Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – September 2, 2025: "Crazy Blues" and Other Crazy Songs

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/595/71788.html

Theme: “Crazy Blues” and other Crazy Songs.

Mamie Smith- Crazy Blues

The Rough Guide to Blues Women (World Music Network)

Patsy Cline- Crazy

The Unforgettable Patsy Cline (Polygram)

Steven Fromholz- I’d Have to Be Crazy

A Rumor in My Own Time (Capitol)

Rosalie Sorrels- We Were Kinda Crazy Then 

Travelin’ Lady Rides Again (Green Linnet)

Lennie Gallant- She’s Gonna Drive You Crazy

Shelter from the Storms (Lennie Gallant)

J.J. Cale- Crazy Mama

Naturally (Mercury)

Ball & Chain & The Wreckers- Crazy Arms

Live at the Bayou (Ball & Chain)

Durham County Poets- Good Kind of Crazy

Out of the Woods (Durham County Poets)

Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band- Crazy Words, Crazy Tune

Greatest Hits (Vanguard)

Leon Redbone- I’m Crazy ‘Bout My Baby

Whistling in the Wind (Rounder)

John Prine- Egg & Daughter Night, Lincoln Nebraska, 1967 (Crazy Bone)

The Tree of Forgiveness (Oh Boy)

Bebop Cowboys- Crazy Rhythm

Début (Bebop Cowboys)

Tom Paxton- Crazy John

Tom Paxton 6 (Elektra)

Michael Smith- Crazy Mary

Love Letter on a Fish (Tales from the Tavern)

Carla Gover & Brett Ratliff- Crazy

Kentucky Queen (Redbird)

Russ Kelley- Crazy Shades of Blue

Crazy Shades of Blue (Ark Road Music Productions)

Billie Holiday- Crazy He Calls Me

Lady’s Decca Days, Volume One (Decca)

Sunny and Her Joy Boys- You’re Driving Me Crazy

Introducing Sunny and Her Joy Boys (Stony Plain)

J. Reissner- Crazy Swing

Portrait in Blue (J. Reissner)

Ana Gasteyer- Crazy People

I’m Hip (Henry’s Girl)

Ian Robb- Champion at Driving ‘Em Crazy

Ian Robb & Hang the Piper (Folk-Legacy)

Leonard Cohen- Crazy to Love You

Old Ideas (Columbia)

Shirley Eikhard- Crazy from the Heat

Going Home (Artisan Music)

Tom Russell- The Other Side of Crazy

Who’s Gonna Build Your Wall? (HighTone)

Barbara Dane- Crazy Blues

On My Way (Dreadnaught Music)

Next week: Part 1 – Songs and Conversation with author David Eisenstadt; Part 2 – Riding in My Car.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – November 12, 2024: Remembering Barbara Dane (1927-2024)

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/595/67642.html

Theme: Remembering Barbara Dane (1927-2024).

Barbara Dane, the folk, blues and jazz singer – and political activist – died at home in Oakland, California on October 20 at age 97. Barbara was born in Detroit in 1927 and began singing at demonstrations for racial equality and labor rights while still a teenager. She remained an activist for those causes, as well as for peace and women’s rights all of her life.

In 2017, I had the honor of interviewing Barbara on stage during the Wisdom of the Elders panel at the Folk Alliance International conference in Kansas City. She truly had a remarkable and inspiring life.

Mike Regenstreif & Barbara Dane (2017)

Barbara Dane- Stranger’s Blues

Barbara Dane Sings the Blues (Folkways)

Barbara Dane- Nine Hundred Miles

Anthology of American Folk Songs (Tradition)

Barbara Dane- When I was a Young Girl

Anthology of American Folk Songs (Tradition)

Barbara Dane & Doc Watson- You Don’t Know Me/You Don’t Know My Mind

Hot Jazz, Cool Blues & Hard-Hitting Songs (Smithsonian Folkways)

Barbara Dane & Pete Seeger- Solidarity Forever

Hot Jazz, Cool Blues & Hard-Hitting Songs (Smithsonian Folkways)

