Ear to the Ground (TV series)

Ear to the Ground is a Canadian music television series, which aired on CBC Television from 1992 to 1995.[1] Focusing on a single Canadian musician or band each week, the series mixed interview segments and live performance clips in a documentary style.[2] 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.[3]

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 or folk, which did not typically get into high rotation on MuchMusic.[2] The first episodes of the series were hosted by Dan Gallagher, although the series evolved to a hostless format in later seasons.[2]

The series premiered on June 21, 1992, with an episode devoted to Barenaked Ladies.[4] Other artists profiled on the series during its run included Meryn Cadell,[5] Kashtin,[6] Skydiggers,[7] Lost Dakotas,[8] The Rankin Family,[9] Bob Wiseman,[10] Me Mom and Morgentaler,[11] The Lowest of the Low,[12] Vern Cheechoo,[13] Blue Rodeo,[14] Punjabi By Nature,[15] Tom Jackson,[16] The Barra MacNeils,[17] Big Rude Jake,[18] Ashley MacIsaac,[2] Change of Heart,[19] hHead,[20] Lori Yates,[20] Moist,[20] Susan Aglukark,[1] Bob Snider,[1] Patricia Conroy[21] and Bourbon Tabernacle Choir.[22]

The series was cancelled in 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.[1] In its place, CBC launched the new series Music Works.[23]