We recently checked in with a CKUA staff-member who knows all about the latest music, and also holds the key to the vast treasure trove that is the CKUA library: Bailey Richards.
What is your role at CKUA, and what do you focus on in your work here?
I’m a library assistant at CKUA. My primary focus is on the daily management of our music library, and ensuring our announcers have any music they might need for their shows. It’s no secret that the local community is really important to the team at CKUA, and I think a crucial part of that is creating a collaborative database of music that is both for the community and by the community.
What is something most people wouldn’t know about the CKUA library?
In my experience, I’ve found that something most people wouldn’t know about the library is simply that there is one and what the scope of that looks like. I think it’s such a privilege that CKUA has such an extensive physical and digital library, and with such a rich history at that. A music lover could easily spend some days exploring the decades of music and information that have been preserved thanks to our library, and I think it’s especially important to have this when it comes to glimpsing into the past of music in Alberta.
What do you like to do when you’re not working?
As of right now, most of my time spent not working has been wrapped up in finishing a bachelor’s degree in criminology, which will be followed up with a master’s degree in library and information studies. When I do find some breaks from that, I spend a lot of time exploring experimental photography and making multimedia art, going to movies, or poking around in used bookstores.
Do you have a favourite item or album in the library?
I can’t seem to pick just one! It feels incredibly hard to choose a favourite out of all the great albums in the library, but if I had to choose just one or two, one would be one of my favourite all-time albums from one of my favourite all-time musicians: Bob Dylan’s Time Out Of Mind from 1997. The other one would be one of my favourite albums that came out last year: Baby by Petrol Girls.
What song would you like to send out to the CKUA audience today?
Once again, I always find it hard to choose just one, and I find my personal preferences shifting a lot from day to day. Lately, two artists I find myself revisiting a lot are Roky Erickson and Lust For Youth. Of the two, I’d send the CKUA audience toward “Realize You’re Mine” by Roky Erickson and “New Boys” by Lust For Youth.
