Canrock icon Tom Cochrane released his first new album in more than eight years this month. Called Take it Home, it’s a collection of blues, country, roots and gospel — all the music from the South that’s inspired Cochrane over his four-decade career.

So when he sat down with CBC Music to talk about his comeback, obviously our first question was: “Where have you been?”

You can watch the interview above, which includes Cochrane talking about the one song he wished he wrote and the strangest request he’s had to license his hit song “Life is a Highway,” which has been used in the Pixar movie Cars and an Alvin and the Chipmunks video game, to name a few.