Barbara Dane with Jesse Cahn, Pablo Menendez & Johnny Harper- Oh, Had I a Golden Thread

Hot Jazz, Cool Blues & Hard-Hitting Songs (Smithsonian Folkways)

Barbara Dane & The Chambers Brothers- It Isn’t Nice

Hot Jazz, Cool Blues & Hard-Hitting Songs (Smithsonian Folkways)

Barbara Dane & The Chambers Brothers- Come By Here

Hot Jazz, Cool Blues & Hard-Hitting Songs (Smithsonian Folkways)

Barbara Dane with Memphis Slim & Willie Dixon- Walking Blues

Hot Jazz, Cool Blues & Hard-Hitting Songs (Smithsonian Folkways)

Barbara Dane & Lightnin' Hopkins- Sometimes I Believe She Loves Me

Hot Jazz, Cool Blues & Hard-Hitting Songs (Smithsonian Folkways)

Barbara Dane- Ain’t Nobody Got the Blues Like Me

Trouble In Mind (Dreadnaught)

Barbara Dane- Prescription for the Blues

Trouble In Mind (Dreadnaught)

Barbara Dane with Earl 'Fatha' Hines & His Orchestra- Livin’ with the Blues

Livin’ with the Blues (Dreadnaught)

Barbara Dane- Basin Street Blues

Hot Jazz, Cool Blues & Hard-Hitting Songs (Smithsonian Folkways)

Barbara Dane- Mama Yancey’s Advice

Hot Jazz, Cool Blues & Hard-Hitting Songs (Smithsonian Folkways)

Barbara Dane with Earl 'Fatha' Hines & His Orchestra- Mecca Flat Blues

Livin’ with the Blues (Dreadnaught)

Barbara Dane- Deportees (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)

Hot Jazz, Cool Blues & Hard-Hitting Songs (Smithsonian Folkways)

Barbara Dane & Pete Seeger- We Shall Not Be Moved

Hot Jazz, Cool Blues & Hard-Hitting Songs (Smithsonian Folkways)

Barbara Dane & The Chambers Brothers- This Little Light of Mine

Hot Jazz, Cool Blues & Hard-Hitting Songs (Smithsonian Folkways)

Next week: Immigration, Part 1 – The Man from God Knows Where.

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday May 21, 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 prerecorded at home and can already be streamed on-demand at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/56352.html

Ian Tamblyn- Tiger Lily Road
Voice in the Wilderness (North Track)

OXLIP- Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies
Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies (World Peach)
Ian Robb & James Stephens- Bold Riley
Declining …with thanks (Fallen Angle)
Séan McCann- Deep Blue Sea
Shantyman (Séan McCann)

Tom Mitchell & Mike Regenstreif (1999)

Edie Carey- Georgia
The Veil (Edie Carey)
Barney Bentall- Potter’s Wheel
Cosmic Dreamer (True North)
Chuck Brodsky- It Takes Two Wings
Gravity, Wings, and Heavy Things (Chuck Brodsky)
Barry Oreck- Wounded
Leap Year (Barry Oreck)
Tom Mitchell- Old Blue Train
When the Moon is Right (Truesongs)

Amy Speace- Little Red
Tuscon (Windbone)
Kim Beggs- Not a Man of God
Steel and Wool (Out of a Paper Bag Productions)
Allison Russell- Poison Arrow
Outside Child (Fantasy)
Amanda Rheaume- Red Dress
Holding Patterns (Amanda Rheaume)

Mike Stevens- Watermelon Pie
Breathe In the World Breathe Out Music (Stony Plain)

The video of this performance of “Ukrainian Now” is at this link. 

