Manitoba Community

Winnipeg takes pride in local talent covering local hits

To help celebrate the official release of the 'Her (204): Stories of One Great City Revisited' album, CBC Manitoba programmed a very special Up to Speed on CBC Radio One. Among the usual content that you'd hear on this weekday drive home show were interviews with the album's creators, airplay of every song from the release and live, in-studio performances from two local artists featured on the album. All to tie into its official release online on Friday, March 7 and album release party on Fri. March 9 at Winnipeg's Park Theatre.

'Her (204): Stories of One Great City Revisited' album empowers and inspires

A close up shot of a CD. Cover is dark green. There's two white flowers on the right. In bright pink text "Her 204" with album name in white below.
(Justin Deeley/CBC)
The walls were alive with the sound of music!

To help celebrate the official release of the 'Her (204): Stories of One Great City Revisited' album, CBC Manitoba programmed a very special Up to Speed on CBC Radio One. Among the usual content that you'd hear on this weekday drive home show were interviews with the album's creators, airplay of every song from the release and live, in-studio performances from two local artists featured on the album. All to tie into its official release online on Friday, March 7.

A vertical billboard with a green square on the top. Album name appears in pink/white with white flowers beside it. The same text is below in black
On the day of its release, a billboard appeared for 'Her (204) Stories of One Great City Revisited' at the corner of Yonge-Dundas Square in Downtown Toronto. (Kerri Stephens/Women in Music Canada, Manitoba chapter)

What's the story behind this album?

Recorded during Winnipeg's 150th anniversary, 'Her (204): Stories of One Great City Revisited' is an album created by the Manitoba chapter of Women in Music Canada. Its' purpose is to provide an opportunity for local women and gender-diverse artists to reinterpret iconic songs written in our province over the past century and a half. 

Featuring renowned artists Boniface, Andrina Turenne, Keri Latimer, Cara Luft, Jess Reimer, Keisha Booker, Kelly Bado, Rayannah, Jade Turner, Rhonda Head, and Desiree Dorion, the album explores the province's artistic history through a fresh lens. Each artist selected a Manitoba-penned song that resonated with them, delivering new interpretations of works originally by legendary acts such as The Weakerthans, Chantal Kreviazuk, Eagle & Hawk, Sons of the Pioneers, Sebastian Gaskin, Crash Test Dummies, Chic Gamine, Gloria Dejarlais and Benoit Morier. The project also features Winnipeg producers Lana Winterhalt of The Good and Plenty Producers Club, Rayannah, Keri Latimer and Michele ii.

3 people sit in a radio studio. A Caucasian blonde woman with her hair in a ponytail, another with a blonde bob and a Filipino person.
Women in Music Canada's Kerri Stephens and Robyn Stewart explain why they decided to create their new album on Up to Speed with host Faith Fundal (Taron Cochrane/CBC)
Ahead of International Women's Day, host Faith Fundal speaks with the Manitoba Chapter of Women in Music Canada about Her (204) Stories of One Great City Revisited. 

Who joined us live, in studio?

Kelly Bado is no stranger to covers. When Sir Paul McCartney first heard her version of his song, 'Let It Be' he proclaimed it to be a "fabulous, emotional and inspiring performance". The same could be said for her cover of the Crash Test Dummies 1993 hit, "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" - the lead track off the album. Kelly's powerful vocals and moving instrumentation breathe new life into an already very successful song that introduced this Manitoba band to the world.

Stripping the song down for her CBC performance, Kelly was joined by Argentine-born, Treaty 1-based guitarist and songwriter Gabriela Ocejo. Together the two of them captivated the space with three songs, the remaining two being originals with one of them being unreleased.

A Caucasian woman in a pink beret has a guitar on her lap while sitting on a stool, her legs crossed. A Black woman stands beside her talking on mic
During their live, in studio performance host Faith Fundal chats with guitarist Gabriela Ocejo and singer-songwriter Kelly Bado (Taron Cochrane/CBC)
A special edition of Up To Speed celebrates the women behind the music of Manitoba. Kelly Bado joins host Faith Fundal in-studio to share music from the new album, Her (204).

If you're from Manitoba and have your ear to the ground on the Canadian music scene, you'll probably recognize the name Andrina Turenne. After finding success in the band Chic Gamine, this Juno award-winning Franco-Manitoban/Red River Métis singer-songwriter went solo releasing her first bilingual debut album "Bold as Logs" in 2023.

On this release, you'll be mesmerized by her version of "Le huitième continent" originally written by Manitoba's Benoit Morier. A fitting tribute by an artist that is as enjoyable to talk to as she is to listen to live. Andrina brought a warmth into the space by mixing her cover with two originals, one being an unreleased stomp dedicated to egrets.

A Caucasian woman with curly, long brown hair plays guitar in a dimly lit room. Her eyes are closed. Pink lights light up the wall behind her.
Andrina Turenne pays tribute to fellow Franco-Manitoban Benoit Morier live in Studio 11 at CBC Manitoba (Taron Cochrane/CBC)
A special edition of Up To Speed celebrates the women behind the music of Manitoba. Andrina Turenne joins host Faith Fundal in-studio to share music from the new album, Her (204).

Recognizing the opportunity, Keeley Braunstein-Black from the Manitoba chapter of Women in Music Canada shadowed CBC Audio Engineer Mae McKillop during the show's broadcast.

A Caucasian woman with long brown hair is inside a radio studio. She's showing the woman beside her what she's doing on an audio board
Audio Engineer Mae McKillop shows Women in Music's Keeley Braunstein-Black the ropes during our live, in-studio performances on CBC Radio One show, Up to Speed (Taron Cochrane/CBC)
Host Faith Fundal speaks with an owner of Private Ear Recording about gender inequity in recording studios and what it was like to challenge that with the creation of Her (204) Stories of One Great City Revisited.

Where else did we celebrate this release?

On top of what we did on air during Up to Speed and live in Studio 11 on release day, CBC was present at the official release party on Sunday, March 9 at Winnipeg's The Park Theatre. Attendees got to witness first-hand the empowering talents of the performers on this album who played the track they covered, alongside two of their own. Although a few couldn't make it, in the end the entire album was heard from the stage, in full. 

Faith made several references to the fact that this release and the event itself had provided such a safe, welcoming space for us all. As the crowds gathered,conversed and enjoyed the music - you could tell tha this commentary couldn't have been more true,

Where can you hear the album

The release of the 'Her (204): Stories of One Great City Revisited' album was complimented by an official party at Winnipeg's Park Theatre on Sun. March 9. You can find it now anywhere you stream music.