Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – July 7, 2026: Remembering Jane Voss and Remembering David Clayton-Thomas

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/595/76134.html

Themes: Part 1 – Remembering Jane Voss; Part 2 – Remembering David Clayton-Thomas.

Remembering Jane Voss (1948-2026)

Jane Voss

Jane Voss was a fine singer of her own original material as well as songs drawn from traditional sources and other contemporary songwriters. Most of her albums were collaborations with Hoyle Osborne, her partner in life and music for 50 years.

I first met Jane in the early 1970s when she came to do a gig at the Yellow Door Coffee House in Montreal. Our paths would cross from time to time over the decades, particularly on the folk festival circuit, and I always enjoyed the times I spent with her and Hoyle.

Jane Voss- Free at Last (Let Me Find My Wings) 

Farther Down the Road (Ripple)

Jane Voss & Hoyle Osborne- Gateway Blues (Blues for Bessie)

Get to the Heart (Ripple)

Jane Voss & Hoyle Osborne- Having a Drink with Jane

Sparkle and Shine (Front Hall)

Jane Voss & Hoyle Osborne- Things About Coming My Way

Beyond the Boundaries (Ripple)

Jane Voss & Hoyle Osborne- I Am There

Beyond the Boundaries (Ripple)

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

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

Jane Voss- Farther Down the Road

Farther Down the Road (Ripple)

Remembering David Clayton-Thomas (1941-2026)

Mike Regenstreif & David Clayton-Thomas (2006)

David Clayton-Thomas began his music career singing with R&B bands on Yonge Street in Toronto in 1962. In 1966, David went to New York and began singing in basket houses and clubs. Judy Collins heard him one night and told her friend, the drummer Bobby Colomby, about him. Bobby’s band, Blood, Sweat & Tears had pretty much fallen apart after their first album came out and Bobby reformed the group with David as its lead singer. The new Blood, Sweat & Tears with David became a major recording and touring ensemble. David stayed with Blood, Sweat & Tears until 1972 when he relaunched his solo career, returning to Blood, Sweat & Tears sporadically over the years until 2004.

The first time I met David was at a party in Toronto in 1975 after a Rolling Thunder Revue concert. On that trip to Toronto, I was staying with Tex König, a veteran of the Greenwich Village folk scene of the early-‘60s who later moved to Montreal, where we became friends, before he moved to Toronto. David and Tex knew each other from the Greenwich Village basket houses and David gave Tex and me a ride back to Tex’s place in Cabbagetown.

David and I got reacquainted in 2006, when David came to Montreal for a concert at the Montreal Jazz Festival and was my studio guest on Folk Roots/Folk Branches, my program on CKUT in Montreal. In subsequent years, we occasionally kept in touch via email and Facebook.

Blood, Sweat & Tears- Spinning Wheel

Definitive Collection (Columbia)

Blood, Sweat & Tears- Lucretia Mac Evil

Definitive Collection (Columbia)

Blood, Sweat & Tears- Go Down Gamblin’

Definitive Collection (Columbia)

David Clayton-Thomas- Summertime

Combo (Antionette)

David Clayton-Thomas- (Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay

Soul Ballads (Antoinette)

David Clayton-Thomas- Sonny’s Dream

Canadiana (Antoinette/ILS)

David Clayton-Thomas- Suzanne

Canadiana (Antoinette/ILS)

David Clayton-Thomas- Holy Moses

A Blues for the New World (Antoinette) 

David Clayton-Thomas- This Town 

Say Somethin’ (Linus)

David Clayton-Thomas- The Circus

Say Somethin’ (Linus)

David Clayton-Thomas- And When I Die

In Concert: A Musical Biography (Justin Time)

Next week: ‘Round Midnight.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – June 30, 2026: A Tribute to Rosalie Sorrels

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/595/76033.html

Theme: A Tribute to Rosalie Sorrels (1933-2017).

Rosalie Sorrels & Mike Regenstreif (1993)

Rosalie Sorrels, who died in 2017 at age 83, was a great, highly influential and legendary singer, songwriter and storyteller.