John McCutcheon with Tom Paxton, Noel Paul Stookey, Peter Yarrow, Bill Miller, Tret Fure, Holly Near, Joe Jencks, Emma's Revolution, Rebel Voices, Crys Matthews, Carrie Newcomer & Christine Lavin- Ukrainian Now
Ukrainian Now – single (Appalseed) 

Lenka Lichtenberg- Kam jsme to zašli?/What is this place?
Thieves of Dreams (Six Degrees)
Lily Henley- La Galud (The Exile)
Oras Dezaoradas (Lior Éditions)

Gathering Sparks- Many Sparks Make a Fire
All That’s Real (Borealis)
Vanessa Lively- (Truth Is) I Am Found
Truth Is (Animada)
Martyn Joseph- Born Too Late
1960 (Pipe)

Marc Jordan & Amy Sky- Dimming of the Day
He Sang She Sang (Linus)
Susan Cattaneo- Diamond Days
All is Quiet (Jersey Girl Music)
Steve Lundquist- You Got Gold
My Life in Song (Steve Lundquist)

Nina Simone- I Shall Be Released
To Love Somebody (RCA)
Dalia Davis- My Back Pages
Keep a Clean Engine (Teal Power)
James Lee Baker- Just Like a Woman
Impressions (James Lee Baker)
Bob Dylan- I Contain Multitudes
Rough and Rowdy Ways (Columbia)

Oscar Peterson- Liza
The Jazz Soul of Oscar Peterson (Verve)

Mike Regenstreif & The Durham County Poets (2014)

Durham County Poets- Working On It
Out of the Woods (Durham County Poets)
The Hogtown Allstars- Mr. Lucky
Hog Wild (Stony Plain)
Jim Patton & Sherry Brokus- Austin Night
Going the Distance (Berkalin)

Mike Regenstreif & Barbara Dane (2017)

Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder- Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee
Get On Board: The Songs of Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee (Nonesuch)
Guy Davis & Fabrizio Poggi- Louise, Louise
Sonny & Brownie’s Last Train (M.C.)
Barbara Dane with Earl ‘Fatha’ Hines & His Orchestra- Livin’ with the Blues
Livin’ with the Blues (Dreadnaught)
Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee- Walk On
Working Man Blues (Sunset Blvd.)

Bonnie Dobson- Who are These Men?
Take Me for a Walk in the Morning Dew (Hornbeam)
Rain Perry featuring Mark Hallman- (Walk Me Out in the) Morning Dew
A White Album (Precipitous)

Jenny Reynolds- Before I Know You’re Gone
Any Kind of Angel (Jenny Reynolds)
Steve Madewell- Hometown Blues
Hometown Blues (Barnsongs)
Courtney Hale Revia- One Way Out
Growing Pains (Courtney Hale Revia)
Doug Kolmar- Black Cloud
So Said Life (Doug Kolmar)

Wolf & Clover- O’Carolan’s Farewell to Music
Twelvemonth and a Day (Wolf & Clover)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on June 18. I also host Stranger Songs on CKCU every Tuesday from 3:30-5 pm.

Find me on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday March 26, 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 prerecorded at home and can already be streamed on-demand at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/55682.html

Richie Havens- Here Comes the Sun
Résumé: The Best of Richie Havens (Rhino)

Pete Seeger & Tao Rodriguez Seeger- Maple Syrup Time
Seeds: The Songs of Pete Seeger, Volume 3 (Appleseed)
Le Vent du Nord- Dans l’eau-de-vie de l’arbre
20 Printemps (La Compagnie du Nord)
Tamarack- Maple Syrup
Leaving Inverarden (Folk Era)
Trent Severn- Stealin’ Syrup
Trillium (Trent Severn)

Jesse Winchester & Mike Regenstreif (2000)

Jesse Winchester- Yankee Lady
Live From Mountain Stage (Blue Plate Music)
Bob Stark- I Can’t Be Sure
Sculpted Pieces of Love (Bob Stark)
Colleen Peterson- Brand New Tennessee Waltz
Beginning to Feel Like Home (Capitol)
Michael Miland- Isn’t That So
Michael Miland (Michael Miland)
Jennifer Warnes- You Remember Me
Shot Through the Heart (Arista)

Tom Paxton, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer- When the Big Bad Books Go Boo
When the Big Bad Books Go Boo – single (Community Music)
Carla Ulbrich- From the Bible
Twang (Romantic Devil)

Rupert Wates- For the People
For the People (Rupert Wates)
Greg Greenway- Let It Roll
Songs From the Beginning (Sheen of Heat Music)
Johnsmith- Virgil’s Sweet Six String
Backroads (Blue Pine Music)

Mike Mullins- Beneath the Skye the Water is Wide
8-String Sketches (Rubber Chicken)

Mike Regenstreif & Bruce Cockburn (2017)

Psoy Korolenko- Babi Yar
Yiddish Glory: The Lost Songs of World War II (Six Degrees)
Sophie Milman- Tulchin
Yiddish Glory: The Lost Songs of World War II (Six Degrees)
Tom Paxton- Silent Night
New Songs for Old Friends (Reprise)
Leonard Cohen- The Partisan
Songs from a Room (Columbia/Legacy)
Bruce Cockburn- If I Had a Rocket Launcher
Greatest Hits (1970-2020) (True North)

Lisa Null- Sweet Dove of Peace
Legacies (Folk-Legacy)
Sue Horowitz- Peace Song
Notes From the Garrison (Sue Horowitz)
Noel Paul Stookey featuring Theresa Thomason- In Reverence
Fazz: Now & Then (Neworld Multimedia)
Priscilla Herdman- Peace Must Come
Darkness Into Light (Flying Fish)

Eliza Gilkyson- Colorado Trail
Songs from the River Wind (Howlin’ Dog)
Tom Russell & Ian Tyson- Navajo Rug
Cowboy’d All to Hell (Frontera)
Over the Moon- Someday Soon
Chinook Waltz (Borealis)
Bill Staines- My Sweet Wyoming Home
Miles (Mineral River)
Willie P. Bennett- Blackie and the Rodeo King
Blackie and the Rodeo King (Bnatural Music)

Hoyle Osborne- Can-Can
Ragtime Cowboy Joe: Piano Music from an Old West Saloon (Ripple)

Shari Ulrich & Mike Regenstreif (2019)

Rick Fines- Live Forever
Solar Powered Too (Rick Fines)
Susan Crowe- Still, You Do Not Come
The Door to the River (Corvus)
Shari Ulrich- Busy
Back to Shore (Borealis)
Lynn Miles- Main St.
We’ll Look for Stars (Must Have Music)

The Duke Robillard Band with Michelle Willson- Trouble in Mind
They Called It Rhythm & Blues (Stony Plain)
Barbara Dane- Prescription for the Blues
Trouble In Mind (Dreadnaught)
Memphis Slim & Willie Dixon- Chicago House Rent Party
Songs of Memphis Slim & Willie Dixon (Folkways)
Kenny ‘Blues Boss’ Wayne- Rock and Rolling This House
Blues from Chicago to Paris: A Tribute to Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon (Stony Plain)

Pierce Turner- Don’t Get Too Fallen
Terrible Good (StorySound)
The Band- I Shall Be Released
Music from Big Pink: 50th Anniversary (Capitol)
Cowboy Junkies with Garth Hudson- Clothes Line Saga
Garth Hudson Presents a Canadian Celebration of The Band: 10th Anniversary Edition (Curve Music)
The Brothers & Sisters- My Back Pages
Dylan’s Gospel (Columbia)
Bob Dylan- Visions of Johanna
The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert! (Columbia/Legacy)

Wynton Marsalis- The Pearls  
Selections from Swinging into the 21st (Columbia)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on April 23. I also host Stranger Songs on CKCU every Tuesday from 3:30-5 pm.

Find me on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday May 4, 2021

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

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

This episode of Stranger Songs was prerecorded at home and can already be streamed on-demand by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/51831.html

Theme: The Second Stranger Songs Fantasy Concert, a whole show of music recorded live in concert. We will have a "Stranger Songs Fantasy Concert" on our first show of every month until it’s safe for us to return to live music in person.

Big Daddy Wilson- Stranger
Live in Europe: From Bremen to Paris (Phamosa)

Sneezy Waters & His Very Fine Band- Walkin’ Round Town
Live (Sneezy Waters)
James Talley- Down on the Corner
Journey – The Second Voyage (Cimarron)
Penny Lang- Jailer, Bring Me Water
Penny Lang & Friends Live (She-Wolf)
Taj Mahal & The Hula Blues Band- Corinna
Live from Kauai (Kuleana)
Odetta with The Holmes Brothers- This Little Light of Mine
Gonna Let It Shine (M.C.)

Mike Regenstreif & Barbara Dane (2017)

Arlo Guthrie- St. James Infirmary
Here Come the Kids (Rising Son)
Barbara Dane- Mama Yancey’s Advice
Hot Jazz, Cool Blues & Hard-Hitting Songs (Smithsonian Folkways)
Bonnie Koloc- Jazzman
Seems Like Yesterday (Mr. Biscuit)
Eddie Holstein- Back in the Saddle Again
Eddie Holstein (Eddie Holstein)

Norah Jones- (Talk to Me of) Mendocino
Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle (Nonesuch)
Anna McGarrigle, Sylvan Lanken & Lily Lanken- On My Way to Town
Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle (Nonesuch)
Martha Wainwright- Matapedia
Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Eva Cassidy- Tall Trees in Georgia
Live at Blues Alley (Blix Street)
Doug McArthur- Black Eyed Susan
Thunder Into Heaven (Patio)
The Wailin' Jennys- Begin
Live at The Mauch Chunk Opera House (Outside)

Mary Gauthier- The Rocket
Live at Blue Rock (In the Black)
Bill Chambers- I Drink
Live at the Pub Tamworth (Universal)
Tom Mitchell- Wasted Rose
1976 live recording – used with permission

Next week – Songs Inspired by the Pandemic

Find me on Twitter. www.twitter.com/mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday March 9, 2021

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

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

This episode of Stranger Songs – Episode #5 – was prerecorded at home and can already be streamed on-demand by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/51142.html

 

 

Part 1: Original songs by a sampling of Canadian women

Orit Shimoni- Strange and Beautiful Things
Strange and Beautiful Things (Orit Shimoni)

Kat Goldman- The One to Dream
The Workingman’s Blues (Kat Goldman)
Lynne Hanson- Every Minute In Between
Just Words (Lynne Hanson)
Laura Smith- Middle America
As Long As I’m Dreaming (Borealis)

Lynn Miles- A Heart Can Only Take So Much
We’ll Look for Stars (Must Have Music)
Kerri Ough- Drawing Board
One Day Soon (Kerri Ough)
Ronney Abramson- Three O’Clock Ride
Three O’Clock Ride – single (Ronney Abramson)

Part 2: Songs of Malvina Reynolds

Pete Seeger- Little Boxes
Headlines & Footnotes: A Collection of Topical Songs (Smithsonian Folkways)
Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Petites boîtes (Little Boxes)
La vache qui pleure (Tribu)
John McCutcheon- Mrs. Clara Sullivan’s Letter
To Everyone in All the World: A Celebration of Pete Seeger (Appalsongs)
Malvina Reynolds- The Money Crop
Ear to the Ground: Topical Songs 1960-1978 (Smithsonian Folkways)

Jane Voss & Hoyle Osborne- On the Rim of the World
Pullin’ Through (Ripple)
Rosalie Sorrels- Rosie Jane
No Closing Chord: The Songs of Malvina Reynolds (Red House)
Robert Resnik & Gigi Weisman- Magic Penny
Sweet Potatoes and Home Grown Tomatoes (Fletcher Free Library)
Charlie Louvin- Turn Around
The Longest Train (Watermelon)

The Malvinas- God Bless the Grass
God Bless the Grass (Soona Songs)
Marianne Faithfull- What Have They Done to the Rain
Marianne Faithfull (Deram)
Malvina Reynolds- Skagit Valley Forever
Ear to the Ground: Topical Songs 1960-1978 (Smithsonian Folkways)
John Roberts & Tony Barrand- The Albatross
Mellow with Ale from the Horn (Golden Hind Music)

Bodie Wagner- The Bankers & the Diplomats (We Hate to See Them Go)
Vintage (Bodie Wagner)
Barbara Dane & The Chambers Brothers- It Isn’t Nice
Hot Jazz, Cool Blues & Hard-Hitting Songs (Smithsonian Folkways)
Spook Handy- From Way Up Here
Dedicated to the Proposition: Pete, Woody & Me, Vol. II (Akashic)
Malvina Reynolds- This World
Ear to the Ground: Topical Songs 1960-1978 (Smithsonian Folkways)
Rosalie Sorrels- No Closing Chord
No Closing Chord: The Songs of Malvina Reynolds (Red House)

Next week – Irish and Irish-inspired songs.

Find me on Twitter. www.twitter.com/mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Folk Alliance International Conference

I’ve just returned from an inspiring five days in Kansas City attending the 2017 Folk Alliance International Conference from February 15 to 19.

International Folk Music Awards

Mike Regenstreif

The conference began with the International Folk Music Awards and I was deeply honored to be one of the broadcasters inducted into the Folk DJ Hall of Fame in its inaugural year. As noted in the conference program book, “The Folk DJ Hall of Fame has been established to recognize radio DJs who have made an outstanding contribution to the preservation, promotion, and preservation of Folk music, and who have demonstrated and inspired leadership in the broadcast field.”

Kris Kristofferson performs during the Awards Ceremony.

I was not only deeply honored to be one of the first Folk DJ Hall of Fame inductees but to share the honor with colleagues I’ve been privileged to know and deeply respect for many years. The late Oscar Brand hosted “Oscar Brand’s Folksong Festival” on WNYC in New York for more than 70 years (and Oscar’s Canadian TV show, “Let’s Sing Out,” was a big part of my introduction to folk music as a kid in the 1960s); the late Howard and late Roz Larmon who hosted “FolkScene” on KPFK in Los Angeles for more than four decades; Rich Warren, who already had a strong history in folk radio when he became host of “The Midnight Special” on WFMT in Chicago in 1983; and Gene Shay, whose legendary folk music shows on several radio stations in Philadelphia ran from 1962 until 2015.

David Amram

It was also particularly meaningful to me that several of the other award recipients this year were friends I’ve been honored to know since the 1970s. They included the late Malvina Reynolds, who I presented in concert in Montreal in 1973 and David Amram, the always-amazing classical-jazz-folk-world-music composer-conductor-performer who I met at the Mariposa Folk Festival in 1974, who received richly deserved Lifetime Achievement Awards (I was so pleased that I was seated next to David Amram during the ceremony.); Bruce Cockburn, who received the People’s Voice Award; and Si Kahn who received a Spirit of Folk Award.

Bruce Cockburn

Other honorees – all so richly deserving – included The Clearwater Festival, which received the inaugural Clearwater Award; and Barbara Dane, Chloe Goodyear, Michelle Conceison, Ramy Essam, and Sonia disappear fear (Sonia Rutstein) who received Spirit of Folk Awards.

Daytime programs

Daytime programs at the conference included some tremendous panel discussions and special presentations. Among the presentations I found particularly inspiring were talks by Ani DiFranco, Billy Bragg and Nora Guthrie (discussing her father, Woody Guthrie) on the intersection of folk music and activism – and the Wisdom of the Elders panel with Barbara Dane, Len Chandler and Ron Cohen.

Wisdom of the Elders (Photo: Art Menius)

Wisdom of the Elders is an annual oral history session at the conference created by the amazing Sonny Ochs to present “elders of our community in an intimate forum to share perspectives from a lifetime in folk music.” I was deeply honored to co-moderate the Wisdom of the Elders panel with Sonny this year.

