Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – July 1, 2025: Songs for Canada Day

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif finds connections and develops themes in various genres. The show is broadcast on CKCU, 93.1 FM, in Ottawa on Tuesdays from 3:30 until 5 pm (Eastern time) and is also available 24/7 for on-demand streaming.

This episode of Stranger Songs was recorded and can be streamed on-demand, now or anytime, by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/70878.html

Theme: Songs for Canada Day.

Stan Rogers- Northwest Passage

Northwest Passage (Fogarty’s Cove/Borealis)

Ian & Sylvia- Four Strong Winds

Four Strong Winds (Vanguard)

Maria Dunn- In the Shadow of the Rockies/As I Walk Through Canada

We Were Good People (Distant Whisper)

James Keelaghan- My Skies

History: The First 25 Years (Borealis)

Bonnie Dobson- Peter Amberley

Take Me for a Walk in the Morning Dew (Hornbeam)

Finest Kind- The Maple Leaf Forever

Silks & Spices (Fallen Angle Music)

Wade Hemsworth with The Mountain City Four (lead vocal: Kate McGarrigle)- The Log Driver’s Waltz

Wade Hemsworth with the Mountain City Four (Peter Weldon)

Gordon Lightfoot- Canadian Railroad Trilogy

Songbook (Warner Archives/Rhino)

Leonard Cohen- Suzanne

Songs of Leonard Cohen (Columbia/Legacy)

Steel Rail- Wooden Ships

River Song (Crossties)

Jesse Winchester- I Wave Bye Bye

Gentleman of Leisure (Sugar Hill)

Connie Kaldor- Wood River

Wood River (Coyote Entertainment)

Shelley Posen- Canoeing My Troubles Away

Roseberry Road (Well Done Music)

Durham County Poets & Michael Jerome Browne- Diamonds on the Water

Grimshaw Road (Durham County Poets)

Yonder Hill- Northern Lights

Yonder Hill (Yonder Hill)

Notre Dame de Grass- New Canada Road

New Canada Road (Notre Dame de Grass)

Willie Dunn- Louis Riel

Creation Never Sleeps, Creation Never Dies: The Willie Dunn Anthology (Light in the Attic)

Amanda Rheaume- Unforgettable

The Truth We Hold (Ishkõdé)

Prairie Comeau- Un Canadien errant

L’emprunt(e) (La Compagnie du Nord)

Chris Rawlings- Song of the Old Bush Pilot

Northern Spirits (Cooking Fat Music)

David Bradstreet- The Land Beyond

Hindsight (David Bradstreet)

Night Sun- A Canadian Song

Drive (Borealis)

Next week: Peggy Seeger at 90.

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday July 16, 2022

Saturday Morning is an eclectic roots-oriented program on CKCU in Ottawa heard on Saturday mornings from 7 until 10 am (Eastern time) and available for on-demand streaming anytime. I am one of the four rotating hosts of Saturday Morning and base my programming on the Folk Roots/Folk Branches format I developed at CKUT in Montreal.

CKCU can be heard live at 93.1 FM in Ottawa and https://www.ckcufm.com/ on the web.

This episode of Saturday Morning was recorded at home and can already be streamed on-demand at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/56926.html

Tom Chapin- Woody Guthrie’s Dream
Hold Our Ground (Sundance Music)

The next 13 songs are a tribute to Ian & Sylvia’s self-titled debut album, released 60 years ago.

Diana Braithwaite & Chris Whiteley- Rocks and Gravel
Blues Stories (Big City Blues)
Tom Russell- Old Blue
Indians Cowboys Horses Dogs (HighTone)
Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee- C.C. Rider
Working Man Blues (Sunset Blvd.)
Ken Whiteley- Un Canadien Errant
Long Time Travelling (Ken Whiteley)
Kathy Kallick with Annie Stainec- Handsome Molly
What are They Doing in Heaven Today? (Live Oak)
Karen James- Mary-Anne
Through Streets Broad and Narrow (Folkways)
Ian & Sylvia- Pride of Petrovar
Ian & Sylvia (Vanguard)

Harry Belafonte- Makes a Long Time Man Feel Bad
The Midnight Special (RCA)
Odetta- Rambler Gambler
One Grain of Sand (Vanguard)
Dodi Kallick- Down in the Willow Garden
What are They Doing in Heaven Today? (Live Oak)
Ian & Sylvia- Got No More Home Than a Dog
Ian & Sylvia (Vanguard)
Steven Palmer- When First Unto This Country
Morning Road (Steven Palmer)
Miriam Makeba & The Skylarks- Live Humble
Volume 1 (Gallo)

Pharis & Jason Romero- Souvenir
Tell ‘Em You Were Gold (Smithsonian Folkways)
Pharis & Jason Romero- Been All Around This World
Tell ‘Em You Were Gold (Smithsonian Folkways)

