Now in its third album, Got It Covered has quickly become a tradition in Saskatchewan over the past six years.

Saskatoon’s community radio CFCR and Regina’s community radio CJTR released Got It Covered: Vol. 3 on Nov. 10. The album is a compilation of Saskatchewan songs that are covered by Saskatchewan artists, created as a fundraiser for the stations. According to CJTR Executive Director Amber Goodwyn, the process for this volume was different than usual, but turned out great nonetheless. 

“Usually we have an open call and then a jury who helps select the bands and their cover songs,” Goodwyn said. “We’ll definitely return to that model for the fourth edition of the compilation.”

With attention needed elsewhere this year as a result of the pandemic, the radio stations strayed from the usual open submission and reached out to particular artists that they were confident would be able to contribute to the album and had not been featured previously. 

“As much as I do love and look forward to going back to more of a submission process as we did previously, I really like working with people,” said CFCR Program Director Jay Allen, who also worked on the project.

“I like working with people who get CFCR, who understand what we’re trying to do as a non-profit community radio station.”

Luckily, many agreed and contributed to the third volume. A number of local artists are big supporters and volunteers of the community radio stations, according to Goodwyn. She says that they understand the importance of the project for a non-profit organization, due to their active participation.

“A couple of the bands are also hosts on the station,” Goodwyn said. “I just checked in, seeing as they have a sort of a personal stake in the sustainability in the station, whether they would be open to doing this and they luckily said yes.” 

The project started at CJTR in 2016, with Goodwyn and her colleague Josh Haugerud wanting to focus on the talent in Saskatchewan. CFCR decided to join the project for the second volume. 

Goodwyn considers this to be the “best thing ever,” as it was a way to get involved with more Saskatchewan artists.

“It helped to promote the importance of community radio on a provincial scale,” Goodwyn said. 

Each volume has featured different Saskatchewan bands from all over the province. This year, some of the artists include Megan Nash & The Best of Intentions, The Whiskey Jerks, The Sex Geckos and Ariel & Sean. Each artist has put their own spin on the song they are covering, which makes for a very interesting album. It is quite diverse in terms of genres, showcasing a variety of the talent in Saskatchewan.

One of the most unique songs on the album is Ariel & Sean’s cover of “Early to the Party”, originally by Andy Shauf. They used their R&B and Soul sound to give the folk-rock song a new, lively energy. 

Another standout song is Corey Dahlen’s version of his father Rey Dahlen’s song, “Democracy”. Allen said that he has recently discovered that Dahlen’s father was a musician in Saskatoon during the late 60s to early 70s. This is one of the tunes that stood out to Allen as a result of the back story. 

“It came out so great and it’s just such a heartening thing to listen to,” he said.

The entirety of the album is a wonderful compilation of Saskatchewan music and artists. Each song is unique and worth checking out. 

“Everyone has been so generous with their time and talent,” Goodwyn said.

To purchase Got It Covered: Vol. 3, visit their Bandcamp website on cfcr.bandcamp.com or cjtr.bandcamp.com. 

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Holly Gilroy