Official Showcases

Each night featured multi-artist official showcase concerts in nine different locations.

Susan Werner

I got to MC one of the Thursday night concerts and introduced performances by Elle Márjá Eira from Norway; Kortchmar, Postell & Navarro (Danny Kortchmar, Steve Postell and Dan Navarro); Susan Werner; Masters of Hawaiian Music (George Kahumoku, Jr., Nathan Aweau and David “Kawika” Kahiapo); Gaby Moreno from Guatemala; and Hermitage Green from Ireland.

Some of the other official showcase artists I particularly enjoyed hearing on the nights I wasn’t MCing included Sonia disappear fear; Ellis Paul; OSOG, an eight piece folk-rock band from Israel; Plainsong; Heather Rankin; John McCutcheon; Vance Gilbert; Jimmy LaFave; and Barbara Dane. There were literally dozens of official showcases I wished I could have been at as there were more than 200 different official showcases with nine different ones happening at any given moment.

Private Showcases

Vance Gilbert

Late nights – from about 10:30 pm until 4 am – in dozens and dozens of locations there was an overwhelming number of private showcases. I didn’t stay up on Wednesday night but among my favorite performances on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights were short sets by Sonia disappear fear; Orit Shimoni; Sharon Goldman; Vance Gilbert; Carrie Elkin; The Once; Ben Caplan; David Olney; Robinlee Garber; Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer; Sussex; Maria Dunn; Eve Goldberg; Joe Newbury & April Verch; and a Local 1000 song circle that included – amongst others – John McCutcheon, Tom Paxton, Tret Fure and Joe Jencks.

And, again, there were dozens and dozens of other private showcases I wish I could have made it to.

Kansas City Folk Festival

Tribute to Woody Guthrie

After the conference, Folk Alliance International presented the Kansas City Folk Festival on multiple, simultaneous stages in the conference hotel. I got to see two inspiring presentations on the “tribute stage” before we had to checkout and head to the airport.

First was a tribute to Phil Ochs, hosted by actor-singer Zachary Stevenson who is developing a stage show based on Phil. Other participants included Billy Bragg, Sonia disappear fear, Tom Paxton, Greg Greenway, and Joe Jencks.

The other was a tribute to Woody Guthrie, with songs and readings, performed by Jimmy LaFave, Betty Soo, Ray Bonneville and Sam Baker.

It was an intense and inspiring five days at the Folk Alliance International Conference.Special thanks to Folk Alliance International Executive Director Aengus Finnan and staff members Jennifer Roe, Cindy Cogbill, Ana Miura and all the rest. 

Visit my Facebook Folk Alliance album at this link for more photos. There are also some photos in my Facebook music friends album.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Irwin Silber 1925-2010

Irwin Silber, the first editor of Sing Out!, the preeminent folk music journal since 1950, passed away on Wednesday from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. Irwin ran Sing Out! for its first 17 years, a time that included the folk boom – what Utah Phillips liked to call “the great folk scare” – of the late-1950s and early-‘60s.

It was 1970 or ’71 when I began subscribing to Sing Out! – and it was sometime in the ‘80s that I became a regular contributor to its pages – so Irwin’s tenure was before my time. But, as a student of the folk music revival, I am well aware of his legacy with the magazine (in the '70s I had the opportunity to go back and read every issue of its early decades from cover to cover) and in such other endeavors as People’s Songs, Oak Publications and Paredon Records.

All of us who have practiced folk music journalism over the past 60 years are somehow rooted in Irwin's pioneering work.

I never met Irwin in person, although we did exchange e-mails on several occasions when I turned to him as a source for research I was doing. He was gracious and helpful whenever I had a question for him. He was particularly helpful when I wanted to find out about John Gates (born Solomon Regenstreif), the long-time editor of the Daily Worker and political commissar of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade during the Spanish Civil War.

I send my condolences to Irwin's wife, Barbara Dane, and the rest of his family and friends.

The New York Times obituary on Irwin can be read here.

--Mike Regenstreif