''Ear to the Ground'' is a Canadian music television series, which was broadcast on
CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...
from 1992 to 1995.
[Sid Adilman, "Ear To The Ground axing draws fire on CBC-TV". '']Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
'', May 23, 1995. Focusing on a single Canadian musician or band each week, the series mixed interview segments and live performance clips in a
documentary style.
[Mitch Potter, "Bucking a trend: CBC's Ear to the Ground wows audiences with low-cost goodies". ''Toronto Star'', December 31, 1994.] It was a spinoff of the network's daily series ''
Video Hits'', which had in its final years sometimes devoted special episodes to a single musician or band under the name ''Video Hits Presents''.
The series was produced by Faith Feingold and directed and written by Faith Feingold and Marla Digiacomo.
Although artists across all popular music genres were featured, the show was considered especially effective and important as a showcase for artists in genres such as
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...
or
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Folk Plus or Fol ...
, which did not typically have high rotation on
MuchMusic
Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults.
MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...
.
[ The series format was hostless, but Dan Gallagher did the intro's for a few episodes, and Karen Gordon did the majority of the intros.
The series was premiered on June 21, 1992, with an episode devoted to ]Barenaked Ladies
Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian rock band formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a following in Canada, with their self-titled 1991 cassette becoming the first independent release to be certified gold in Canada. They reach ...
. Other artists profiled on the series during its run included Sloan, Eric's Trip, Meryn Cadell
Meryn Cadell is an American-Canadian writer and performance artist. He is an assistant professor of song lyrics and libretto writing in the Creative Writing Program at University of British Columbia.
Cadell is a transgender man who transitioned ...
, Kashtin, Skydiggers, Lost Dakotas
Lost Dakotas was a Canadian alternative country band in the 1990s. The band originally consisted of vocalist Paul Dakota and bassist Greg McConnell (formerly of Absolute Whores), who began in 1989 as a busking duo at the corner of Yonge and Dund ...
, The Rankin Family, Bob Wiseman
Robert Neil "Bob" Wiseman (born 1962) is a film composer, songwriter, author and music teacher. Wiseman discovered or produced many artists including Ron Sexsmith, The Lowest of the Low, Bruce McCulloch of Kids in the Hall, Anhai, and former ...
, , The Lowest of the Low
The Lowest of the Low is a Canadian alternative rock group formed in 1991 from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Michael Barclay, Ian A.D. Jack and Jason Schneider, '' Have Not Been the Same: The Can-Rock Renaissance 1985-1995''. ECW Press. . They were o ...
, Vern Cheechoo Vern Cheechoo is a Cree people, Cree folk and country singer-songwriter from Canada.Dariya Baiguzhiyeva"Moose Cree singer's new album will be dedicated to his late wife" ''Village Media, Timmins Today'', July 24, 2021. He is most noted as a two-time ...
, Blue Rodeo
Blue Rodeo is a Canadian country rock band formed in 1984 in Toronto, Ontario. They have released 16 full-length studio albums, four live recordings, one greatest hits album, and two video/DVDs, along with multiple solo albums, side projects, a ...
, Punjabi By Nature
Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan
* Punjabi language
* Punjabi people
* Punjabi dialects and languages
Punjabi may also refer to:
* Punjabi (horse), a British T ...
, Tom Jackson
Tom or TOM may refer to:
* Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name)
Characters
* Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head''
* Tom Beck, a character ...
, The Barra MacNeils
The Barra MacNeils are a Canadian musical group from Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia. The founding members of the group are siblings Sheumas, Kyle, Stewart, and Lucy MacNeil.Bowman, Durrell.Barra MacNeils, The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved January ...
, Big Rude Jake
Andrew Jacob Hiebert (1 March 1963 – 16 June 2022), known professionally as Big Rude Jake, was a Canadian songwriter, singer, musician, and bandleader based in Toronto. The original "Swing Punk", he was associated with the neo-swing trend of t ...
, Ashley MacIsaac
Ashley Dwayne MacIsaac (born February 24, 1975) is a Canadian fiddler, singer and songwriter from Cape Breton Island. He has received three Juno Awards, winning for Best New Solo Artist and Best Roots & Traditional Album – Solo at the Juno A ...
,[ Change of Heart, ]hHead
hHead were a Canadian alternative rock band, formed in 1991 in Ajax.
The band was originally formed by Noah Mintz and Brendan Canning as an acoustic duo,"hHead music simple, melancholy; Disc reminiscent of 'Seattle sound'". ''Ottawa Citizen'', Oc ...
,[Mitch Potter, "Humble half hour". ''Toronto Star'', April 22, 1995.] Lori Yates
Lori Yates is a Canadian alternative country music singer and songwriter.
Biography
Early career
Yates' early music career was with Toronto-area bands such as Rang Tango, Senseless and The Last Resorts.
Yates was influenced by varied artists ...
,[ Moist,][ Susan Aglukark,][ ]Bob Snider
Bob Snider is a Canadian singer/songwriter.
Snider grew up in Toronto and later moved to Bear River, Nova Scotia, Canada. Upon returning to Toronto in the 1980s, he befriended Bob Wiseman and other songwriters in the Toronto open stages at Fat ...
,[ Patricia Conroy and ]Bourbon Tabernacle Choir
The Bourbon Tabernacle Choir were a Canadian alternative rock band that formed in 1985 in Toronto.
History
The band consisted of vocalist Kate Fenner, vocalist and organist Chris Brown, vocalist and guitarist Andrew Whiteman, guitarist Chris M ...
.
The series was cancelled in April 1995, on the grounds that the live performance aspect of the show was now partially duplicated by the network's variety series '' Rita and Friends''.[ In its place, CBC launched the new series ''Music Works''.
]
Awards
At the 7th Gemini Awards
The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television's 7th Gemini Awards were held in March 1993 to honour achievements in Canadian television. The awards show took place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and was broadcast on CBC Television.
Awards ...
in 1993, Barenaked Ladies won the award for Best Performance in a Performing Arts Program or Series for their episode. At the 9th Gemini Awards in 1995, the series was nominated for Best Music Variety Program or Series.["Major Gemini Nominations". ''Toronto Star'', January 18, 1995.]
References
{{reflist
1992 Canadian television series debuts
1995 Canadian television series endings
CBC Television original programming
1990s Canadian music television series
1990s Canadian documentary television series