Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – August 25, 2026: Restaurants, Cafés, Diners – and the people who work and eat in them

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/595/76856.html

Theme: Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – August 25, 2026

David Essig & Mike Regenstreif (2014)

David Essig- Flo’s Café

A Stone in My Pocket (Peregrin)

Mike Regenstreif & Garnet Rogers (2026)

Garnet Rogers- Bird on a Wing

Garnet Rogers (Snow Goose Songs)

Sylvia Tyson & Mike Regenstreif (1997)

Sylvia Tyson- Trucker’s Café

You Were On My Mind (Stony Plain)

Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks featuring Maryann Price- Sweetheart (Waitress in a Donut Shop)

Last Train to Hicksville…the home of happy feet (MCA)

Gretchen Peters- Five Minutes

The Show: Live from The UK (Scarlet Letter)

Bobby Bare- Rosalie’s Good Eats Café

Bobby Bare Sings Lullabys, Legends and Lies (RCA)

Mike Regenstreif & Tom Paxton (2009)

Tom Paxton- Victoria Dines Alone

Morning Again (Elektra)

Martin Sexton- Diner

Black Sheep (Koch)

Tom Waits- Eggs and Sausage (In a Cadillac with Susan Michelson)

Nighthawks at the Diner (Asylum)

Suzanne Vega- Tom’s Diner

An Evening of New York Songs and Stories (Cooking Vinyl)

Josh White, Jr..- One Meatball 

Live at the Raven Gallery (Silverwolf)

Susan Werner- The Night I Ate New Orleans 

NOLA: Susan Werner Goes to New Orleans (Sleeve Dog)

Donna Adler- Emily’s Café

Remembering Butterflies (Donna Adler)

Mike Regenstreif & Bill Staines (1993)

Bill Staines- Buffy’s Quality Café 

Going to the West (Red House)

Mason Daring & Jeanie Stahl- Is Everything OK Here

Marblehead Morning – Mason Daring & Jeanie Stahl: 50 Years in Harmony (Daring) 

David Massengill- My Name Joe

Coming Up for Air (Flying Fish)

Shelley Posen & Mike Regenstreif on Zoom (2023)

Shelley Posen- So How Come You Don’t Have Tongue?

Manna (Well Done Music)

Malvina Reynolds- The New Restaurant

Sings the Truth (Columbia)

Eve Goldberg & Mike Regenstreif (2013)

Eve Goldberg- Union Street Café

Crossing the Water (Borealis)

Michael ‘Earnie’ Taylor- I’m Having Dinner with My Wife

Folk ‘n’ Western (Laughing Cactus Music)

Louis Prima- Angelina/Zooma Zooma 

The Wildest Show at Tahoe (Capitol)

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – July 21, 2026: Dave Van Ronk at 90

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/595/76339.html

Theme: Dave Van Ronk at 90.

Dave Van Ronk – who died in 2002 at age 65 while battling cancer – would have turned 90 three weeks ago on June 30. Dave – who grew up in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens – arrived in Greenwich Village in the 1950s where he began playing in the early folk clubs. He was a great guitarist and influential singer with a wide-ranging repertoire that moved seamlessly between folk, blues, jazz, cabaret and much more. He was a friend and mentor to generations of musicians who followed him in the village – most notably, Bob Dylan. And, not just musicians. I consider the late nights I spent on Dave’s couch in the Village, and the nights I spent with him in my apartment in Montreal in the 1970s and ‘80s, talking about music and arguing about politics to be essential parts of my education.

MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village was the center of the Greenwich Village folk scene and Dave became affectionately known as The Mayor of MacDougal Street – which was also the title of the memoir that Dave was working on with Elijah Wald at the time of his death. Elijah finished the book writing in Dave’s voice and I think it’s one of the best books ever about the ‘60s folk scene.

Dave Van Ronk- Losers

Going Back to Brooklyn (HighTone)

Jim Byrnes- He was a Friend of Mine

Everywhere West (Black Hen Music)

Susan Werner- House of the Rising Sun

NOLA: Susan Werner Goes to New Orleans (Sleeve Dog)

Bill Morrissey & Greg Brown- Hang Me, Oh Hang Me

Inside (Philo)

Dave Van Ronk- The Pearls 

Sunday Street (Philo)

Deborah Robins- Tell Old Bill

Lone Journey (Zippety Whippet Music) 

Dave Van Ronk- Teddy Bears’ Picnic

Songs for Ageing Children (Cadet)

David Massengill- Dave Van Ronk’s Last Cigar

Dave on Dave: A Tribute to Dave Van Ronk (Gadfly)

Dave Van Ronk- Somebody Else, Not Me

Somebody Else, Not Me (Philo)

Elijah Wald- That’ll Never Happen No More

Street Corner Cowboys (Black Rose)

Durham County Poets- St. James Infirmary 

Hand Me Down Blues (Durham County Poets)

Dave Van Ronk & Christine Lavin- I Can’t Give You Anything But Love

Hummin’ to Myself (Gazell)

Bruce Brackney A.K.A. Haywire Brack- Another Time and Place

Case History (Pilgrims Rest)

Dave Van Ronk & The Red Onion Jazz Band- Hesitation Blues

Two Sides of Dave Van Ronk (Fantasy)

Tom Russell- Van Ronk (with Dave Van Ronk singing a fragment of Sportin’ Life Blues)

Hotwalker (HighTone)

Dave Van Ronk- Mack the Knife 

Let No One Deceive You: Songs of Bertolt Brecht (Flying Fish)

Dave Van Ronk- That Song About the Midway 

Sunday Street (Philo)

Peter, Paul & Mary featuring Dave Van Ronk- Wanderin’/Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out

LifeLines (Warner Bros.)