I was still a teenager when I met Rosalie for the first time when she played a four- or five-night stand at the Back Door Coffee House in Montreal, sometime around 1970. It was while she was in Montreal for that gig that Rosalie wrote “Travelin’ Lady,” which quickly became her signature song. Rosalie became a great friend and I worked with her often presenting her in concerts in Montreal and at The Golem, the folk club I ran in the ‘70s and ‘80s. In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, I ran a small booking agency for about five years and Rosalie was one of my clients.

The show includes some of Rosalie’s recordings and versions of songs from her repertoire – some of which she wrote and some of which she made her own – as performed by many other artists; as well as a couple of songs written in tribute to her.

Rosalie Sorrels- Travelin’ Lady

Travelin’ Lady (Sire)

Penny Lang- If I Could be the Rain

Stone + Sand + Sea + Sky (Borealis)

John Gorka- I Think of You

So Dark You See (Red House)

Bonnie Koloc- Up is a Nice Place to Be

Wild and Recluse (Epic)

Peter Rowan- Go with Me

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

Rosalie Sorrels- One More Next Time

If I Could Be the Rain (Folk-Legacy)

Nanci Griffith- Ford Econoline

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

Rosalie Sorrels- Then Came the Children

Then Came the Children (Green Linnet)

Utah Phillips- The Telling Takes Me Home

The Telling Takes Me Home (Philo)

Finest Kind- The Goodnight-Loving Trail

Lost in a Song (Fallen Angle)

The Short Sisters- Rock Salt and Nails

Love and Transportation (Black Socks Press)

Rosalie Sorrels- Rock Me to Sleep

Travelin’ Lady (Sire)

Robin & Linda Williams- Borderline Heart

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

Terry Garthwaite- Apple of My Eye

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

Rosalie Sorrels- Hitchhiker in the Rain

Borderline Heart (Green Linnet)

As I was preparing this show, I got the sad news that Jane Voss died on June 20 at age 78. So, I’ll be remembering Jane on Part 1 of next week’s edition of Stranger Songs.

Jane Voss & Hoyle Osborne- Postcard from India (Keep On Rockin’)

Sparkle and Shine (Front Hall)

Tom Russell- Pork Roast and Poetry

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

Rosalie Sorrels- The Caterpillar and the Butterfly 

Always a Lady (Green Linnet)

Penny Lang- My Last Go Round

Stone + Sand + Sea + Sky (Borealis)

Rosalie Sorrels- Rosalie, You Can’t Go Home Again

Travelin’ Lady (Sire)

Next week: Part 1 – Remembering Jane Voss (1948-2026); Part 2 – Remembering David Clayton-Thomas (1941-2026).

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – June 17, 2025: Music for 88 Keys

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/595/70697.html

Theme: Music for 88 Keys – all of the songs and instrumentals feature the piano as a primary instrument.

Philip Dyson- The Entertainer

Scott Joplin, The King of Ragtime: Complete Piano Works (Decca)

Perla Batalla- Sisters of Mercy

A Letter to Leonard Cohen: Tribute to a Friend (Mechuda Music)

Chaim Tannenbaum- Time On My Hands

The McGarrigle Hour (Hannibal)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Talk to Me of Mendocino

Tell My Sister: Kate & Anna McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Pink Martini with Rufus Wainwright & The Von Trapps- Kitty Come Home

Get Happy (Audiogram)

Last Forever- Lonesome Day

Acres of Diamonds (StorySound)

Hoyle Osborne- The Baltimore Todalo

Panazon: Pan American Café Music (Ripple)

Odetta & Dr. John- Oh Papa

Blues Everywhere I Go (M.C.)

Jay McShann with Johnnie Johnson- Kansas City (Revisited)

Goin’ to Kansas City (Stony Plain)

Alberta Hunter- Always

Amtrak Blues (Columbia)

Tom Waits- Tom Traubert’s Blues

Small Change (Asylum)

Mary Chapin Carpenter with Anais Mitchell- Home is a Song

Personal History (Lambent Light/Thirty Tigers)

Rosalie Sorrels- Moments of Happiness

Moments of Happiness (Philo)

Suzie Brown- Songs are My Tears

Songs Worth Saving (Suzie Brown)

Jesse Winchester- The Easy Way

Third Down, 110 to Go (Stony Plain)

Lee Hunter & The Gatherers- Farewell, Farewell

Beneath My Feet (Birds Tale)

Penny Lang- Nama Says

Yes (She-Wolf)

Julian Fauth- Bad John

The Weak and the Wicked, the Hard and the Strong (Electro-Fi)

Memphis Slim & Willie Dixon- Chicago House Rent Party

Songs of Memphis Slim & Willie Dixon (Folkways)

Count Basie & Oscar Peterson- S & J Blues

Satch and Josh (Pablo)

Next week: 1965.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday January 17, 2023: Songs and Conversation with Shelley Posen

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/595/59053.html

Theme: Songs and Conversation with Shelley Posen.

Shelley Posen is an Ottawa-based singer, songwriter and folklorist. For many years, he was a member of the acclaimed harmony trio, Finest Kind. Visit https://shelleyposen.com/ for more information about Shelley.

All of the songs on the show, except “The Night Pat Murphey Died,” were written by Shelley Posen.

Shelley Posen & Mike Regenstreif on Zoom.

Shelley Posen- Roseberry Road

Roseberry Road (Well Done Music)

Finest Kind- The Night Pat Murphey Died

Lost in a Song (Fallen Angle Music)

Jane Voss & Hoyle Osborne- Having a Drink with Jane

Sparkle and Shine (Front Hall)

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

Manna (Well Done Music)

Shelley Posen- Akhehr

Mazel (Well Done Music)

Shelley Posen- Packed

Mazel (Well Done Music)

Shelley Posen- We’ll Get Through This

Old Loves (Well Done Music)

Shelley Posen- Long, Long Tunnel

Old Loves (Well Done Music)

Shelley Posen- I Want to Write a Standard

Old Loves (Well Done Music)

Shelley Posen- I Missed You in My Dreams Last Night

Old Loves (Well Done Music)

Shelley Posen with Erik Frandsen- It’s for You

Old Loves (Well Done Music)

Shelley Posen- Pompeii, Pompeii

Old Loves (Well Done Music)

Next week: Songs of – or inspired by – the Spanish Civil War.

Find me on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday October 18, 2022: Songs of Jimmie Rodgers

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 prerecorded and can already be streamed on-demand by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/57953.html

Theme: Songs of Jimmie Rodgers (1897-1933). Rodgers, who died of tuberculosis in 1933 at age 35, was known as The Singing Brakeman and The Blue Yodeler and is widely regarded to be the father of country music.

Jimmie Rodgers- Ben Dewberry’s Final Run

First Sessions, 1927-28 (Rounder)

Merle Haggard- Train Whistle Blues

Same Train, A Different Time: Merle Haggard Sings the Great Songs of Jimmie Rodgers (Capitol)

Swing & Tears- Hobo’s Meditation

Swing & Tears (Swing & Tears)

John Sebastian- Waiting for a Train

Cheapo-Cheapo Productions Presents Real Live John Sebastian (Reprise)

Iris DeMent- Hobo Bill’s Last Ride

The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers: A Tribute (Egyptian/Columbia)

Jimmie Rodgers- My Rough and Rowdy Ways

On the Way Up, 1929 (Rounder)

Ian & Sylvia- Travelin’ Blues (listed as Jimmie’s Texas Blues)

The Lost Tapes (Stony Plain)

Jane Voss & Hoyle Osborne- Drunken Bar Room Blues (Gambling Bar Room Blues)

Never No More Blues (Ripple)

Jimmie Rodgers- T.B. Blues

America’s Blue Yodeler, 1930-1931 (Rounder)

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott- Whippin’ That Old T.B.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott Sings Woody Guthrie and Jimmie Rodgers & Cowboy Songs (Monitor)

Maria Muldaur- Any Old Time

Maria Muldaur (Reprise)

Peter Keane- Nobody Knows but Me

Rural Electrification (Little Hat)

Diana Braithwaite & Chris Whiteley- He’s in the Jailhouse Now

Gold Cadillac (G-Three)

Jimmie Rodgers with Louis Armstrong- Blue Yodel No. 9

America’s Blue Yodeler, 1930-1931 (Rounder)

Odetta- Muleskinner Blues

Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues (Tradition)

Finest Kind- Why Should I Be Lonely?

For Honour & For Gain (Fallen Angle)

J.W. McClure- My Carolina Sunshine Girl

Interpretations of Jimmie Rodgers (J.W. McClure)

Doc Watson- My Blue Eyed Jane

Portrait (Sugar Hill)

Jimmie Rodgers- Gambling Polka Dot Blues

Down the Old Road, 1931-1932 (Rounder)

Leon Redbone- Roll Along Kentucky Moon

Sugar (Rounder)

Dakota Dave Hull & Sean Blackburn- Miss the Mississippi and You

North By Southwest (Arabica)

Robin & Linda Williams- Mississippi Delta Blues

Visions of Love (Sugar Hill)

Arlo Guthrie- When the Cactus is in Bloom

Son of the Wind (Rising Son)

Mary Chapin Carpenter- Somewhere Down Below the Mason Dixon Line

The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers: A Tribute (Egyptian/Columbia)

Jimmie Rodgers- Yodeling My Way Back Home

Last Sessions, 1933 (Rounder)

Next week: Songs of Yip Harburg and Hoagy Carmichael.

Find me on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday July 6, 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/595/52602.html

Theme: The Fourth Stranger Songs Fantasy Concert, a whole show of music recorded live in concert while we look forward to returning to concerts, clubs and festivals.

Eric Andersen- Blue River
Woodstock Under the Stars (Y&T Music)

Ian & Sylvia- Summer Wages
The Lost Tapes (Stony Plain)
Tom Russell & The Norwegian Wind Ensemble- St. Olav’s Gate
Aztec Jazz (Frontera)
Rosalie Sorrels- Girls In Our Town
Then Came the Children (Green Linnet)

Joseph Spence- Out on the Rolling Sea
Encore: Unheard Recordings of Bahamian Guitar and Singing (Smithsonian Folkways)
Bill Staines- I Bid You Goodnight
Bridges (Red House)

Hoyle Osborne- Maple Leaf Rag
Live at The Diamond Belle (Ripple)

David Amram- Pull My Daisy
Pull My Daisy (Premier)
Asleep at the Wheel- Route 66
Live at Billy Bob’s Texas (Smith)

Anna McGarrigle & Lily Lanken- Jacques et Gilles
Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle (Nonesuch)
Linda Thompson & Richard Thompson- Go Leave
Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle (Nonesuch)
Anna McGarrigle, Chaim Tannenbaum, Lily Lanken, Rufus Wainwright & Martha Wainwright- Dink’s Song
Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

The Wailin' Jennys- Bring Me Little Water Sylvie
Live at The Mauch Chunk Opera House (Outside)
Saul Broudy- Cool Colorado
Ten Great Years at Kerrville, Volume One (Silverwolf)
Eric Taylor with Nanci Griffith- Mission Door
Live at the Red Shack (Blue Ruby)

Mike Regenstreif & Missy Burgess (2014)

Debi Smith- Intertwined
Deep Tracks (Degan Music)
Missy Burgess- Picture in a Frame
Missy Burgess with The Blue Train Live (Missy Burgess)
Lynn Miles with Keith Glass- Rust
Road (Lynn Miles)
Bob Franke- A Healing in This Night
The Other Evening in Chicago (Waterbug)

Hoyle Osborne- The Entertainer
Live at The Diamond Belle (Ripple)

