Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday May 11, 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/595/51907.html

 

Theme: Songs from the Pandemic, some of the songs inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic that have been written and recorded over the past 14 months.

Paul Kaplan- These Are the Days
We Shall Stay Here (Old Coat Music)

Danny Schmidt- 2020 Vision
2020 Vision – single (Danny Schmidt)
The Accidentals- Anyway
Time Out Session #1 (The Accidentals)
Crowes Pasture- Quarantine
Quarantine – single (Crowes Pasture)
Sloan Wainwright- In Times Like These
Red Maple Tree (Sloan Wainwright)

Paul Mills- 45 Weeks from Now
Unreleased parody of Stan Rogers’ “45 Years” with new words by Shelley Posen – used with permission
Shelley Posen- Long, Long Tunnel
Long, Long Tunnel – single (Well Done Music)

Tim Grimm- Gone
Gone (Vault)
Mike Goudreau Band- Isolation Blues
The Isolation Blues (Mike Goudreau)

Reggie Harris- My Working Bones
On Solid Ground (Reggie Harris Music)
John McCutcheon- Front Line
Cabin Fever: Songs from the Quarantine (Appalsongs)
Crys Matthews- Selfless
Changemakers (Crys Matthews)

Craig Werth- Things That Bring Hope
Things That Bring Hope – single (Craig Werth)
Emma's Revolution- Celebrate You (Happy Birthday)
Celebrate You (Happy Birthday) – single (Moving Forward Music)

Paul Kaplan- Little Boxes (2020)
We Shall Stay Here (Old Coat Music)
Skinner & T’witch- Working from Home
Working from Home – single (Skinner & T’witch)

Cliff Eberhardt- Mr. Lucky
Knew Things (Tin Pan Ally)
Jamie Anderson- Six Feet Away
Songs from Home (Jamie Anderson)
Anne Hills- Accidental August
Accidental August (Hand & Heart Music)

John McCutcheon- When All of This is Over
Cabin Fever: Songs from the Quarantine (Appalsongs)
Sloan Wainwright- Help Each Other Through
Red Maple Tree (Sloan Wainwright)
The Accidentals- All Shall Be Well
Time Out Session #1 (The Accidentals)

Next week – The Times They Are A-Changin': A Nod to Bob Dylan at 80, Part 1 (The Times They Are A-Changin': A Nod to Bob Dylan at 80, Part 2 will be heard on the Saturday Morning show on May 22; The Times They Are A-Changin': A Nod to Bob Dylan at 80, Part 3 will be heard on Stranger Songs on May 25)

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

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Sing Out! Magazine – Summer 2011

My copy of the Summer 2011 issue of Sing Out! Magazine arrived today (just in the nick of time before summer officially fades into fall this week. The cover story is about the David Wax Museum, a band I met last month when they were part of a workshop I hosted at the Ottawa Folk Festival.

As usual, this issue of Sing Out! has some of my writing including a book review of Woody Guthrie: American Radical by Will Kaufman, and a bunch of CD reviews:

Rory Block – Shake ‘Em On Down: A Tribute to Mississippi Fred McDowell

Jonathan Byrd – Cackalack

Hal Cannon – Hal Cannon

Patti Casey – The Heart of a Waiting Boy

Rachel Harrington – Celilo Falls

Diana Jones – High Atmosphere

Buddy Miller – Buddy Miller’s The Majestic Silver Strings

Job Potter – Job Potter

Danny Schmidt – Man of Many Moons

The Wailin’ Jennys – Bright Morning Stars

Tim Williams – When I was a Cowboy.

--Mike Regenstreif

Various Artists -- A Nod to Bob 2

VARIOUS ARTISTS

A Nod to Bob 2

Red House

redhouserecords.com

A decade ago, when Bob Dylan turned 60, Red House Records, the superb folk music label based in Dylan’s home state of Minnesota, released a sublime tribute album called A Nod to Bob, that featured Red House artists of the day – including Rosalie Sorrels, Greg Brown, Eliza Gilkyson, John Gorka, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Guy Davis, Lucy Kaplansky and others – each doing a Bob Dylan song.

Now, with Dylan turning 70 this coming Tuesday, Red House has released another fine tribute featuring 16 of its solo artists or bands – including seven who were on the first Nod to Bob in 2001 – each doing a Dylan song or, in the cases of Spider John Koerner (“The Days of Forty-Nine”), Hot Tuna (“Mama, Let me Lay It On You”) and Guy Davis (“House of the Rising Sun”), great versions of traditional songs from Dylan’s repertoire.

Among my favourite tracks are John Gorka’s beautiful version of “Just Like a Woman,’ a gorgeous take on “Buckets of Rain” by Danny Schmidt, Meg Hutchinson’s haunting piano-based arrangement of “Born in Time,” and Jimmy LaFave’s intense folk-to-rock version of “Not Dark Yet.” There’s probably no other current artist who understands Dylan’s fusion of folk music and rock ‘n’ roll intensity better than Jimmy LaFave.

I have to admit that I much preferred the songs that Lucy Kaplansky and Eliza Gilkyson chose for Nod 1 to the ones they chose for Nod 2, but, still Lucy’s version of “Every Grain of Sand,” and Eliza’s live version of “Jokerman,” are both first-rate. As are almost all of the rest of the tracks.

I would say that if you’re looking for the best-ever various artists tribute album to Dylan, my vote would probably go to 2001’s A Nod to Bob. If you’ve got that one and want a more-than-worthy sequel, A Nod to Bob 2 is highly recommended.

---Mike Regenstreif