A Radio 2 Exclusive With Alex Cuba

Alex Cuba has been called "the man with the best sideburns in Canada," and "the man with the biggest hair in Smithers B.C." and both claims are probably true. (Though the sideburns were rather restrained at the time this photo was shot.) It's also true he's an excellent musician who is creating his own style of Cuban-based pop music.

As for the Radio 2 Exclusive bit, here's the story: Alex Cuba (a.ka. Alexis Puentes) learned to speak English by listening to Blue Rodeo. Oh no doubt there were a few other lessons in there too, but back in 1996, before he spoke English, his new Canadian in-laws introduced him to Canadian music by playing him Blue Rodeo’s recording Five Days In July. He fell in love with the song Bad Timing, and set about learning it.

It's one thing to learn English through learning music though, another to meet and befriend the man who created the song that so moved you -- in this case, Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo. And then to go on, years later, and record a new version of that song with that man.

This week the new version of the song has its premiere on Radio 2 with Cuba singing it in Spanish -- on Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.). Tomorrow, December 2nd, he'll drop by both the Radio 2 Morning and Drive studios to talk about the long and winding road that has brought him to this happy moment. (And as I say, on Drive he'll also perform the song live.)

Of course it would be lovely to have a video of the performance of this song, but failing that, you may want to have a look listen to an earlier, bilingual, collaboration between Alex Cuba and another Canadian songwriter of note -- Ron Sexsmith.