Hans Theessink- Green, Green Rocky Road

Songs from the Southland (Blue Groove)

Dave Van Ronk- Did You Hear John Hurt?

…and the tin pan bended, and the story ended… (Smithsonian Folkways)

Tom Paxton- The Mayor of MacDougal Street 

Redemption Road (Pax)

Dave Van Ronk- Last Call 

Going Back to Brooklyn (HighTone)

Next week: Baseball.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – December 23, 2025: A Christmas Concert with Odetta and More Songs for the Holiday

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/595/73359.html

Theme: A Christmas Concert with Odetta and More Songs for the Holiday.

Odetta – who died in 2008 less than a month before her 78th birthday – was one of the most influential folksingers of her time. In the late-1950s, a teenaged rock singer in Minnesota named Robert Zimmerman decided to pursue folk music after hearing an Odetta album, and later arrived in New York City calling himself Bob Dylan. Others, among many, who have cited Odetta’s influence include Joan Baez, Nina Simone, Janis Joplin and Harry Belafonte. Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. referred to Odetta as “the voice of the civil rights movement.

Odetta was accompanied throughout the concert by pianist Seth Farber and, on a couple of songs, by The Holmes Brothers.

Odetta with The Holmes Brothers- This Little Light of Mine

Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays (M.C.)

Odetta- Rise Up Shepherd and Follow

Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays (M.C.)

Odetta- Mary had a Baby

Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays (M.C.)

Odetta- What Month was Jesus Born In

Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays (M.C.)

Odetta- Shout for Joy

Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays (M.C.)

Odetta- Virgin Mary Had One Son

Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays (M.C.)

Odetta with The Holmes Brothers- Down By the Riverside

Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays (M.C.)

Odetta- Poor Little Jesus

Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays (M.C.)

Odetta- Freedom Trilogy: Oh Freedom, Come & Go With Me and I’m On My Way

Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays (M.C.)

Odetta- Somebody Talking ‘Bout Jesus

Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays (M.C.)

Odetta- Keep On Movin’ It On

Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays (M.C.)

Odetta- O Jerusalem

Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays (M.C.)

Odetta- If Anybody Asks You

Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays (M.C.)

Odetta- Midnight Special

Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays (M.C.)

Chris White- That’s Christmas

That’s Christmas – single (Chris White)

Maggie’s Wake- It Ain’t Christmas Without You

Close to Home (Maggie’s Wake)

Chaim Tannenbaum- A Winter Tale

A Winter Tale – single (StorySound)

Good Lovelies- The Chipmunk Song

Under the Mistletoe (Good Lovelies)

Erik Frandsen- Christmas in Brooklyn

Antiques: New & Used (Erik Frandsen)

Shelley Posen- You are All the Christmas That I Need

Old Loves (Well Done Music)

Rosalie Sorrels- Hot Buttered Rum

An Imaginary Christmas in Idaho (Limberlost)

Stan Rogers- At Last, I’m Ready for Christmas

Songs of a Lifetime: From Coffeehouse to Concert Hall (Fogarty’s Cove/Borealis)

David Massengill- Jesus, the Fugitive Prince 

The Return (Plump)

Next week: My Top 10 Folk-Rooted or Folk-Branched albums of 2025.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – November 26, 2024: Immigration, Part 2

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/595/67838.html

Theme: Immigration, Part 2.

Maria Dunn- Immigrant Dreams

Piece By Piece (Distant Whisper)

Joe Jencks- I’m a Stranger in This Land

The Forgotten: Recovered Treasures from the Pen of Si Kahn (Turtle Bear Music)

Rude Girls- Crossing the Border

Mixed Messages (Flying Fish)

Si Kahn- Lady of the Harbor

Best of the Rest (Strictly Country)

John McCutcheon- Third Way

Leap! (Appalsongs)

David Massengill- My Name Joe

Coming Up for Air (Flying Fish)

Grit Laskin- Sewing Machines

Unabashedly Folk (Borealis)

Mara Levine- Immigrant Dream

Jewels and Harmony (Mara’s Creations)

Brendan Nolan- The Curse of the Immigrant

Across the Great Divide (Ould Sagosha)

Martha Trachtenberg & Dede Wyland- Ticket Back

It’s About Time (Mom and Pop)

Crabtree & Mills- Across the Borderline

Flight of Fancy (Free and Easy Music)

Diana Jones- El Chaparral

Song to a Refugee (Goldmine)

Jackson Browne- The Dreamer

Downhill from Everywhere (Inside Recordings)

James Talley- Christmas on the Rio Grande

Bandits, Ballads and Blues (Cimarron)

Guy Clark- Immigrant Eyes

Old Friends (Sugar Hill)

Eric Andersen- Eyes of the Immigrants

Woodstock Under the Stars (Y&T Music)

C. Daniel Boling- All of Us are Immigrants

Love, Dan (Berkalin)

Carla Sciaky- For Nyla

Heart of the Swan (Propinquity)

Ben Caplan- Traveller’s Curse

Old Stock (Rhyme and Reason)

Ben Caplan- You’ve Arrived

Old Stock (Rhyme and Reason)

Next week: Songs from my Top 10 Folk-Rooted and Folk-Branched albums of 2024.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – November 19, 2024: Immigration, Part 1 – The Man from God Knows Where

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/595/67731.html

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

As I wrote in Sing Out magazine in 1999 … Thomas Russell was a leader of the United Irish Rebellion in the 1790s. Two centuries later, singer and songwriter Tom Russell was playing a gig in Downpatrick, Ireland when he was approached by an old man in a bar. “Thomas Russell,” he said, “we hung you across the road in 1798.” Tom bought the old man a pint of beer and heard the story of his namesake and of the narrative poem about him called “The Man from God Knows Where.”

For several years prior to that encounter, Tom had been working on a song-cycle that began when a phrase, “American primitive man in an American primitive land,” occurred to him. Originally, Tom conceived the piece as a long tone-poem that would tell some of the history of America absent from the standard history texts. But as he wrote, Tom soon recognized that his own family’s history would provide much of the raw material he needed to tell a compelling story of immigration and the pursuit of the American Dream.

So, more than 200 years after Thomas Russell’s hanging, the man from God knows where is resurrected to observe and to chronicle the struggles, tragedies and joys of the Russells and Malloys who immigrate to the United States from Ireland in the nineteenth century, and of the Larsens and Olsens who come from Norway, and of their lineage through to today’s Tom Russell.

      

Tom Russell’s The Man from God Knows Where is more than just a song-cycle, it’s a fully realized folk-opera featuring Tom and a superb cast of American, Irish and Norwegian singers. Using singers with authentic Irish, Norwegian and rural and urban American accents helps provide authenticity to the voices of Russell’s ancestors and to the other characters who are brought to life in the folk-opera. As well, Tom frequently utilizes distinctly Irish and Norwegian instruments and musical forms to complement the more familiar American folk styles that run through the score to The Man from God Knows Where.

Tom wrote most of the songs we hear in The Man from God Knows Where. There are also some traditional folksongs, a song written by David Massengill, and a poem by Walt Whitman.

Tom Russell- The Man from God Knows Where

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

Iris DeMent- Wayfarin’ Stranger

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

Tom Russell & Iris DeMent- Patrick Russell

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

Dolores Keane- Mary Clare Molloy (American Wake)

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

Dave Van Ronk- The Outcast

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

Sondre Bratland & Iris DeMent- Ambrose Larsen

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

Tom Russell & Dolores Keane- The Dreamin’

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

Sondre Bratland & Kari Bremnes- The Old Northern Shore

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

Tom Russell & Walt Whitman- The Man from God Knows Where/America

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

Kari Bremnes- Anna Olsen

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

Tom Russell- Rider on an Orphan Train

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

Iris DeMent- Acres of Corn

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

Tom Russell- The Man from God Knows Where

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

Tom Russell- Sitting Bull in Venice

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

Iris DeMent & Kari Bremnes- The Old Rugged Cross

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

Kari Bremnes- Anna Olsen’s Letter Home

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

Sondre Bratland- Eg er framand

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

Dolores Keane & Iris DeMent- When Irish Girls Grow Up

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

Tom Russell- Casey Jones

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

Tom Russell- Chickasaw County Jail

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

Knut Reiersrud- Wayfarin’ Stranger (Passage of Time)

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

Tom Russell & Iris DeMent- Throwin’ Horseshoes at the Moon

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

Tom Russell- The Man from God Knows Where

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

Dave Van Ronk- The Outcast (revisited)

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

Iris DeMent- Wayfarin’ Stranger (revisited)

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

Tom Russell & Iris DeMent- Love Abides

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

“Wayfarin’ Stranger” is one of the recurring themes in The Man from God Knows Where so I used the last few minutes of the show to play a recent version of the song.

American Patchwork Quartet- Wayfaring Stranger

American Patchwork Quartet (Carolina Jasmine)

Next week: Immigration, Part 2.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – May 7, 2024: Songs for Mothers

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/595/65085.html

Theme: Songs for Mothers.

Some of these songs are written about mothers, some are written from the perspectives of mothers.

Rachel Bissex- Dancing with My Mother

In White Light (One Take Music)

Bob Dylan did not write “Mama You Been On My Mind” about his mother, but Bettye LaVette turned it into one about hers.

Bettye LaVette- Mama, You Been On My Mind

Things Have Changed (Verve)

Eric Bogle- Leaving Nancy

By Request (Greentrax)

Jesse Winchester & Mike Regenstreif (2000)

Jesse Winchester- Ghosts

A Reasonable Amount of Trouble (Appleseed)

Anne Hills- Mother

The Things I Notice Now: Anne Hills sings the songs of Tom Paxton (Appleseed)

Lucy Kaplansky- Mother’s Day

Reunion (Red House)

Dave Clarke- Simonne

The Healing Garden (Crossties)

Rosalie Sorrels & Mike Regenstreif (1993)

Rosalie Sorrels- Baby Rocking Medley

Always a Lady (Green Linnet)

Rosalie Sorrels- Song for David

Always a Lady (Green Linnet)

Rosalie Sorrels- Apple of My Eye

Always a Lady (Green Linnet)

Nancy White- Momnipotent

Momnipotent (The Children’s Group)

Nancy White- Open That Can

Momnipotent (The Children’s Group)

Christine Albert- Are We There Yet Mama

Underneath the Lone Star Sky (Dos)

Connie Kaldor- God Made Mamas to Cry

Vinyl Songbook (Coyote Entertainment)

Connie Kaldor- Mother’s Prayer

Out of the Blue (Coyote Entertainment)

Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard- Mama’s Gonna Stay

Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard (Rounder)

David Massengill- Song to Mother

Morgana’s Sleepover and the Witch’s Hand (David Massengill)

Steel Rail- What My Mother Saw

The Road Less Travelled (Crossties)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Song for Gaby

Matapedia (Hannibal)

Shelley Posen- Fork Garden

Menorah: Songs from a Jewish Life (Well Done Music)

Bill Garrett & Sue Lothrop- Red Shoes

Red Shoes (Borealis)

Nanci Griffith- Last Song for Mother

Clock Without Hands (Elektra)

Mike Regenstreif & Arlo Guthrie (1996)

Arlo Guthrie- Mother’s Voice (I Hear You Sing Again)

Here Come the Kids (Rising Son)

Odetta- Mother’s Blues

Lookin’ for a Home: Thanks to Leadbelly (M.C.)

Next week: Songs of Jacques Brel.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – March 26, 2024: Home

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/595/64489.html

Theme: Home.

The songs on this show all have something or other to do with ideas of home.

Eliza Gilkyson & Mike Regenstreif (2006)

Eliza Gilkyson- Home

Home (Realiza)

Peggy Seeger- Tell My Sister

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

Rufus Wainwright & John Legend- Heading for Home

Folkocracy (BMG)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Kitty, Come Home

Tell My Sister – Dancer with Bruised Knees (Nonesuch)

Martha Wainwright- Proserpina

Come Home to Mama (MapleMusic)

Andy Cohen- Tryin’ to Get Home

Tryin’ to Get Home (Earwig)

Bob & Sarah Amos- The Hills That I Call Home 

Ever Onward (Bristlecone) 

Steel Rail- When Are You Coming Home

Coming Home (Crossties)

Mike Regenstreif & Tom Paxton (2009)

Tom Paxton- Home to Me is Anywhere You Are

Comedians & Angels (Appleseed) 

Daniel Kahn & Jake Shulman-Ment- Heym iz Mir Aleyn Nor Vu Du Blaybst (Home to Me is Anywhere You Are)

The Building and Other Songs (Oriente Musik)

Kevin Head & Mike Regenstreif (2013) photo: Vanessa Burnett

Kevin Head- Everyone Needs a Backyard

Hear Them Callin’ (Kevin Head)

Deborah Robins- I’m Going Home to Georgia

Home Fires (Zippety Whippet)

Bill Staines- My Sweet Wyoming Home

Miles (Mineral River)

Fred Holstein- The Telling Takes Me Home

Fred Holstein: A Collection (Fred Holstein)

David Massengill- My Home Must Be a Special Place

My Home Must Be a Special Place (Gadfly)

James Talley- To Get Back Home

Touchstones (Cimarron)

Bill Garrett & Sue Lothrop- On Your Way Home

Red Shoes (Borealis)

Mike Regenstreif & Jimmy LaFave (2017)

Jimmy LaFave- Going Home

Favorites 1992-2001 (Music Road)

Tom Waits- Long Way Home

Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards (Anti-)

Shelley Posen- Roseberry Road

Roseberry Road (Well Done Music)

Rosalie Sorrels- The Pine

Live at the Great American Music Hall (Flying Fish)

Duke Robillard & Herb Ellis- Flying Home

Conversations in Swing Guitar (Stony Plain)

Next week: The Musical Adventures of Jim, Geoff & Maria.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday October 31, 2023: Halloween

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/595/62553.html

Theme: Halloween and CKCU Funding Drive.