David Olney with Daniel Seymour- Love Is
Evermore: The Final Live in Holland Sessions I (Strictly Country)
Jack Williams- If My Eyes Were Blind
A Tickle in My Soul (Wind River)
David Olney with Daniel Seymour- Rex’s Blues
Nevermore: The Final Live in Holland Sessions II (Strictly Country)
Brigid Mae Power- I’ll Be Here in the Morning
Burning Your Light (Fire)
Townes Van Zandt- To Live is to Fly
Sunshine Boy: The Unheard Studio Sessions and Demos (Omnivore)

Anne Hills- Romeo and Juliet
Points of View (Appleseed)
Marc Nerenberg- The Tragedy of Lear
On the Street Again (Marc Nerenberg)
Alistair Brown- Hamlet
No Idle Jest (Prospect)

Ellis Paul- When Angels Fall
When Angels Fall – single (Rosella)
Magpie- What If, No Matter
A Tiding (Longtail)
The Advocate Collective (Aaron Parnell Brown, Andy Rogovin, Beth Wood, Crys Matthews, Danielle Miraglia, Erik Balkey, Genevieve, Joe Crookston, Kim Moberg, Lilli Lewis, Lisa Bastoni, Monique Byrne, Mya Byrne, Neale Eckstein, Pat Wictor, Rod MacDonald, Tom Prasada-Rao, Tret Fure, and Vance Gilbert)- If It Were Up to Me
If It Were Up to Me – single (Hudson Harding Music)

Geoff Bartley- Keep Your Eyes on the Road
Keep Your Eyes on the Road (Magic Crow)
Bill Morrissey- Just Before We Lost the War
Something I Saw or Thought I Saw (Philo)
Lucy Kaplansky- These Days
Last Days of Summer (Lucyricky)

Philip Dyson- The Entertainer
Scott Joplin, The King of Ragtime: Complete Piano Works (Decca)

Tom Paxton, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer- Dry Times
All New (Community Music)
Randy Lewis Brown- Long Dry Season
Wind of Change (Berkalin)
Don Armstrong- Bowl of Dust
Mother Don’t Give Up on Me Now (Ronstadt Record Co.)
Hilary Hawke with Reed Stutz- Happy Hollow
Lilygild (Hilary Hawke)

Bob Stark- Patterson Creek Bridge
Sculpted Pieces of Love (Bob Stark)
Amy Speace- Why I Wake Early (For Mary Oliver)
Tuscon (Windbone)
Peter Lehndorff- Don’t Be Discouraged
Don’t Be Discouraged (Peter Lehndorff)
Deirdre McCalla- Amaryllis
Endless Grace (MaidenRock)

Amanda Rheaume- 100 Years
The Spaces In Between (Ishkõdé)
Mama's Broke- Oh Sun/Pale Night/Forgetting Reel
Narrow Line (Free Dirt)
Kim Beggs- Steel and Wool
Steel and Wool (Out of a Paper Bag Productions)

Steve Howell & The Mighty Men- Bad Boy
Been Here and Gone (Out of the Past Music)
Durham County Poets- That’s What Makes Me Smile
Out of the Woods (Durham County Poets)
Sass Jordan- Chevrolet
Bitches Blues (Stony Plain)
The Strongman Blues Remedy featuring Harrison Kennedy- I Like to Ride
Volume 1 (Stony Plain)

Tim Sparks & James Buckley- Homeward Bound
Jukebox Dreamin’ (Acoustic Music)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on August 13. I also host Stranger Songs on CKCU every Tuesday from 3:30-5 pm. And, I’ll be hosting Canadian Spaces on Saturday June 30 from 10 am-noon.

Find me on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Montreal Folk Fest on the Canal – June 14-18, 2017

Back in the mid-1980s – 30-something years ago – when I was running the Golem, a highly regarded folk concert venue in Montreal, I formed a committee with several like-minded people and attempted to launch a folk festival in Montreal. Despite our best efforts, it never happened.

Jump ahead more than a couple of decades to 2008 and Matt Large and Rebecca Anderson of Hello Darlin’ Productions – by then well-established as Montreal’s major producer of folk-rooted and folk-branched concerts – joined forces with Carl Comeau of Hyperbole Music and launched the Montreal Folk Fest on the Canal. Matt, Rebecca and Carl made a folk festival happen in Montreal – and it has developed into a terrific summer festival.

The festival started modestly with its main site for the first four years at the St. Ambroise Terrace behind the McCauslin Brewery beside the Lachine Canal. By 2012, the folk fest had outgrown the terrace and moved a mile or so east on the Lachine Canal to a bigger site at Ilot Charlevoix. And, by 2015, they’d also outgrown that site and moved further west on the banks of the canal to the more expansive Centennial Esplanade near the corner of Saint Patrick and Pitt Streets in the Lachine Canal Park. The festival returns there in a couple of weeks for its 10th annual edition.

Before getting to the park, though, the Montreal Folk Fest on the Canal launches with three indoor events in venues close to the canal.

First up is an opening party on Wednesday, June 14, 7 pm, at Bar de Courcelle (4685 Notre Dame West). The free event features music by the Off-Whites.

Then, on Thursday, June 15, 8 pm, there are two simultaneous multi-artist tribute concerts.

At Maison de la culture Marie-Uguay (6052 Monk) there will be “Ain’t Life Sweet: A Tribute to Penny Lang,” the late doyenne of the Montreal folk scene who passed away last year. The amazing line-up of artists paying tribute to Penny will include Annabelle Chvostek, Eve Goldberg, the Durham County Poets, Michael Jerome Browne, Jason Lang & Scudfux, Bobby Dove, Connie Kaldor, Bill Garrett & Sue Lothrop & Roma Baran, and Dana Whittle & Béatrix Méthé. I have to be in Ottawa that night, but it’s an evening I would not miss if I could be in Montreal. Tickets are available at this link.

Meanwhile, at Théâtre Pardoxe, there will be a concert called “Always On My Mind: The Songs of Willie Nelson” with Joe Grass, Jim Bryson, Li’l Andy, Katie Moore, Andrew Horton, Sin and Swoon, Thus Owls and more. Tickets are available at this link.

Then on Friday, June 16 (beginning at 5 pm), Saturday, June 17 (beginning at 2 pm) and Sunday, June 18 (beginning at 2 pm), the music will be in high gear on three stages at the main festival site where general admission is free of charge (tickets are available for the shaded, perk-filled, VIP section at the main stage at this link).

I won’t list the entire lineup here (check out who is performing and the schedule on the festival website at this link) but among Friday’s highlights on the main stage will be Steve Poltz, Birds of Chicago and Donovan Woods. Saturday’s highlights on the main stage will include Beyond the Pale, William Prince, James Keelaghan, and Michael Jerome Browne. And, Sunday’s highlights on the main stage will include Amanda Rheaume, Les Tireux d’Roches and Sarah Harmer.

I’ve been one of the main stage MCs at the Montreal Folk Fest on the Canal almost every year (I couldn’t be there in 2012) and I’m looking forward to be back again this year on Saturday, June 17. Please say hi if you’re around.

Congratulations to Matt, Rebecca, Carl, and the great crew of volunteers, for 10 years of the Montreal Folk Fest on the Canal – now, by far, my favorite annual event in Montreal.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

2014 Canadian Folk Music Awards

The 10th annual Canadian Folk Music Awards last night at the Bronson Centre in Ottawa was a magnificent celebration of Canadian folk music. In fact, the past three days – with Thursday and Friday evening concerts at the Bronson Centre featuring some of the nominees and a folk-festival-day’s-worth of workshops, sessions and song circles at and nearby the Ottawa Folklore Centre – was a magnificent celebration of Canadian Folk Music in many of its forms and genres.

In addition to the award presentations, the evening included stellar performances by Lynn Miles, Finest Kind, The Good Lovelies, Laura Smith, Lennie Gallant, and De Temps Antan.

Laura Smith with Bill Garrett & Paul Mills

The Canadian Folk Music Awards recipients (in order of presentation) were:

CHILDREN’S ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Fred Penner – Where in the World

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR

Tom Terrell and Karl Falkenham – City Ghosts by The Modern Grass

INSTRUMENTAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

The Andrew Collins Trio – A Play on Words

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

The High Bar Gang – Lost and Undone: A Gospel Bluegrass Companion

Lynn Miles

INSTRUMENTAL SOLO ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Jayme Stone – The Other Side of the Air

SOLO ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Lennie Gallant – Live Acoustic at The Carleton

ENSEMBLE OF THE YEAR

The Fretless – The Fretless

CONTEMPORARY SINGER OF THE YEAR

Matt Anderson – Weightless

THE OLIVER SCHROER PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES AWARD

Tanya Tagaq – Animism

Harvey Glatt

UNSUNG HERO AWARD

Harvey Glatt

FRENCH SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR

Julie Aubé, Vivianne Roy and Katrine Noël – Mon Homesick Heart by Les Hay Babies

FOLK MUSIC CANADA INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD

The Black Sheep Inn (Wakefield, Quebec)

ABORIGINAL SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR

Amanda Rheaume and John MacDonald – Keep a Fire

WORLD SOLO ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Quique Escamilla – 500 Years of Night

Shari Ulrich

ENGLISH SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR

Shari Ulrich – Everywhere I Go

YOUNG PERFORMER OF THE YEAR

Kacy & Clayton – The Day is Past & Gone

THE SUE GOLDBERG AWARD FOR TRADITIONAL SINGER OF THE YEAR

Mélisande – Les metamorphoses

NEW/EMERGING ARTIST OF THE YEAR

The Bros. Landreth – Let It Lie

WORLD GROUP ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Moustafa Kouyaté & Romain Malagnoux – Les frontiers imaginaires

TRADITIONAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Còig – Five

Shelagh Rogers and Benoit Bourque

CONTEMPORARY ALBUM OF THE YEAR

The Strumbellas – We Still Move on Dance Floors

Congratulations to all of the recipients, to the other nominees, to MCs Shelagh Rogers and Benoit Bourque, to all the volunteers who worked behind the scenes, and to the Canadian Folk Music Awards board for their outstanding work.

All photos courtesy of the Canadian Folk Music Awards.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif
 

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif