Home Routes / Chemin Chez Nous executive director Leonard Podolak (who you may recognize from The Duhks among many other projects) sat down to talk about the organization’s upcoming 15th anniversary and Traveling Goodtime Medicine Show!
We also talked about navigating the pandemic (and technology) to present a new kind of intimate concert experience, the power of house shows, being born into Winnipeg folk music, and much more.
Third-wave ska is back, and it's found an unexpected home in Winnipeg's large, vibrant Filipino community! [Ragdolls](http://www.facebook.com/pg/ragdollsSKA/) are inspired by the genre's '90s heyday and lay claim to being the city's first and only all-Filipino ska group. We talk about their musical and cultural roots, the ongoing appeal of ska music, and navigating Winnipeg's wider music community as relative newcomers. Although Ragdolls haven't recorded any original music (yet), they have a wide range of live performances available on [YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk4EGSv98GM3WEOhCz5ppxA), which is where the songs in this episode are from. This episode brought to you by our friends at the Park Theatre, who are presenting '[Buffy Prom](http://https://www.facebook.com/events/222171375002264/)' on June 17! It's a fully-themed Buffy the Vampire Slayer prom/dance party featuring DJ K Chedda and awesome '90s music, plus a costume contest and door prizes. The episode is also brought to you by [Fourth Quarter Records](http://www.fourthquarterrecords.com/), your home for quality local hip-hop, as well as merchandise like the glorious 3Peat hoodies you've been seeing everywhere lately. ...
For this episode, I'm joined by prairie rap legend Epic! We talked about the new [Saskatoon Folk Rap Records](http://saskatoonfolkraprecords.bandcamp.com/) label and its Winnipeg connections (namely upcoming releases by [Rob Crooks](http://robcrooks.bandcamp.com/) and [The Gumshoe Strut](http://thegumshoestrut.bandcamp.com/music)), about his own decade-plus hiatus from rapping and what it’s like to come back during a pandemic, and much more. A great chat with a true original. Watch for some deadly new releases from the label soon. This episode is brought to you by [Northern Royals](http://northernroyals.com/) and [Bad Gardening Advice](http://badgardeningadvice.com/) (who wrote me some lovely rhymes about the [Schmolaris Prize](http://badgardeningadvice.com/schmolaris-prize) to read on-air). Don’t forget to check out some socially-distanced shows at [the Park Theatre](http://www.myparktheatre.com/), who have slowly reopened after a long COVID-19 closure. Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on [Patreon](http://www.patreon.com/witchpolice). You can help out for as little as $1 a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! ...
...so when we told Union Stockyards they were welcome back on the show any time they wanted, we didn't think it was going to be so soon! Our favourite local punks (last heard on episode #199) jumped at the chance to promote their upcoming show with brand-new locals Agapito (featuring current or former members of Cancer Bats, The Duhks and Stockyards themselves) on Dec. 29 at The Handsome Daughter. We packed most of Stockyards and Agapito into a jamspace and recorded a pretty out-of-control gong-show of an episode... with a twist. This one was filmed as well! ...