I have and then all of a sudden I feel anxious and overwhelmed,” Hannah says. It’s this honesty and vulnerability that infuses For Evelyn with endless warmth. Even in the album’s darkest moments, there’s something vibrant and vivid in Hannah’s music that emerges in her most daring and self-realized record to date.

Kaia Kater

Few are more conscious in their journey through Appalachian histories and the Canadian musical landscape than Kaia. Born in Montreal, Kaia has lived Winnipeg, Wakefield and, most recently, West Virginia, she now resides in Toronto. Her old-time banjo-picking skills, deft arrangements, and songwriting abilities have landed her in the spotlight in North America and the UK, garnering critical acclaim from outlets such as Rolling Stone, CBC Music and The Roots Music Report. Often praised for her capacity to sound new and old at once, Kaia anchors her music the space where tradition and innovation intersect.

Lynn Miles

The music of Lynn Miles is truly one of a kind. Not only is she one of Canada's best singer-songwriters, she's one of the best, period. Hers is a voice that stands out, it's a voice that knows the ways and long twisting back roads of the world, a voice that has lived and conveys that living through every song. It's a voice we all know. It sings of love, loss, coping, travel, sense of place and purpose, broken promises, what get's us through, what doesn't, how we defy the odds, making a perfectly beautiful human mess of things along the way. As she sings in one of her songs, "It's not the hurt, it's what you've built around it, it's bitter and it's tall, you practice being cool and confident for so long now, you got yourself a wall, not everybodys gonna understand, so that's why they might say, try not to be so sad." Lynn's is a music that understands, that breaks through the wall around our hearts and speaks truth to our lives. New York Times music critic, John Pareles wrote that Miles' music "makes forlorn feel like a state of grace.” Lynn has 14 Albums to her credit, has won a Juno and four Canadian Folk Music Awards. She teaches song writing at Carleton University and has produced four albums for other artists. American singer songwriter and Grammy nominee Claire Lynch recently recorded Lynn’s song “Black Flowers” on her new CD “North by South”. http://www.lynnmilesmusic.com/biography.html

Rich Aucoin

On his most recent album, Ephemeral, indie-rock musician Rich Aucoin takes his past several years of relentless worldwide touring – from a small town in France, a giant festival in Europe, or even a beach party in Madagascar – and distills all of the big ideas philosophy majors like him love to ruminate on into 10 sharp dance-pop songs all pointed toward the same goal: to gather the things that keep us afraid and apart, and use them to pull us together. Everything Rich does feeds into something else, his whole life an endless connected mass of roots, needing air and water and a light show to really be seen. There are songs that match videos that stop in time for the parachute to unfurl – with so many devoted and curious fans getting under them now that Rich has to custom-order them for size. “He's already holding stadium-calibre, interactive live spectacles in the confines of clubs,” marvelled CBC Radio 3’s Grant Lawrence in 2012. “Imagine what this Halifax electro-imagineer could do in a hockey arena?"

Tanika Charles

“[T]he most buzzed-about soul singer in Toronto.” -CBC Music In a few short years Tanika Charles has transformed from an emerging solo artist to a commanding performer and band leader, a staple of the Canadian soul scene. Both on stage and off, Edmonton-raised Charles presents an immutable charm, at times endearingly abrasive and honest in her vulnerabilities. Her art is inherently autobiographical. If Tanika’s singing it, she’s lived it. In May of 2016 Tanika Charles’ released her Polaris Prize-nominated debut LP, Soul Run. The album’s first single and title track, a tale of withered romance and high octane escape, has landed regular national radio rotation, as has the second single “Two Steps”. Production work on the album is handled by Slakah the Beatchild (Glenn Lewis, Melanie Durrant), Daniel Lee (Hooded Fang, Phedre), Emdee and 2nd Son (allie), Christopher Sandes (The Big Sound), and Big Tweeze (Theo 3, Adam Bomb). The overarching sound is classic soul and heavy drums, without the need for retro crutches. Soul Run received overwhelmingly positive reviews with Now Magazine giving it an NNNN rating, and Exclaim! declaring it an 8/10. “The passion, heartache and hell fury of a woman scorned are captured with crystal clarity and conviction…” -Now Magazine Since 2010 Tanika has been lighting up stages near and far. Backed by her band The Wonderfuls, they have played festivals like NXNE, Pop Montreal, CBC Music Fest, TD Toronto Jazz Fest, TD Markham Jazz Fest, the AGO Massive Party, the Pan Am Games, and many more. Following the release of Soul Run, Tanika embarked on a successful 12 city Canadian tour from Montreal to Vancouver. On stage she has sang alongside the likes of Emmanuel Jal, Fred Penner, Donna Grantis, Johnny Reid, Bedouin Soundclash, and others. Tanika has also appeared on television both as a reoccurring guest on CBC Kids, and as a lounge singer on Global TV’s Bomb Girls drama series. Her music has been featured on HBO’s Less Than Kind, ABC’s Rookie Blue, The CW’s Seed, and CTV’s Saving Hope. “You can’t keep the soul of Toronto down.” -Exclaim! Magazine

The Children

The Children were formed in Ottawa in late 1965 by poet Bill Hawkins, Sandy Crawley , Peter Hodgson (who would become Sneezy Waters), Neville Wells and Chris Anderson. Their music was a mixture of British beat covers and Hawkins's originals. The group became residents at Le Hibou coffeehouse and enlisted a young singer/songwriter Bruce Cockburn, who had just graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston and ex-Esquires drummer Richard Patterson. Solo artist and former Pacers member David Wiffen joined a short time later. Exploring their limits and finding there were none, the Children produced songs of astonishing variety :rock, pop, garage, punk, folk, jug band, blues, country, bluegrass and psychedelic. In 2013, they finally released a "greatest hits" package on True North Records, using unreleased masters from the 1960's. We know Sneezy, Neville and Sandy will be joining us for Random Play.

Random PlayHosted by All In A Day'sAlan Neal

Sponsored by RE/MAX Hallmark Realty Group

The Authors

Alan Neal

Amos the Transparent

Hannah Georgas

Kaia Kater

Lynn Miles

Rich Aucoin

Tanika Charles

The Children