Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – July 29, 2025: Remembering Robert Resnik

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/595/71321.html

Theme: Remembering Robert Resnik (1953-2025).

Mike Regenstreif & Robert Resnik (2025)

My dear and close friend Robert Resnik of Burlington, Vermont. Robert passed away on July 21 at age 72 after struggling with several health issues including Parkinson’s disease. Robert was a singer and musician who played many different instruments in many styles of folk music. For the past 29 years, Robert hosted All the Traditions, a great folk music show on Vermont Public Radio. In 2023, Robert was inducted into the Folk Radio Hall of Fame sponsored by Folk Alliance International. Professionally, Robert was a librarian for about 30 years at the Fletcher Free Library in Burlington, Vermont.

Robert Resnik- O’Carolan Medley

Playing Favorites (Thunder Ridge)

The Highland Weavers were Robert Resnik, Marty Morrissey and Tim Whiteford.

Highland Weavers - The Road to Mandalay

Going Home (Highland Weavers)

Highland Weavers - Old Rose & Crown

Going Home (Highland Weavers)

Highland Weavers - Mary Ellen Carter

Going Home (Highland Weavers)

Robert Resnik with Mary McGinness- Them Dance Hall Girls

Playing Favorites (Thunder Ridge)

Robert Resnik with Mary McGinness & Kristina Stykos- Come a Long Away

Playing Favorites (Thunder Ridge)

Robert Resnik & Gigi Weisman- Sing When the Spirit Says Sing

Sweet Potatoes and Home Grown Tomatoes (Fletcher Free Library)

Robert Resnik & Marty Morrissey- Inland Waterways

Vermont Songs Old & New (Robert Resnik & Marty Morrissey)

Robert Resnik & Marty Morrissey- All Kinds of Weather

Old & New Songs of Lake Champlain (Robert Resnik & Marty Morrissey)

Robert Resnik & Gigi Weisman- Magic Penny

Sweet Potatoes and Home Grown Tomatoes (Fletcher Free Library)

Swing & Tears was Robert Resnik, Gigi Weisman and Marty Morrissey.

Swing & Tears- The Coffee Set: Coffee in the Morning and Kisses in the Night/Let’s Have Another Cup of Coffee/Java Jive

Swing & Tears (Swing & Tears)

Swing & Tears- Black Fly Song

Swing & Tears (Swing & Tears)

Martha Seyler & Robert Resnik- Tennessee Blues

Martha Sings & Robert Plays (Martha Seyler & Robert Resnik)

Martha Seyler & Robert Resnik- Farewell to the Gold

Martha Sings & Robert Plays (Martha Seyler & Robert Resnik)

Robert and I spent countless hours over the course of more than 30 years talking about the music we loved. The rest of the show is a very small sampling of songs and artists Robert loved.

Dave Van Ronk- St. James Infirmary

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

Martin Grosswendt- Mournin’ Blues

Payday! (Martin Grosswendt)

Jesse Winchester- Yankee Lady

Live from Mountain Stage (Blue Plate)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Jacques et Gilles

Matapedia (Hannibal)

Patti Casey- Down from Canada

Under Different Skies (Long Shot Music)

La Bottine Souriante- Le gourmand

Appelation d’origine contrôlée (Borealis)

Shelley Posen- Finders, Kippers

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

Finest Kind- A Pilgrim’s Way

Lost in a Song (Fallen Angle Music)

Next week: Songs of Steve Gillette and John Stewart.

--Mike Regenstreif

Robert Resnik – Playing Favorites

ROBERT RESNIK

Playing Favorites

Thunder Ridge

www.cdbaby.com/cd/robertresnik

My pal Robert Resnik is – quite rightly – regarded as a cultural treasure in the state of Vermont. For the past 15-plus years he’s been best known as host of All the Traditions, Vermont Public Radio’s deservedly popular folk music program. But he’s also a wonderfully musical guy himself adept at many instruments that you strum and pluck, blow into, or squeeze and pull, and many styles of North American and European folk music.

While Robert has partnered on any number of delightful CDs as a member of such bands as the Highland Weavers, Swing & Tears and Twist of the Wrist, and in a duo with Marty Morrissey, Playing Favorites is the first solely under his own name. And, true to the name of the album, it’s a world tour of songs and tunes that are among his favorites to play. From one track to the next – and often on the same track thanks to overdubbing – we hear Robert move from guitar to clarinet to pennywhistle to hurdy gurdy, to melodeon to kortholt (a woodwind instrument popular in the Renaissance period) to concertina and, of course, voice.

Traditional songs and dance tunes dominate the set. Most of the traditional ballads originate in the British Isles. A highlight of these is “Mary Neal,” a story of star-crossed lovers whose escape across the sea to Quebec ends in tragedy. Robert’s performance, sung over the drone of the hurdy gurdy with evocative lines from his clarinet and whistle, is haunting. Another is “Bedlam Boys,” a strange song dating back 400 years, about the entertainment provided by residents of a London insane asylum (Robert mentions in the liner notes that the asylum would charge admission to the public “for the pleasure of observing the lunatics”).

Among my favorite instrumentals is “O’Carolan Medley,” three tunes composed about 300 years ago for the Irish harp by Turlough O’Carolan. Robert translates the music to the guitar exquisitely and gently picking out the tunes. The overdubbed whistle on the final tune is also quite lovely. Another is “Esperanza,” a medley of three accordion tunes – the kind of music you’d like to hear in a sidewalk café in Paris.

And lest you think that Robert is stuck in tradition, he also includes several contemporary songs, including a couple of my personal favorites from the Montreal folk scene of the 1970s. Robert’s version of Allan Fraser’s “Dance Hall Girls” puts a slightly different spin on the song by stating, “That’s the way it always is here in Baltimore,” emphatically in the chorus rather than asking, “Is that the way it always is here in Baltimore?” I particularly like the way Robert’s clarinet weaves in and around the vocal on “Dance Hall Girls.” And Robert’s version of the late Kate McGarrigle’s “Come a Long Way,” featuring lovely harmonies by Mary McGinniss and Kristina Stykos reminds me of hearing Kate sing the song at the Golem, the intimate Montreal folk club I was running back in the mid-1970s.

While Robert performs most of the vocals and instruments on Playing Favorites, several other songs benefit from the fine harmonies and instrumental work of Mary and Kristina. Kristina also recorded and mixed the sessions.

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--Mike Regenstreif