Next week – Songs About Refugees with guest Diana Jones

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

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Various Artists – Tribute to the Travelin’ Lady Rosalie Sorrels

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Tribute to the Travelin’ Lady Rosalie Sorrels

rosaliesorrelstribute.com

I was honored to enjoy a long friendship with the late and great folksinger and songwriter Rosalie Sorrels (1933-2017). I was still in high school, circa 1970, when I first encountered her at the Back Door, a Montreal coffeehouse that existed from 1969 to 1971. It was during that Back Door gig that Rosalie wrote “Travelin’ Lady,” her signature song.

By 1972, as a college student in Montreal, I began producing folk concerts in Montreal and my first concert with Rosalie was a double bill with Utah Phillips in 1973. There would be many more concerts with Rosalie in Montreal, and in the late-‘70s and early-‘80s, when I ran a small booking agency for a select roster of folk music artists, Rosalie was one of my clients.

As I noted in an essay in June when she passed away, “Rosalie taught me much about the endurance of the human spirit and that adversities and personal tragedies can be the basis for cathartic art. And she taught me how to recognize greatness in songs.”

And, as Eliza Gilkyson writes in the notes to her track on Tribute to the Travelin’ Lady Rosalie Sorrels, “Any folksinger of my generation must claim Rosalie Sorrels as a foundational influence.”

Tribute to the Travelin’ Lady Rosalie Sorrels is a 4-CD set encompassing 44 songs by almost as many artists. About half the songs are performed by artists I know – including several old friends – and about half are by artists from Rosalie’s home state of Idaho who fell under her spell. At least two years in the making, most of the songs were written by Rosalie. A few others were songs from her vast repertoire, two were written in tribute to her, and a couple are original songs by the late Guy Clark and the late Jimmy LaFave that I can easily imagine hearing Rosalie do.

The album begins with Tom Russell’s “Pork Roast and Poetry,” an original by Tom in which he describes an evening spent visiting with Rosalie at the cabin her father built in Idaho at Grimes Creek. Having spent more than a few evenings in decades long past visiting with Rosalie and sampling her cooking, I can attest to the absolute authenticity of the song.

There are so many great performances on these four CDs that I can barely begin calling attention to all of them. But some of the songs that touched me deepest include Robin and Linda Williams’ rendition of “Borderline Heart,” the title track of one of my favorites of Rosalie’s albums; Eliza Gilkyson’s interpretation of “Travelin’ Lady,” Rosalie signature song written the same week I first met her and the title track from two great albums; Terry Garthwaite’s version of “Apple of My Eye,” a poignant song written for Rosalie’s daughter Shelley (and hearing Terry sing it brought back fond memories of the concert I produced with Rosalie, Terry and Bobbie Louise Hawkins); Laurie Lewis’ version of “Last Go Round”; Peter Rowan’s version of “Go With Me,” a lovely song from If I Could Be the Rain, the first LP of Rosalie’s I ever heard in the late-‘60s; Barbara Higbie’s interpretation of “Hitchhiker in the Rain,” Rosalie’s heartbreaking remembrance of her late son David; John Gorka’s take on “Song for My Birthday,” a song about Rosalie independent spirit; and Jane Voss and Hoyle Osborne’s performance of “Delia Rose,” a song written for a young child.

Rosalie Sorrels & Mike Regenstreif (1993)

And that’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. There are so many more great songs and wonderful performances – including some which take the songs in different directions from Rosalie’s original versions.

Kudos are particularly due to Idaho singer Rocci Johnson for spearheading this wonderful project (and for her rocking version of “Occasional Man”).

And the four CDs and booklet come in a beautifully designed boxed set inspired by Rosalie’s legendary scrapbook, and filled with photos from it.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Jane Voss & Hoyle Osborne – Never No More Blues; Get to the Heart; Pullin’ Through

JANE VOSS & HOYLE OSBORNE

Never No More Blues; Get to the Heart; Pullin’ Through

Ripple Recordings

janevoss.com

Jane Voss & Hoyle Osborne, who have been making great music together for 35 or so years have just released a fabulous new album, Never No More Blues, and have also recently reissued two of their earliest LPs, Get to the Heart and Pullin’ Through, which I don’t believe have ever been on CD before.