I’ve been involved in community radio, first in Montreal at CKUT, and now in Ottawa at CKCU, for almost 30 years and I truly love the diversity of programming that you only find on community radio stations like CKCU. 

It’s only at community radio stations that people like me have the freedom to curate and host our shows without regard to commercial concerns. CKCU has shows that reflect very rare diversity in genres, artists, songs, and communities – and we’re only able to do that with your support. 

All of us who create programs at CKCU are dedicated volunteers. I know that I work hard to create interesting programs each week on CKCU and I think my programming is unique. But that’s one of the great things about community radio – all of the programs are unique. 

So, please click on this link to show your support for Stranger Songs and CKCU, and help us stay on the air for another year. https://www.canadahelps.org/me/6rEQFU7Z

Bodie Wagner- Halloween

Vintage (Bodie Wagner)

Fourtold- Panther in Michigan

Fourtold (Appleseed)

Fourtold- The Nine Little Goblins

Fourtold (Appleseed)

Erynn Marshall & Carl Jones- Halloween Wedding March

Old Tin (Dittyville Music)

Jack Hardy- The Halloween Parade

The Passing (Prime CD)

Lambert, Hendricks & Ross- Halloween Spooks

The Hottest New Group in Jazz (Columbia/Legacy)

Skinner & T’witch- Halloween

The Fool’s Journey (Skinner & T’witch)

Laurie MacAllister- Are You Happy Now?

The Lies the Poets Tell (Laurie MacAllister)

John & Sheila Ludgate- Halloween Dad

The Kitchen Sessions (John & Sheila Ludgate) 

Loudon Wainwright III- Halloween 2009

10 Songs for the New Depression (Proper)

David Massengill- Come Take a Ride on My Broom

Mogana’s Sleepover and the Witch’s Hand (David Massengill)

David Massengill- The Witch’s Menu

Mogana’s Sleepover and the Witch’s Hand (David Massengill)

Stan Rogers- The Witch of the Westmorland

Between the Breaks…Live! (Fogarty’s Cove/Borealis)

Donovan- Season of the Witch

Donovan’s Greatest Hits (Epic)

Ella Fitzgerald- Ding Dong! The Wicked Witch is Dead

Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Songbook (Verve)

Rockapella- Zombie Jamboree

Modern A Cappella (Rhino)

Vance Gilbert- Zombie Pattycake

Good Good Man (Disismye Music)

Vance Gilbert- The Day Before November

Good Good Man (Disismye Music)

Cab Calloway- The Ghost of Smokey Joe

St. James Infirmary (CTS)

Ray Bierl- Big Joe and Phantom 309

Any Place I Hang My Hat (Greasy String Productions)

The Balladeers- Tiptoe Through the Ghosties

It’s About Time (The Balladeers)

Count Basie- Trick or Treat

Hall of Fame (Verve)

Next week: Addendums to Past Themes.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday August 8, 2023: He was a Friend of Mine – Thinking of Dave Van Ronk

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif finds connections and develops themes in various genres. The show is broadcast on CKCU 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 already be streamed on-demand by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/61381.html

Theme: He was a Friend of Mine: Thinking of Dave Van Ronk.

Dave – who died of cancer on February 10, 2002 at age 65 – was a tremendously influential artist, both to his contemporaries on the folk scene in the late 1950s and ‘60s – and to countless others who came along later.

Dave Van Ronk- St. James Infirmary

…and the tin pan bended, and the story ended… (Smithsonian Folkways)

Bob Dylan- House of the Rising Sun

Bob Dylan (Columbia/Legacy)

Dave Van Ronk- Song to Woody

Somebody Else, Not Me (Philo)

Peter, Paul & Mary- Bamboo

Peter, Paul and Mary (Warner Bros.)

Peter Keane- Sunday Street

Another Kind of Blue (Broken White)

Dakota Dave Hull- Sheridan Square Rag

Under the North Star (Arabica)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Emmylou Harris, Loudon Wainwright III- Green Green Rocky Road

The McGarrigle Hour (Hannibal)

Tex König- Zen Koans Gonna Rise Again

Königsblende (Music Cellar)

Hans Theessink- He was a Friend of Mine

Songs from the Southland (Blue Groove)

Dave Van Ronk & The Ragtime Jug Stompers- Stealin’

Ragtime Jug Stompers (Oldays)

Tom Russell- Van Ronk

Hotwalker (HighTone)

Dave Van Ronk- Bird on the Wire

Van Ronk (Polydor)

Dave Van Ronk- Four Strong Winds

Live in Monterey (Omnivore)

Dave Van Ronk- Urge for Going

…and the tin pan bended, and the story ended… (Smithsonian Folkways)

David Massengill- Dave Van Ronk’s Last Cigar

Dave on Dave: A Tribute to Dave Van Ronk (Gadfly)

The Village Dudes- Another Time and Place

Another Time and Place (Blue Flute Music)

Dave Van Ronk & Christine Lavin- Two Sleepy People

Hummin’ to Myself (Gazell)

Dave Van Ronk- Cocaine

Live at Sir George Williams University (Just a Memory)

Dave Van Ronk- Gaslight Rag

Two Sides of Dave Van Ronk (Fantasy)

Tom Paxton- The Mayor of MacDougal Street

Redemption Road (Pax)

Dave Van Ronk- The Entertainer

Somebody Else, Not Me (Philo)

Next week: Remembering Tony Bennett (1926-2023).

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday November 29, 2022: Remembering Jack Hardy

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif finds connections and develops themes in various genres. The show is broadcast on CKCU in Ottawa on Tuesdays 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 recorded and can already be streamed on-demand by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/58468.html

Theme: Remembering Jack Hardy (1947-2011)

I first met Jack Hardy sometime around 1978. Jack was a brilliant guy, a dedicated songwriter, and, perhaps, the world’s greatest champion of the art of songwriting. He was already on his lifelong mission to help anyone dedicated to the art of song-craft find and develop their voice. He was the guiding light, the guru, of the new song movement in New York City.

Jack Hardy- The Sparrow

The Nameless One (Great Divide)

Suzanne Vega- Saint Clare

Fast Folk Musical Magazine: A Tribute to Jack Hardy (Smithsonian Folkways)

David Massengill- Tree of Rhyme

Fast Folk Musical Magazine: A Tribute to Jack Hardy (Smithsonian Folkways)

Diana Jones & Mike Regenstreif on Zoom (2021)

Diana Jones- Go Tell the Savior

Fast Folk Musical Magazine: A Tribute to Jack Hardy (Smithsonian Folkways)

Jack Hardy- Dover to Dunkirk

The Nameless One (Great Divide)

Dave Van Ronk- The Drinking Song

To All My Friends in Far-Flung Places (Gazell)

Jack Hardy- Song for Dave

Coin of the Realm (Great Divide)

With the exception of “Jack’s Crows,” the songs on this program were written by Jack Hardy. Jack hosted a weekly songwriters’ exchange in his New York City apartment for more than 30 years and John Gorka was one of the many songwriters who passed through Jack’s apartment. John wrote “Jack’s Crows” as an allegorical song inspired by those songwriters’ exchanges. In the liner notes to the album, Jack’s Crows, John wrote, “Some days I look up and find I am one of Jack’s crows.”

John Gorka, Mike Regenstreif & Lucy Kaplansky (2012)

John Gorka- Jack’s Crows

Jack’s Crows (High Street)

John Gorka- Down Where the Rabbits Run

Fast Folk Musical Magazine: A Tribute to Jack Hardy (Smithsonian Folkways)

Lucy Kaplansky- Forget-Me-Not

Fast Folk Musical Magazine: A Tribute to Jack Hardy (Smithsonian Folkways)

Jack Hardy- Orphan from Madrid/Guernica

Landmark (Great Divide)

Mike Regenstreif & Ronny Cox (2013)

Ronny Cox- I Ought to Know

Fast Folk Musical Magazine: A Tribute to Jack Hardy (Smithsonian Folkways)

Terre Roche- The Tailor

Fast Folk Musical Magazine: A Tribute to Jack Hardy (Smithsonian Folkways)

Mike Regenstreif & Erik Frandsen (1976) photo: Felicity Fanjoy

Erik Frandsen- Potter’s Field

Fast Folk Musical Magazine: A Tribute to Jack Hardy (Smithsonian Folkways)

Jack Hardy- In Memory of Federico Garcia Lorca

Noir (Great Divide)

Rod MacDonald & Mike Regenstreif (2005)

Rod MacDonald- Resolution

Fast Folk Musical Magazine: A Tribute to Jack Hardy (Smithsonian Folkways)

Christine Lavin- Murder

Fast Folk Musical Magazine: A Tribute to Jack Hardy (Smithsonian Folkways)

Jack Hardy- If I Ever Pass This Way Again

The Passing (Prime CD)

Jonathan Byrd- Autumn

Fast Folk Musical Magazine: A Tribute to Jack Hardy (Smithsonian Folkways)

Nanci Griffith- Fare Thee Well

Fast Folk Musical Magazine: A Tribute to Jack Hardy (Smithsonian Folkways)

Jack Hardy- Singer’s Lament

Bandolier (Great Divide)

Next week: Songs of Eric Andersen.

Find me on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday December 21, 2021: Winter Solstice & Christmas

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/595/54591.html

Theme: Winter Solstice & Christmas

Good Lovelies- Hurry Home
Under the Mistletoe (Good Lovelies)

Gathering Sparks- Bringing in the Light
All That’s Real (Borealis)
Jesse Palidofsky- Dancing Toward the Light
Dancing Toward the Light (Azalea City)
Herdman, Hills & Mangsen- Solstice Round
At the Turning of the Year (Hand & Heart Music)
Claudia Schmidt- Winter Solstice Chant
Hark the Dark (Claudia Schmidt)
Joe Jencks- Longest Night of the Year
Poets, Philosophers, Workers & Wanderers (Turtle Bear Music)

Joe Newberry & April Verch- Round the Christmas Tree
On This Christmas Day (Slab Town)
Robin Greenstein & Cecilia Kirtland- Mele Kalikimaka
Songs of the Season (Windy)

Jay McShann- Hootie’s K.C. Christmas Prayer
Still Jumpin’ the Blues (Stony Plain)

Joni Mitchell- The Gift of the Magi
Archives – Volume 2: The Reprise Years (1968-1971) (Rhino)
Gordy Quist- River
A Very Blue Rock Christmas Vol. 2 (Blue Rock)
Lynn Miles- Christmas Makes Me Miss You More
Winter (Lynn Miles)

Rosalie Sorrels & Mike Regenstreif (1993)

Rosalie Sorrels- Hot Buttered Rum
An Imaginary Christmas in Idaho (Limberlost)
Jez Lowe & The Bad Pennies- Gramophone Dancing
Wotcheor! (Tantobie)
Cosy Sheridan- The Night the Reindeer Fly
Sometimes I Feel Too Much (Cosy Sheridan)
Herdman, Hills & Mangsen- Mister Santa
Voices of Winter (Gadfly)

Mike Regenstreif & Erik Frandsen (1976) photo: Felicity Fanjoy

Erik Frandsen- Christmas in Brooklyn
Antiques: New & Used (Erik Frandsen)
Louis Armstrong- Cool Yule
Cool Yule: Deluxe Edition (Verve)
Peter Davis- Zat You Santa Claus?
The Pleasures of Winter (Fiddle & Dance)
Mike Goudreau Band & Dany Roy- Shufflin’ on Christmas Day
Christmas Rendezvous (Éditions Goudreau)

Brian Campbell- All Alone This Christmas
All Alone This Christmas – single (Brian Campbell)
Norman Doucette- Christmas in a Phone Booth
Dangerous Ground (Norman Doucette)
Emma’s Revolution- A Zeesn Christmas
A Zeesn Christmas – single (Moving Forward Music)
Suzzy Roche, Lucy Wainwright Roche, Oona Roche, David Roche & Daisy Press- Christmas Love
Where Do I Come From: Selected Songs (StorySound)
David Massengill- Jesus, the Fugitive Prince
The Return (Plump)

Jay Ungar & Molly Mason with Tony Trischka- Christmas Eve
The Pleasures of Winter (Fiddle & Dance)

Next week: Mike Regenstreif's top 10 folk-rooted and folk-branched albums of 2021

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

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday October 12, 2021: Drinking Songs

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/595/53775.html

Theme: Drinking Songs

Annie Lou- Grandma’s Rules for Drinking
Grandma’s Rules for Drinking (Annie Lou)

Finest Kind- Sussex Drinking Song
Lost in a Song (Fallen Angle)
David Parry- In Praise of Alcohol
The Man from Eldorado: Songs and Stories of Robert W. Service (Borealis)
Joni Mitchell- Nancy Whiskey
Archives – Volume 1: The Early Years (1963-1967) (Rhino)
Sandy & Caroline Paton- I’m a Rover and Seldom Sober
The Village Out West: The Lost Tapes of Alan Oakes – Field Recordings of the 1960s California Folk Music Scene (Smithsonian Folkways)
Ian Robb with The Friends of Fiddler's Green- Garnet’s Home-Made Beer
From Different Angels (Fallen Angle)

Stick McGhee- Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee
New York Blues and R&B (JSP)
Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee- One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer
Backwater Blues (Fantasy)

Gina Forsyth- Whiskey Before Breakfast
Copper Rooster and Other Tunes and Tales (Waterbug)

Rosalie Sorrels- Red Wine at Noon
Always a Lady (Green Linnet)
Kathy Mattea- Little Glass of Wine
Pretty Bird (Captain Potato)
Tom Paxton & The DonJuans- Bottle of Wine
Live (Pax)
Buster Poindexter- Who Drank My Beer (While I was in the Rear)?
Buster’s Happy Hour (Rhino)

Mike Regenstreif & Maria Dunn (2017)

Maria Dunn- Whiskey Evening
For a Song (Distant Whisper Music)
Russ Kelley- Whiskey Stone Blues
In Plain Sight (Ark Road Music Productions)
Lynn Miles- She Drinks
We’ll Look for Stars (Must Have Music)
Shelley Posen- Having a Drink with Jane
The Old Songs’ Home (Well Done Music)

Penny Lang- Barrelhouse Blues
Live at the Yellow Door (She-Wolf)
John McCutcheon- Moonshiner
Bucket List (Appalseed)
Laura Nyro- Sweet Blindness
Eli and the Thirteenth Confession (Columbia/Legacy)

Tom Mitchell & Mike Regenstreif (1999)

Tom Mitchell- Eastern Beer
1976 live recording – used with permission
Dave Van Ronk- Alabama Song
Let No One Deceive You: Songs of Bertolt Brecht (Flying Fish)
David Massengill- Last Call
Dave on Dave: A Tribute to Dave Van Ronk (Gadfly)
Miranda Mulholland- The Parting Glass
By Appointment or Chance (Roaring Girl)

Mary Gauthier- I Drink
Live at Blue Rock (In the Black)

Next week: Eating Songs

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

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday July 18, 2020

Saturday Morning is an eclectic roots-oriented program on CKCU in Ottawa heard live on Saturday mornings from 7 until 10 am (Eastern time) and then available for on-demand streaming. 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/128/48384.html

Eric Andersen- Violets of Dawn

Woodstock Under the Stars (Y&T Music)

Paul Mills- 45 Weeks from Now

Unreleased parody of Stan Rogers’ “45 Years” with new words by Shelley Posen – used with permission

John McCutcheon- When All of This is Over

Cabin Fever: Songs from the Quarantine (Appalsongs)

Skinner & T'witch- Working from Home

Working from Home – single (Skinner & T’witch)

Lynn Miles- In the Wilderness

We’ll Look for Stars (Must Have Music)

Ken Tizzard & Music for Goats- King of Broken Hearts

Living the Dream: Live at the Little Pub (Ken Tizzard)

Orit Shimoni- George Street

Strange and Beautiful Things (Orit Shimoni)

Steel Rail- (Just) Waiting for a Train

Coming Home (Crossties)

Sharon Goldman- Woody and Marjorie

Woody and Marjorie – single (Sharon Goldman)

The Klezmatics- Mermaid’s Avenue

Wonder Wheel (Jewish Music Group)

Eliza Gilkyson- Beach Haven

2020 (Red House)

Folk Uke- Small One

Small One – single (Folk Uke)

Judy Mayhan- Morning and an Oldsmobile

Judy Mayhan (Decca)

Lynn Miles- Old Soul

We’ll Look for Stars (Must Have Music)

VickiKristinaBarcelona- Jersey Girl

Pawn Shop Radio (StorySound)

Extended feature: Remembering Dave Van Ronk (1936-2002). Some of the next 14 songs were written by Dave Van Ronk. Others are from his repertoire, or written in tribute to him.

Peter, Paul & Mary- Bamboo

Peter, Paul and Mary (Warner Bros.)

Tex König- Zen Koans Gonna Rise Again

Königsblende (Music Cellar)

Dave Van Ronk- Gaslight Rag

Two Sides of Dave Van Ronk (Fantasy)

Tom Paxton- The Mayor of MacDougal Street

Redemption Road (Pax)

Photo: Jack Mancini

The Village Dudes- Another Time and Place

Another Time and Place (Blue Flute Music)

Andy Antipin- Sunday Street

I’m Gonna Sit at the Welcome Table (Andy Atipin)

Dave Van Ronk- St. James Infirmary

Live in Monterey (Omnivore)

Dakota Dave Hull- Sheridan Square Rag

Under the North Star (Arabica)

Dave Van Ronk- To All My Friends in Far-Flung Places

To All My Friends in Far-Flung Places (Gazell)

David Massengill- Dave Van Ronk’s Last Cigar

Dave on Dave: A Tribute to Dave Van Ronk (Gadfly)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Emmylou Harris, Loudon Wainwright III- Green Green Rocky Road

The McGarrigle Hour (Hannibal)

Hans Theessink- He was a Friend of Mine

Songs from the Southland (Blue Groove)

Dave Van Ronk- Urge for Going

…and the tin pan bended, and the story ended… (Smithsonian Folkways)

Tom Russell- Van Ronk

Hotwalker (HighTone)

Humphrey & The Dumptrucks- Merry Mansion Quadrology: Merry Mansion; Magician; Front Door; Red White & Blue

Six Days of Paper Ladies (Boot)

Ronny Cox- Quintanaroo

Live at the Kitchen Sink (Ronny Cox)

Don Armstrong- Stay in the Game

Mother Don’t Give Up on Me Now (Ronstadt Record Co.)

David Bromberg Band- Lovin’ of the Game

Big Road (Red House)

Stephen Mendell- Old Ties and Companions

Sing Me a Story (Stephen Mendel)

Julie & John Pennell- Keep On Walkin’

Keep On Walkin’ (JPE Records)

Nina Ricci- Oh, What a Beautiful City (Twelve Gates to the City)

Oh, What a Beautiful City – single (Nina Ricci)

Corin Raymond- Rec Room

Dirty Mansions (Local Rascal Records)

The Kingston Trio- Tom Dooley

The Kingston Trio (Capitol)

Mandy Marylane- Romance Anónimo-The Dance

Mandy Marylane (Y&T Music)

Jenny Reynolds- Dance for Me

Any Kind of Angel (Jenny Reynolds)

Jackie Washington- I’m Happy Darling Dancing with You

The World of Jackie Washington (Borealis)

Vi Wickam & Paul Anastasio featuring Albanie Falletta- Birthday Dance

Swingin’ at the Savoy (Vi Wickam & Paul Anastasio)

Dick Weissman- Banjo in the Mist

No Ceiling (Dick Weissman)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on August 15.

Find me on Twitter. @MikeRegenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif