Behind the mic: Meet Lucky Budd, host of the Vital Victoria podcast

The Victoria Foundation is proud to introduce the refreshed Vital Victoria Podcast. We have amazing people in our communities and we want to hear their stories.

One of those people is the new host of the podcast, Lucky Budd. A local author, historian, and longtime musician, one of his earliest exposures to storytelling was digitizing the BC Archive’s CBC holdings.

The origin of a storyteller

“When I went in there, I didn’t come in as an historian, I came in as a guy who would be good with the tapes,” says Budd.

Working in the archives, he would listen to old reel-to-reels, sound discs and even wax cylinder recordings. In 2001, he worked on digitizing the Orchard collection, one of the largest oral history collections in the world which had been mostly sitting on the shelves since the 1960s.

Working with the collection, Budd would be transported when putting on the headphones. He recalls the story of someone travelling the Nass River in 1911.

“I was in the canoe with her, I felt how cold it was, I could visualize the whole scene …I realized quickly this was entrusted with me and it was my responsibility to do something with it.”

Budd proceeded to get his Master’s in History from the University of Victoria, specializing in oral history.  He then proceeded to write his award-winning, best-selling books Voices Of British Columbia and Echoes Of British Columbia.  He’s also started his own company, Memories to Memoirs, alongside writing books with Roy Henry Vickers, Ted Harrison and Andre de Grasse.

The power of storytelling and the Vital Victoria podcast

This passion for storytelling is central to his role as host of the Vital Victoria podcast.

In each episode, Budd will interview people in Greater Victoria who are working to create a vibrant, caring community for all. His goal is to start each episode by getting to know the individual(s) and how they came to do what they do. Once you have that personal connection, he says, then you can get into their work.

“The more people hear one another’s stories, the more we can relate to one another,” says Budd. “The more we see what we have in common, the more bridges are connected.”

It’s a connection he learned through his studies. A central tenant of the Massey Commission, which helped form the CBC, was that if we’re to have a country, we need people across the country to hear each other’s stories. In doing so, we may learn we have more in common.

“If we can start learning about what people are doing in our community,” says Budd, “it’s good for the whole community.”

How it all started with a crate full of records

As a young child, Budd would hold up the school bus. He had not forgotten his coat, lunch, or bag. He was digging through crates full of records.

“I would not get on the school bus if I didn’t bring a different record,” says Budd.

From riffling through records to trading Grateful Dead tapes and seeing 85 shows by the age of 19, Budd’s break came from his love of music.

Around Greater Victoria, Budd was known as “the guy who recorded shows” while playing in a local band. When the opportunity came to digitize content for the BC Archive’s CBC holdings, his name came up and the rest is history.

When Budd was asked to host the Vital Victoria Podcast, he was grateful for the opportunity. “I’m excited to listen to people’s stories and share those stories with other people.”

About the Podcast

The Vital Victoria Podcast highlights people in our region that are working to create a vibrant, caring community for all. Throughout the podcast, stats will be pulled from the Vital Signs program to take a deeper dive into the meaning of the statistics.

Episode one features local nurse practitioners Sarah Jesshope and Lynn Guengerich talking about the role of nurse practitioners in the Greater Victoria healthcare system.

 

Click here to listen to the podcast today.