Never No More Blues is an absolutely sublime set of songs and tunes dating from the early days of classic blues, jazz, ragtime and country music – many of them showing the extent to which musical styles and influences were already blending in the early decades of the last century.

With 17 tracks stretching more than 77 minutes, it’s a very full set with nary a wasted moment. Jane is a great blues singer and does wonderful interpretations of such tunes as Ma Rainey’s “Farewell Daddy Blues,” Alberta Hunter’s “Downhearted Blues” and a version of “Blues (My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me),” based on a 1919 version by Esther Walker, a slower, very different version than the one popularized in the ‘60s by Jim Kweskin & the Jug Band.

Some of my favorites in the set include Elizabeth Cotten’s “(That’s Why) I’m Going Away,” which Jane sings with a gentle country lilt; Jimmie Rodger’s “Drunken Bar Room Blues,” in which the blues and early country music collide (I’ve always heard this song as a relative of “St. James Infirmary”); “Cheer Up! Smile! Nertz!” a Depression-era song that lampooned the efforts of popular culture of the day to get people’s minds off their troubles; and “Leaving Home,” a version of “Frankie and Johnny” recorded by Charlie Poole in 1926.

Jane (lead vocals and guitar) and Hoyle (piano, vocals and guitar) are joined throughout the album by The Blue Blazes, a stellar group that includes fiddler Suzy Thompson, guitarists Eric Thompson and Tony Marcus, both of whom also play mandolin and banjo, and bassist Stuart Brotman, who also plays tuba.

The Blue Blazes are heard to great effect on three terrific instrumentals built around Hoyle’s formidable skills playing ragtime and jazz piano. “St. Louis Tickle,” adapted for the guitar by Dave Van Ronk, is returned to pianistic roots. “Ape Man,” written by pianist Jimmy Blythe is guaranteed to put a smile on your face, while the extended version of William H. Tyers’ 1911 composition, “Panama (A Characteristic Novelty),” is sweet and lovely.

Jane and Hoyle’s first album as a duo, Get to the Heart, originally released back in 1981, was one of my favorite LPs of the day. The album opens with Jane’s, “Gateway Blues (Blues for Bessie), an infectious and unforgettable tribute to Bessie Smith, and continues with a mix of original and borrowed tunes including Hoyle’s “Salamander Shuffle,” a wonderful piano instrumental; Jane’s title track, which explains all the right reasons for singing and playing music; and Larry Clinton’s “The Devil with the Devil,” a swinging, personal declaration of independence.

Their second album, Pullin’ Through from 1983, includes more of the (equally great) same with a mix of old tunes like Memphis Minnie’s “In My Girlish Days” and “I’m Pulling Through,” a jazz ballad recorded by Billie Holiday, with in-the-tradition originals like Jane’s “Good-for-Nothin’ Blues” and “I’ve Been on the Road Too Long.”

Pullin’ Through also includes several great songs dating from the 1970s folk scene. These include Malvina Reynolds’ “On the Rim of the World,” a sad, compelling portrait of a homeless young girl; Tommy Thompson’s “Hot Buttered Rum,” a dreary-but-lovely love song set in the dead of winter; and Bob Bossin’s “Show Us the Length,” a hilarious response to high school beauty pageant culture. The latter is one of two bonus tracks on the CD reissue that were originally released on a 45-rpm single in 1983.

I will indulge myself with a personal reminisce of one of those songs. In 1973, I produced a double-bill concert at Dawson College in Montreal with Malvina and Bruce “Utah” Phillips. Before the concert, Malvina asked me for some tape so she could tape the lyrics to a new song she’d written that day to the mic stand. So I produced the world premiere performance of “On the Rim of the World.”

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif