Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday April 22, 2023

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 and can already be streamed on-demand at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/60194.html

Judy Collins- Mr. Tambourine Man 

Live at the Metropolitan Museum of Art at the Temple of Dendur (Wildflower)

Mike Regenstreif & Tom Paxton (2001) photo: Janice Hanson

Tom Paxton- Whose Garden Was This

The Compleat Tom Paxton (Even Compleater) (Rhino Handmade)

The Rifters- The Dollar Worth of Mother Earth

The Enchanted World (Howlin' Dog)

Jaeger & Reid- Fire (For Greta)

Fire (For Greta) – single (Judi Jaeger & Bob Reid)

Debra Mann- Big Yellow Taxi

Full Circle: The Music of Joni Mitchell (Whaling City Sound)

Kuné- Earth I

Universal Echoes (Kuné)

Lynn Miles- Moody

tumbleWeedyWorld (True North)

Stephen Fearing- As the Crow Flies

Vejpoesi (Stephen Fearing)

Jason Lang- Carry On Children

Handled with Care (Famgroup/Genison Music)

Penny Lang- Ain’t Nobody Got the Blues Like Me

Live at the Yellow Door (She-Wolf)

Meredith Moon- Constellations

Constellations (True North)

Gordon Lightfoot- Sixteen Miles

The Original Lightfoot: The United Artists Years (EMI)

Chris Coole & John Showman- The Julia Belle Swain

Much Further Out Than Inevitable: A Fiddle and Banjo Tribute to Some Music of John Hartford (Chris Coole)

Dom Flemons- Tough Luck

Traveling Wildfire (Smithsonian Folkways)

Martin Hayes & The Common Ground Ensemble- Longford Tinker

Peggy’s Dream (Faction)

Colleen Kattau- In the Garden

In the Garden – single (Wind Light Studios)

Amelia Hogan- The Woodthrush’s Song

Taking Flight (Amelia Hogan)

Kuné- Earth II

Universal Echoes (Kuné)

Kuné- Earth III

Universal Echoes (Kuné)

Tom Chapin- This Pretty Planet II

This Pretty Planet (Sundance Music)

Eddie Redmayne & Cast- Wilkommen

Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club – London Cast Recording (Decca)

Jessie Buckley & Cast- Cabaret

Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club – London Cast Recording (Decca)

Coco Love Alcorn- Good News

Wonderland (Coco Love Alcorn)

Odetta- Freedom Trilogy: Oh Freedom/Come & Go with Me/I’m On My Way

Gonna Let It Shine (M.C.)

Jenny Whiteley- Needle in a Haystack

Hopetown (Black Hen Music)

Tim Grimm- Lonesome All the Time

The Little In-Between (Vault)

Ray Lemelin- Grandma’s Hands

Dark/Out of Phase (Ray Lemelin)

Eric Bibb featuring Harrison Kennedy- Call Me By My Name

Ridin’ (Stony Plain)

Dakota Dave Hull- Oh, Didn’t Ramble

Better Late Than Never: The Classic American Guitar-Banjo (Arabica)

Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer- All Wigged Out

All Wigged Out: Songs from the Musical (Community Music)

Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer- Amy’s of Denmark

All Wigged Out: Songs from the Musical (Community Music)

Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer- Car Wash

All Wigged Out: Songs from the Musical (Community Music)

Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer- Tipsy All the Time

All Wigged Out: Songs from the Musical (Community Music)

Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer- Where’d You Get That Hat

All Wigged Out: Songs from the Musical (Community Music)

Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer- Jesus is My Backstreet Driver

All Wigged Out: Songs from the Musical (Community Music)

Tom Russell & Mike Regenstreif (2005)

Tom Russell- Pork Roast and Poetry

Tribute to the Travelin’ Lady Rosalie Sorrels (Tribute to Rosalie Sorrels)

Rosalie Sorrels- Singing in the Country

Report from Grimes Creek (Green Linnet)

Andy Hedges & Tom Russell- Old Dolores

Roll On, Cowboys (Andy Hedges)

Chaim Tannenbaum- Brooklyn 1955

Chaim Tannenbaum (StorySound)

Aaron Nathans & Michael G. Ronstadt- Flatbush Sunset

Hello World (Crooked Cyclone)

Mike Ward- The Currency of Forgiveness

Love Never Rests (Psychosongs)

Grace Morrison- Oh, Colorado

Maybe Modern (Grace Morrison)

Chris Coole- Where the Light Begins

The Old Man and the C Chord (Chris Coole)

Greg Greenway- That’s Where the Hope Comes From

Between Hello & Goodbye (Greg Greenway)

Polky- Kolomyjka

Songs from Home (Polky)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on May 20. I also host Stranger Songs on CKCU every Tuesday from 3:30-5 pm. 

Find me on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Canadian Spaces – CKCU – November 19, 2022

Canadian Spaces on CKCU in Ottawa is Canada’s longest-running folk music radio program. It is heard Saturday mornings from 10:00 am until noon (Eastern time). 

It was hosted for more than 33 years by the late Chopper McKinnon and is now hosted by Chris White and a rotating cast of co-hosts. 

This week’s show was hosted by Mike Regenstreif.

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

This particular show was recorded and is already available for on-demand listening. https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/129/58358.html

Chris Coole- Upon the Mystery

The Old Man and the C Chord (Chris Coole)

The Dumptrucks- Stealin’

Selections (Laughing Cactus)

Bruce Cockburn- Honey Babe Let the Deal Go Down

Rarities (True North)

Zachary Lucky- I Wish I was a Mole in the Ground

Songs for Hard Times (Zachary Lucky)

Ken Whiteley- Michael Row

Long Time Travelling (Ken Whiteley)

Kaia Kater- White (Long Time Traveling)

Nine Pin (Kaia Kater)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Mike Regenstreif, Chaim Tannenbaum (1976) photo: Felicity Fanjoy

Chaim Tannenbaum- Ain’t No More Cane on the Brazos

Chaim Tannenbaum (StorySound)

Mountain City Four- Motherless Children

Mountain City Four (Omnivore)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- No Biscuit Blues

Tell My Sister: Dancer with Bruised Knees (Nonesuch)

Norah Jones with Lily Lanken- Over the Hill

Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Braden Gates- Norah Jones at Closing Time

Kitchen Days (Borealis)

Chris Coole & John Showman- Back in the Goodle Days

Much Further Out Than Inevitable: A Fiddle and Banjo Tribute to Some Music of John Hartford (Chris Coole)

The Slowinks- The Problem

Stay With Me Awhile (weewerk)

Jane Hawley- Take These Chains from My Heart

Sorrow Bound: Hank Williams Re-examined (Ruby Moon)

The Mahones- Watch Me Fall

Jameson Street (True North)

Al Grierson- Barney Rubble Meets Mack the Knife

The Petals (Folkin’ Eh)

Ofra Harnoy- Let Me Fish Off Cape St. Mary’s

On the Rock (Analekta)

Stan Rogers- Three Fishers

For the Family (Folk Tradition)

Tony Turner- Indelible Blue

Love & Other Attractions (Tony Turner)

Orit Shimoni- Sing Back to Me

Lorem Ipsum (Orit Shimoni)

Garnet Rogers- Shadows on the Water

Summer’s End (Snow Goose Songs)

Eric Andersen- More Often Than Not

Blue River (Columbia/Legacy)

Jason Lang- Happiness Is

Handled with Care: Hommage à Penny Lang (Jason Lang)

Mike Regenstreif & Penny Lang (2005)

Penny Lang- Geremia

Carry On Children (She-Wolf)

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

Grimshaw Road (Durham County Poets)

Po’ Girl- Ain’t Life Sweet

Home to You (Nettwerk)

Penny Lang- If I Could Be the Rain

Stone + Sand + Sea + Sky (Borealis)

Moore & McGregor- Don’t Let Us Get Sick

Dream with Me (Ivernia)

Dennis O’Toole- To Grow Old Together

Dennis O’Toole (Dennis O’Toole)

Terra Spencer & Ben Caplan- Maybe

Old News (Terra Spencer & Ben Caplan)

Holly Cole- Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues

Night (Rumpus Room)

Ian Tamblyn- Whip Poor Will

Voice in the Wilderness (North Track)

I also host Stranger Songs every Tuesday from 3:30 to 5 pm; and the Saturday Morning show from 7 to 10 am, once every 4 weeks with my next slot on November 5.

Find me on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

David Francey – Empty Train

DAVID FRANCEY

Empty Train

Laker Music

davidfrancey.com

I’ve written often about David Francey since he emerged – seemingly out of nowhere – in 1999 at age 45 as one of Canada’s greatest folk-rooted singer-songwriters. I’ve reviewed nearly all of his albums – he’s been a prolific recording artist over the past 17 years – and I’ve done newspaper and magazine features about him. My Sing Out! magazine feature from Fall 2005, "David Francey: A Working Man's Poetry," can be read here on the Folk Roots/Folk Branches blog.

With Empty Train, David offers 11 of his insightful, mostly timeless songs (one of which he co-wrote) and a fine version of “False Knight,” the traditional folk song.

The album opens with “Empty Train,” the compelling title track with a heartbeat arrangement featuring Mark Westberg on electric guitar, a texture I’m not used to hearing accompanying David. The insistent pattern of the electric guitar effectively conjures “the rattle of an empty train” that David describes hearing at a lonely train station Ashcroft, BC.

Perhaps the most moving songs are “Crucible,” written about his father and uncle’s service in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, and “Hospital” about visiting his father in the hospital.

“Crucible” describes his father and uncle’s navy duties in the war noting their too-quick growth “from young to old” and the tragic losses of their comrades who didn’t make it home while “Hospital” poignantly describes an old man nearing his end. The song was written in 2004 and David notes that his father did live to come home from that hospital stay – but not the next.

Other highlights include “The Money Boys,” a short, but very effective, topical song about bankers that David sings a cappella with son Colin Francey; “Big Texas Moon,” a love song with a bouncy old-time feel courtesy of Chris Coole’s banjo frailing; and “Blue Girl,” inspired by the National Film Board documentary Give Me Your Soul, which describes the emptiness of pornography and its eventual effect on an actress giving her soul to it.

David is currently on tour performing release concerts for Empty Train. Click here for the tour itinerary.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

David Francey – So Say We All

DAVID FRANCEY
So Say We All
Laker Music 
davidfrancey.com

As I’ve noted before, David Francey, then in his mid-40s and a carpenter by trade, emerged in the late-1990s as one of Canada’s most significant and accomplished singer-songwriters. His songs are distinguished by their beautifully-crafted, poetic lyrics and memorable, traditional-sounding melodies. On So Say We All, as on the nine previous albums he’s released since 1999, David surrounds himself with a small group of creative acoustic musicians who help bring out the best in his songs without ever getting in the way.

David notes in the CD booklet that he recorded this album following what had been “a very difficult year,” that recording it “was a pathway up and out from under.”

Indeed, several of the songs reflect themes of depression and hopelessness. “Harm,” which sounds like an Appalachian folksong thanks to Chris Coole’s banjo arrangement, captures the feelings of someone at the deepest depths of depression longing to climb out again. “Cheap Motel,” reflects the loneliness that is part of many road musicians' day-to-day life, while “Ordinary Man” presents a series of scenes – the military, a dead end job, prison – in which an ordinary man is trapped, and “Satellite,” shows the emptiness of staring at the ground on a dark night while the wonders of the heavens are there to behold by just looking up.

Despite these, and several others, the album is not all dark. There is the hopefulness of finding love in “Weather Vane” and the renewal of the human spirit reflected in “Blue Skies,” a song inspired by the Blue Skies Folk festival.

Even when David is singing about darkness, there is much to learn and understand about the human spirit – and that is a mark of great songwriting.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Erynn Marshall – Tune Tramp

ERYNN MARSHALL
Tune Tramp
Hickoryjack 
hickoryjack.com

Erynn Marshall is a Canadian ethnomusicologist and fiddler now based in Galax, Virginia, home to the Old Fiddler’s Convention, the longest-running fiddle contest. For Tune Tramp, she tramped around various locations in Canada and the United States recording 20 different tunes with various combinations of 45 musicians – an ambitious and completely successful undertaking – after noting that old-time music is played differently in different regional locales.

Erynn is a superb fiddler and she seems to adapt easily to whatever collaborators she’s working with from tune to tune and blend beautifully with them. Her fiddle is front and centre on some tunes and plays a significant supporting role on others.

Some of my favourites among many include a couple of tunes recorded here in Canada. On “Milwaukee Blues,” she fiddles and sings harmony with Pharis Romero on guitar and lead vocals and Jason Romero on banjo and harmony vocals. Then, on the delightful “Ragged But Right,” Erynn and her partner, mandolinist Carl Jones who is also heard on many of the tracks, are joined by Toronto-based musicians Arnie Naiman on vocals and banjo, Chris Coole on guitar, Chris Whiteley on harmonica and Ken Whiteley on jug.

A few of the other highlights include an up-tempo string band version of “Rovin’ Gambler” featuring lead vocals by guitarist Mac Snow; a Cajun version of “Poor Hobo,” sung by Joel Savoy and featuring twin fiddles by Erynn and Joel and a great lap steel solo by Carl; a sad duet with Skip Gorman on the Delmore Brothers’ “Fugitive’s Lament”; and the title song, “Tune Tramp,” a beautiful song written and sung by Carl with Erynn on fiddle that captures the spirit of the album.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif