Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – August 11, 2026: Finest Kind's Kind of Songs - repeat

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/595/76658.html

Theme: Finest Kind’s Kind of Songs – repeat of show originally broadcast on October 15, 2024.

Due to a computer issue, I was unable to produce a new episode of Stranger Songs this week. I hope to have a new show for broadcast on August 18.

Finest Kind is the now mostly-retired trio of Ottawa based singers Ann Downey, Shelley Posen and Ian Robb – a trio best known for its superb vocal harmonies. All the songs on this show were recorded by Finest Kind over the years.

Finest Kind- The Faded Roses of December

Lost in a Song (Fallen Angle Music)

Utah Phillips- The Goodnight Loving Trail

The Telling Takes Me Home (Philo)

Jody Stecher & Kate Brislin- Blue Mountain

Stay Awhile (Rounder)

Blue Murder- The Banks of Sweet Primroses

No One Stands Alone (Topic)

Windborne- Gimme Just a Little More Time

Recollections/Revolutions (Wand’ring Feet)

Finest Kind- The Storms May Roll the Ocean

Lost in a Song (Fallen Angle Music)

Peggy Seeger- Going to the West

The Folkways Years 1955-1992: Songs of Love and Politics (Smithsonian Folkways)

Derek Lamb- The Miner’s Dream of Home

She was Poor but She was Honest: Nice, Naughty and Nourishing Songs of the London Music Hall and Pubs (Folkways)

Sneezy Waters- I Heard the Bluebirds Sing

Sneezy Waters (Sneezy Waters)

Martyn Wyndham-Read- Sussex Drinking Song

A Rose from the Bush (Greenwich Village)

David Parry- In Praise of Alcohol

The Man from Eldorado: Songs and Stories of Robert W. Service (Borealis)

Coope, Boyes & Simpson- John Barleycorn

Coope, Boyes & Simpson (World Music Network)

Finest Kind- John Barleycorn Deconstructed

For Honour & For Gain (Fallen Angle Music)

Bill Staines- Only Remembered

Looking for the Wind (Red House)

John Roberts & Tony Barrand- A Pilgrim’s Way

Twiddlum Twaddlum (Golden Hind Music)

Bill Garrett & Sue Lothrop- No More Fish

Red Shoes (Borealis)

Finest Kind- Lowlands Low

For Honour & For Gain (Fallen Angle Music)

The Carter Family- Fond Affection

When the Roses Bloom in Dixieland: Their Complete Victor Recordings 1929-1930 (Rounder)

The Greenbriar Boys- At the End of a Long Lonely Day

Best of the Vanguard Years (Vanguard)

The Brothers & Sisters- The Times They are A-Changin’

Dylan’s Gospel (Columbia)

Ben E. King- Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow

Ben E. King Sings for Soulful Lovers (Rhino)

Finest Kind- Jack the Jolly Tar

Silks & Spices (Fallen Angle Music)

Tom Lewis- Bully in the Alley

Tinker Tailor Soldier Singer (Self Propelled Music)

Finest Kind- Who will Sing for Me

Heart’s Delight (Fallen Angle Music)

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – May 27, 2025: “Songs of this kind should not need to be sung” with guest Mark Rubin – Jew of Oklahoma

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/595/70383.html

Theme: “Songs of this kind should not need to be sung.”

Guest: Mark Rubin – Jew of Oklahoma.

Tim Grimm- Broken Truth

Bones of Trees (Vault)

The line, “Songs such as these should not need to be sung,” comes from “Let’s Lay Down Our Drums,” a song written by Canadian songwriter Bruce Murdoch during the Vietnam War.

Bruce Murdoch- Let’s Lay Down Our Drums

33 1/3 Revolutions per Minute (Stormy Forest)

Eric Bibb- Masters of War

Migration Blues (Stony Plain)

Tom Paxton & John McCutcheon- Ukrainian Now 

Together (Appalsongs)

Artists for Action- Which Side Are You On? *

Which Side Are You On? – single (Bob Jensen)

*The Artists for Action singers and musicians are, in alphabetical order: Black Umfolosi, Ray Bonneville, Bruce Cockburn, Chris Corrigan, Guy Davis, Ani DiFranco, Maria Dunn, Adam Hill, Bob Jensen, James Keelaghan, Richard Knox, Lucy MacNeil, Tony McManus, Moulettes, Oysterband, Richard Perso, Heather Rankin, Martin Simpson, and Jon Weaver.

Ian Robb & James Stephens- God and the Orange Clown

Declining …with thanks (Fallen Angle Music)

Resistance Revival Chorus featuring Rhiannon Giddens- All You Fascists Bound to Lose

This Joy (Righteous Babe)

The next three songs punctuated my conversation with Mark Rubin – Jew of Oklahoma, recorded on May 2 via Zoom.

Mike Regenstreif & Mark Rubin on Zoom (2025)

Mark Rubin – Jew of Oklahoma- Dog Whistle

Dispatches: Songs from a World Gone Mad (Rubinchik)

Mark Rubin – Jew of Oklahoma- Blues for the Innocent

Dispatches: Songs from a World Gone Mad (Rubinchik)

Mark Rubin – Jew of Oklahoma- Goon with a Hammer (digital only bonus track)

Dispatches: Songs from a World Gone Mad (Rubinchik)

Brendan Nolan- Packing Her Bag

Beneath White Stars: Holocaust Profiles in Song (AlmondSeed Media)

Shelley Posen- Packed

Mazel (Well Done Music)

Diana Jones with Steve Earle, Richard Thompson, Peggy Seeger & Zahara Phillips- We Believe You

Song to a Refugee (Goldmine)

Liz Miller- New Normal

Love Bubble (Liz Miller)

James Talley- In These Times

Ballads, Bandits and Blues (Cimarron)

Next week: Busking.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – April 1, 2025: Remembering Jesse Colin Young; April Fools; Day

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/595/69610.html

Themes: Part 1 – Remembering Jesse Colin Young (1941-2025); Part 2 – April Fools’ Day.

Part 1 – Remembering Jesse Colin Young (1941-2025)

Jesse Colin Young – whose real name was Perry Miller and who died at age 83 on March 16 – was a singer and songwriter originally from New York City who was lead singer of The Youngbloods from 1966 to 1971 and who recorded as a solo artist before and after his tenure with The Youngbloods.

Jesse Colin Young- Four in the Morning

The Soul of a City Boy (One Way)

Jesse Colin Young- Same Old Man

The Soul of a City Boy (One Way)

Jesse Colin Young- Rider

Young Blood (Mercury)

Jesse Colin Young- Doc Geiger

Young Blood (Mercury)

The Youngbloods- Get Together

The Youngbloods (RCA)

The Youngbloods- Light Shine

Good and Dusty (Racoon/Warner Bros.)

Jesse Colin Young- California Child

Light Shine (Warner Bros.)

Jesse Colin Young- Songbird

Songbird (Warner Bros.)

Part 2 – April Fools’ Day

Shel Silverstein- Folk Singer’s Blues

Inside Folk Songs (Water)

Stan Rogers- The White Collar Holler

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

Ian Robb with The Friends of Fiddler's Green- Garnet’s Home-Made Beer

From Different Angels (Fallen Angle)

Bowser & Blue- The Night They Invented Poutine

Crackpots (You Guys Publishing)

Spike Jones & His City Slickers- Yes! We Have No Bananas

Musical Deprecation Revue! The Spike Jones Anthology (Rhino)

Steve Goodman- Vegematic

No Big Surprise: The Steve Goodman Anthology (Red Pajamas)

Nancy White- Leonard Cohen’s Never Gonna Bring My Groceries In

Momnipotent (The Children’s Group)

Christine Lavin- What Was I Thinking?

Live at the Cactus Café: What Was I Thinking? (Philo)

Grit Laskin- The Photographers

Unabashedly Folk: Songs and Tunes 1979-1985 (Borealis)

Al Mamlet- Five Thousand Years of Folk Music

Bring It On Home Volume 1 (Legacy)

Michael Smith- Dead Egyptian Blues

Love Letter on a Fish (Tales from the Tavern)

Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers- King Tut

Red Bird Alert (Rounder)

Dave Van Ronk- Garden State Stomp

Going Back to Brooklyn (Gazell)

Erik Frandsen- I’ve the Blues

Antiques: New & Used (Erik Frandsen)

Shelley Posen with Erik Frandsen- It’s for You

Old Loves (Well Done Music)

Martin Mull & His Fabulous Furniture- Dueling Tubas

In Your Living Room (Capricorn)

John Prine & Iris DeMent- In Spite of Ourselves

In Spite of Ourselves (Oh Boy)

Next week: A Tribute to Doc Watson.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – October 15, 2024: Finest Kind's Kind of Songs

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/595/67256.html

Theme: Finest Kind’s Kind of Songs

Finest Kind is the now mostly-retired trio of Ottawa based singers Ann Downey, Shelley Posen and Ian Robb – a trio best known for its superb vocal harmonies. All the songs on this show were recorded by Finest Kind over the years.

Finest Kind- The Faded Roses of December

Lost in a Song (Fallen Angle Music)

Utah Phillips- The Goodnight Loving Trail

The Telling Takes Me Home (Philo)

Jody Stecher & Kate Brislin- Blue Mountain

Stay Awhile (Rounder)

Blue Murder- The Banks of Sweet Primroses

No One Stands Alone (Topic)

Windborne- Gimme Just a Little More Time

Recollections/Revolutions (Wand’ring Feet)

Finest Kind- The Storms May Roll the Ocean

Lost in a Song (Fallen Angle Music)

Peggy Seeger- Going to the West

The Folkways Years 1955-1992: Songs of Love and Politics (Smithsonian Folkways)

Derek Lamb- The Miner’s Dream of Home

She was Poor but She was Honest: Nice, Naughty and Nourishing Songs of the London Music Hall and Pubs (Folkways)

Sneezy Waters- I Heard the Bluebirds Sing

Sneezy Waters (Sneezy Waters)

Martyn Wyndham-Read- Sussex Drinking Song

A Rose from the Bush (Greenwich Village)

David Parry- In Praise of Alcohol

The Man from Eldorado: Songs and Stories of Robert W. Service (Borealis)

Coope, Boyes & Simpson- John Barleycorn

Coope, Boyes & Simpson (World Music Network)

Finest Kind- John Barleycorn Deconstructed

For Honour & For Gain (Fallen Angle Music)

Bill Staines- Only Remembered

Looking for the Wind (Red House)

John Roberts & Tony Barrand- A Pilgrim’s Way

Twiddlum Twaddlum (Golden Hind Music)

Bill Garrett & Sue Lothrop- No More Fish

Red Shoes (Borealis)

Finest Kind- Lowlands Low

For Honour & For Gain (Fallen Angle Music)

The Carter Family- Fond Affection

When the Roses Bloom in Dixieland: Their Complete Victor Recordings 1929-1930 (Rounder)

The Greenbriar Boys- At the End of a Long Lonely Day

Best of the Vanguard Years (Vanguard)

The Brothers & Sisters- The Times They are A-Changin’

Dylan’s Gospel (Columbia)

Ben E. King- Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow

Ben E. King Sings for Soulful Lovers (Rhino)

Finest Kind- Jack the Jolly Tar

Silks & Spices (Fallen Angle Music)

Tom Lewis- Bully in the Alley

Tinker Tailor Soldier Singer (Self Propelled Music)

Finest Kind- Who will Sing for Me

Heart’s Delight (Fallen Angle Music)

Next week: Remembering Nick Gravenites, Kris Kristofferson, JD Souther, and Billy Edd Wheeler.

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday March 23, 2024

Saturday Morning is an eclectic roots-oriented program on CKCU, 93.1 FM, in Ottawa 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 the Saturday Morning show. 

This episode of Saturday Morning was recorded and can be streamed on-demand, now or anytime, by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/64437.html

Jody Stecher & Kate Brislin- March Winds Gonna Blow My Blues All Way

Songs of The Carter Family (Appleseed)

Stan Rogers- Paint Me a Picture

Songs of a Lifetime: Discoveries – Rare Live Recordings (Fogarty’s Cove/Borealis)

David Essig- Albert’s Cove

A Stone in My Pocket (Peregrin)

Stan Rogers- Skyway

Songs of a Lifetime: Discoveries – Rare Live Recordings (Fogarty’s Cove/Borealis)

Doug McArthur- The Lunenburg Shift

Letters from the Coast/Sisteron (Snow Goose Songs)

Stan Rogers- Jamie

Songs of a Lifetime: Discoveries – Rare Live Recordings (Fogarty’s Cove/Borealis)

Stan Rogers- Love Can’t Be Bitter All the Time

Songs of a Lifetime: Discoveries – Rare Live Recordings (Fogarty’s Cove/Borealis)

Bob Franke- A Healing in This Night

The Other Evening in Chicago (Waterbug)

Stan Rogers- The Old Rose & Crown

Songs of a Lifetime: Discoveries – Rare Live Recordings (Fogarty’s Cove/Borealis)

Ian Robb with The Friends of Fiddler's Green- Garnet’s Home-Made Beer

From Different Angels (Fallen Angle)

Jaspar Lepak- Kind

So Strong (Jaspar Lepak Music)

Leslie Evers- What Kind of a Heart

Bound for Land (Cumulus)

Simone Keane- Those Beautiful Times

Graced By Leaves (Simone Keane)

David Broza- Saturday Morning

En Casa Limón (S-Curve)

Lynn Miles- Palomino

tumbleWeedyWorld (True North)

Mike Regenstreif & Connie Kaldor (2015)

Connie Kaldor- Wild One

Keep Going (Coyote Entertainment) 

Pat Moore- How Long

Take It to Heart (Pat Moore)

Bobby Dove- Haunted Hotel

Hopeless Romantic (Bobby Dove)

Altan- The Barley and the Rye

Donegal (Compass)

Sassenach- Star of the County Down/Bus Stop Reel

Passages (Sassenach)

Tara O’Grady- Black Velvet Band

Black Irish (Tara O’Grady)

Maggie’s Wake- Grosse Isle (Far Away)

Maggie’s Wake (Maggie’s Wake)

Tom Russell & Mike Regenstreif (2018)

Tom Russell & Joe Ely- Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues

Folk Hotel (Frontera)

Reverend Gary Davis- Crucifixion

A Little More Faith (Prestige/Bluesville)

Mavis Staples & Lucky Peterson-Were You There?

Spirituals & Gospel (Gitanes)

David Olney- A Soldier’s Report

The Stone (Deadbeet)

Bruce Cockburn- Easter

Crowing Ignites (True North)

Jim Kweskin & Samoa Wilson- Engine 143

Never Too Late: Duets with My Friends (StorySound)

Paper Wings- Nine Hundred Miles

Listen to the World Spin (Paper Wings)

American Patchwork Quartet- Wind and Rain

American Patchwork Quartet (Carolina Jasmine)

John Stewart & Darwin’s Army- They Call the Wind Mariah

John Stewart & Darwin’s Army (Appleseed)

Claudia Gibson- The Fields of Chazy

The Fields of Chazy (Claudia Gibson)

Jillian Matundan- Only Water

Singing to the Moon (Keezamonkee)

SONiA disappear fear & Mike Regenstreif (2017)

SONiA disappear fear- Teaching Vincent Van Gogh

Album 23 (Disappear)

Mouths of Babes- World Brand New

World Brand New (Wild Awake Music)

Jeff Talmadge- If I was a Sparrow

Sparrow (Berkalin)

Josh White, Jr. & Guthrie Thomas- Don’t Mean a Thing

Delicate Balance (Silverwolf)

Lisa Bastoni- Nora’s Guitar

On the Water (Lisa Bastoni)

Sandy Cash- Gilad’s Guitar

Voices from the Other Side (Sandy Cash)

Josh Fortenbery- Honey

No Such Thing as Forever (Josh Fortenbery)

Laura Smith & Mike Regenstreif (2013)

Laura Smith- What Goes Around (Comes Around)

Everything is Moving (Borealis)

James Talley- Somewhere in the Stars (A Song for Diego)

Bandits, Ballads and Blues (Cimarron)

Tom Rush- The Harbor

Gardens Old, Flowers New (Appleseed)

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

--Mike Regenstreif 

Canadian Spaces – CKCU – Saturday July 30, 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 show was recorded and is already available for on-demand listening. https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/129/57073.html

Guest: Lenka Lichtenberg.

Me & My Uncle- Me and My Uncle
Me & My Uncle (Laughing Cactus Music)
OXLIP- Will the Circle Be Unbroken
Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies (World Peach)
Pharis & Jason Romero- Train on the Island
Tell ‘Em You Were Gold (Smithsonian Folkways)
El Coyote- Satellite Lost
El Coyote (El Coyote)
Kim Beggs- They Shut the Greyhound Down
Steel and Wool (Out of a Paper Bag Productions)
Over the Moon- Someday Soon
Chinook Waltz (Borealis)
Tom Russell- Short Grass
Play One More: The Songs of Ian & Sylvia (True North)
Ian & Sylvia- Four Rode By
The Lost Tapes (Stony Plain)
Ken Whiteley- Farewell to Nova Scotia
Long Time Travelling (Ken Whiteley)
Conklin Céilí Band- Giant
A Three Legged Stool (Conklin Céilí Band)
Stan Rogers- Cliffs of Baccalieu
For the Family (Folk Tradition)

Ian Robb with Finest Kind- The Mary Ellen Carter
From Different Angels (Fallen Angle)

Ball and Chain & The Wreckers- I’m All Alone
Surrender (Ball and Chain)
Durham County Poets- Out of the Woods
Out of the Woods (Durham County Poets)

Boxcar Bos- Sidecar
Rye Whiskey (Fedora Upside Down)

The next five songs punctuated my conversation with Lenka Lichtenberg. The songs on Lenka’s new album, Thieves of Dreams, are settings of poems written by Anna Hana Friesová, her maternal grandmother, while she was a prisoner in the Terezin concentration camp in what was then Czechoslovakia during the Second World War and the Holocaust.

Lenka Lichtenberg- Miracles
Thieves of Dreams (Six Degrees)

Lenka Lichtenberg- That monster, custom
Thieves of Dreams (Six Degrees)

Lenka Lichtenberg- What is this place?
Thieves of Dreams (Six Degrees)

Lenka Lichtenberg- Run, run, you little human
Thieves of Dreams (Six Degrees)

Lenka Lichtenberg with Jana Renée Friesová- I have my own grief

Thieves of Dreams (Six Degrees)

Lisa Null passed away from cancer at age 79 on July 19.

Lisa Null- I’m Going Home to Georgia
Legacies (Folk-Legacy)
Bruce Cockburn- One Day I Walk
Greatest Hits (1970-2020) (True North)
Stephen Mendel- The Parting Glass
Sing Me a Story (Stephen Mendel)

I’ll be hosting Canadian Spaces next on August 27. 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 August 13th.

Find me on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday January 1, 2022

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 prerecorded at home and can already be streamed on-demand at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/54724.html

Jennifer Cutting’s Ocean Orchestra & Windborne- The Turning Year: A New Year’s Toast
The Turning Year: Pandemic Sessions Unplugged (SunSign)

Joe Newberry & April Verch- First Day of the Year
On This Christmas Day (Slab Town)
Dean Friedman- New Lang Syne
Songs for Grownups (Real Life)
Herdman, Hills & Mangsen- At the Turning of the Year
At the Turning of the Year (Hand & Heart Music)

Ian Robb & James Stephens- Fare Thee Well Dearest Nancy
Declining …with thanks (Fallen Angle)
Bruce Cockburn- One Day I Walk
Greatest Hits (1970-2020) (True North)

Soweto Gospel Choir- Khumbaya
Blessed (Shanachie)

Mike Regenstreif & Scott Alarik (2013)

Scott Alarik- Border of Sorrows
-30- (Scott Alarik)
Michael Nesmith- Joanne
Infinite Tuesday: Autobiographical Riffs, The Music (Rhino)
J.D. Crowe & The New South- You Are What I Am
J.D. Crowe and The New South (Rounder)
Susie Burke & David Surette- Healing In This Night
Sometimes In the Evening (Madrina Music)

June Tabor- Hard Love
Angel Tiger (Cooking Vinyl)
Bob Franke- For Real
The Other Evening in Chicago (Waterbug)
Garnet Rogers- Hallelujah! The Great Storm is Over
Speaking Softly in the Dark (Snow Goose Songs)

The Confabulation- Mary Sue
Tunnels and Visions (Woodhead Music)

Danny Marks- Man on the Radio
Man on the Radio – single (Danny Marks)
Bruce Cockburn- Musical Friends
Greatest Hits (1970-2020) (True North)
Debi Smith- Forever Young
Then and Now (Degan Music)

Corey Harris- Twelve Gates to the City
The Insurrection Blues (M.C.)
Mr. O’Muck- Rev. Davis’ Maple Leaf Rag
Home Field Recordings: The Ancient Blues of Mr. O’Muck (Muck-O-Phone)
Reverend Gary Davis- I Will Do My Last Singing In This Land
Live at Newport (Vanguard)
Anya Hinkle- I Belong to the Band
Eden and Her Borderlands (Organic)

Mary Chapin Carpenter- John Doe No. 24
One Night Lonely (Lambent Light)
Last Forever- John Doe #24
Trainfare Home (StorySound)

Over the Moon- Darcy Farrow
Chinook Waltz (Borealis)
Linda Ronstadt & The Stone Poneys- Back on the Street Again
Evergreen Vol. 2 (Capitol)
Ian & Sylvia- Molly and Tenbrooks
Play One More (Vanguard)
Steve Gillette- Grapes on the Vine
The Ways of the World (Compass Rose)

Mike Regenstreif & Shawna Caspi (2015)

Shawna Caspi- Hold the Light
Hurricane Coming (Shawna Caspi)
Rhonda Vincent- I Ain’t Been Nowhere
Music is What I See (Upper Management Music)

Dave Clarke- Prairie Lullaby
The Healing Garden (Crossties)

Orit Shimoni- America
Lorem Ipsum (Orit Shimoni)
Corey Harris- Insurrection Blues (Chickens Come Home to Roost)
The Insurrection Blues (M.C.)
Guy Davis- Welcome to My World
Be Ready When I Call You (M.C.)
Ian Robb & James Stephens- God and The Orange Clown
Declining …with thanks (Fallen Angle Music)

Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou Harris- Sisters of Mercy
Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions (Asylum)
Roberta Flack- Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye
First Take: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Atlantic)
Perla Batalla- Bird on the Wire
Bird on the Wire: The Songs of Leonard Cohen (Mechuda Music)
Leonard Cohen with Cantor Gideon Zelermyer & The Shaar Hashomayim Choir- You Want It Darker
You Want It Darker (Columbia)

Mike Regenstreif & Bruce Cockburn (2017)

Judy Henske- Blues Chase Up a Rabbit
The Elektra Albums (Ace)
Steve Howell & The Mighty Men- Bad Luck Blues
Good as I Been to You (Out of the Past)
The Dave Brubeck Quartet featuring Jimmy Rushing- Evenin’
Brubeck & Rushing (Columbia)
Aretha Franklin- Today I Sing the Blues
Aretha (Columbia)
Bruce Cockburn & Kathryn Moses- Mama Just Wants to Barrelhouse All Night Long
Greatest Hits (1970-2020) (True North)

The Dave Brubeck Quartet- Unsquare Dance
Time Further Out (Columbia/Legacy)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on January 29. I also host Stranger Songs on CKCU every Tuesday from 3:30-5 pm.

Find me on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday November 9, 2021: Addendums to Past Themes

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/595/54109.html

Theme: Addendums to Past Themes

Whenever I choose a theme for Stranger Songs, it’s inevitable that time constraints mean that I can’t begin to include all the possible songs or versions of songs that would fit the theme. This being funding drive time, I thought it would be fun to look at some past themes and choose a couple of songs or versions of songs that weren’t included when the theme originally aired.

CKCU is listener-supported community radio and this edition of Stranger Songs will be heard during CKCU’s 2021 Funding Drive. All donations are greatly needed and greatly appreciated. To donate to Stranger Songs and CKCU, visit … https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/CKCU/p2p/CKCU-2021-funding-drive/team/stranger-songs/

Leonard Cohen- Blessed is the Memory
Songs of Leonard Cohen (Columbia/Legacy)
Perla Batalla- Famous Blue Raincoat
Bird on the Wire: The Songs of Leonard Cohen (Mechuda Music)

Emmylou Harris, Dolores Keane & Mary Black- Sonny’s Dream
Songbird: Rare Tracks and Forgotten Gems (Rhino)
Pressgang Mutiny- Stormalong John
Across the Western Ocean (Pressgang Mutiny)

Malvina Reynolds- I Don’t Mind Failing
Malvina Reynolds … Sings the Truth (Columbia)
Reggie Harris- It Isn’t Nice
On Solid Ground (Reggie Harris Music)

Lightnin' Hopkins- Trouble in Mind
Autobiography in Blues (Tradition)
Tom Russell- Scars on his Ankles
Folk Hotel (Frontera)

The Everly Brothers- Cathy’s Clown
A Date with The Everly Brothers (Warner Bros.)
Over the Moon- Kentucky
Chinook Waltz (Borealis)

Andy Cohen- I Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Have None of My Jelly Roll
Tryin’ to Get Home (Earwig)
Louis Armstrong & Velma Middleton- St. Louis Blues
Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy (Columbia/Legacy)

Mike Regenstreif & Murray McLauchlan on Zoom (2021)

Murray McLauchlan- Sweeping the Spotlight Away
Songs from the Street: The Best of Murray McLauchlan (True North)
Murray McLauchlan- Out Past the Timberline
Songs from the Street: The Best of Murray McLauchlan (True North)

Stan Rogers- Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage (Fogarty’s Cove/Borealis)
Ian Robb with Finest Kind- The Mary Ellen Carter
From Different Angels (Fallen Angle)

Katherine Rondeau- Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You
Unfortunate Point of View (Katherine Rondeau)
Colin James- It Takes a Train to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry
Open Road (Stony Plain)

Next week: The Guitar

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--Mike Regenstreif

Various Artists – Joy of Living: A Tribute to Ewan MacColl

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Joy of Living: A Tribute to Ewan MacColl

Compass Records

compassrecords.com

ewanmaccoll.co.uk

Last month, I attended a Friends of Fiddler’s Green concert in Ottawa to launch their new album, Old Inventions, and Ian Robb introduced his song, “The Reason Why,” with an anecdote about the first time he sang, as a floor singer, at the Singers Club in London when he was a teenager.

After Ian sang, he was approached by Ewan MacColl (1915-1989), the legendary British folksinger, songwriter and activist who ran the Singers Club with life partner Peggy Seeger. MacColl asked Ian why he sang whatever song it was that he had just performed. The lesson Ian took from the encounter was that a singer (or songwriter) should always have some sort of convincing reason for investing themselves in a song.

Although I never had an opportunity to see MacColl perform live, I have listened to many of his recordings, have had conversations about him with Peggy, and have no doubt that there was always a reason why for every song he ever sang or wrote.

To mark the centennial of his birth, his children with Peggy – Neill, Calum and Kitty MacColl – have assembled Joy of Living: A Tribute to Ewan MacColl, an outstanding, 2-CD collection of 21 of MacColl’s songs performed by an eclectic array of singers from both sides of the Atlantic – some of whom I’ve known personally for many years, others whose own music I’ve listened to over the years, and a few of whom I’ve heard for the first time on this album. And each of them leaves absolutely no doubt as to their reason why.

One of the things I’ve always admired about MacColl’s songwriting is the way he could write, authentically, from others’ perspectives as shown on this album by such songs as Martin Carthy’s version of “I’m Champion at Keeping ‘Em Rolling,” written from the perspective of a British truck driver; Seth Lakeman’s version of “The Shoals of Herring,” written from the perspective of a fisherman; and Marry Waterson’s version “The Exile Song,” written from the perspective of an Irish laborer who had to travel far from home to earn his living.

But the songs of MacColl’s written from others’ perspectives that have always moved me most are those about the Romany travelling people – also known as Gypsies, a term now considered to be derisive. Among those songs included here are poignant versions of “Thirty-Foot Trailer” by Eliza Carthy, “Freeborn Man” by Paul Brady, “Moving On Song” by Norma Waterson and “The Terror Time” by Karine Polwart.

Some of the other highlights here include a beautiful version of “Sweet Thames, Flow Softly,” mainly credited to Rufus & Martha Wainwright, but which equally belongs to their half-sister, Lucy Wainwright Roche, and cousin, Lily Lanken; Montreal singer Chaim Tannenbaum’s exquisite version of “My Old Man,” a song in which MacColl both recalls his father and offers advice to his son; Steve Earle’s version of “Dirty Old Town,” MacColl’s portrait of Salford, the town of his birth; and the finale, a sweet interpretation of “The Joy of Living,” an end-of-life celebration of life and farewell to loved ones sung by David Gray.

And, of course, no tribute to Ewan MacColl would be complete without a version of “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” his love song for Peggy which has become a standard recorded by countless folk and pop artists. It’s convincingly performed here by Paul Buchanan.

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--Mike Regenstreif

The Friends of Fiddler’s Green – Old Inventions

THE FRIENDS OF FIDDLER’S GREEN

Old Inventions

Friends of Fiddler’s Green

ianrobb.com

Back in the 1970s, my occasional trips to Toronto would often include a night spent at Fiddler’s Green, a British-style folk club in a building behind the YMCA on – if I recall correctly – Eglinton Avenue. There would usually be a featured performer for the evening and a bunch of other folks doing short sets – among them, usually, at least some of the members of the Friends of Fiddler’s Green, a group of singers and musicians made up of the club’s directors and some of their friends.

I’d also often see the Friends playing at Mariposa and other folk festivals and on their occasional trips to Montreal. I remember them playing once or twice at the Yellow Door, a folk club that I helped Chuck Baker run in the early-1970s, and once or twice at the Golem, the folk club that I ran in the ‘70s and ‘80s.

While the Fiddler’s Green folk club folded decades ago – sometime in the ‘80s, I think – the Friends of Fiddler’s Green have endured and are still going strong 44 years after first coming together back in 1971.

Why their longevity? My guess is that it’s because the Friends of Fiddler’s Greem has never been a professional band in the sense that it provided the livelihood of the members. They were and remain amateurs in the best (and most professional) sense of the word. They’ve continued to come together over the years for the sheer joy of singing and playing music together.

They’ve also survived personnel changes as a few have left the group over the years and others have joined. Sadly, a couple of the Friends – David Parry and Tam Kearney – have passed away.

The Friends have not been prolific recording artists. Their first album, This Side of the Ocean, was released as an LP in 1981 (and reissued on CD in 1997 augmented with an extra half-hour of concert recordings from back in the day). Their second, The Road to Mandalay, came out in 1994.

More than 20 years later, Old Inventions is their third album as a group and it finds them in fine form running through a repertoire of folk, music hall and contemporary songs and tunes.

The current Friends – most of whom have played on all three albums – include Ian Bell, the newest member, on banjo, guitar, concertina, pipes, trombone and bass; Alistair Brown on concertina, button accordion and harmonica; Grit Laskin on guitar, mandolin and bones; Jeff McClintock on piano; Ian Robb on several kinds of concertinas; and Laurence Stevenson on fiddle. Most also sing lead vocals occasionally and all sing harmonies and choruses.

The album begins with a couple of songs that are quite typical of a Friends of Fiddler’s Green performance. Alistair takes the lead vocal on “Twelve and Tanner a Bottle,” Will Fyfe’s humorous 1920 complaint about the rising price of whiskey before Ian Robb leads the group on a slightly less familiar version of the familiar traditional folksong “All Around My Hat.”

With nary a weak track among the 14 songs and instrumental medleys, a couple of my other favorites include a banjo-driven version of the chantey “Roll the Woodpile Down,” featuring a lead vocal by Ian Bell; the ensemble version of the celebratory pub song “Doon In the Wee Room,” sung as a tribute to Tam Kearney who passed away in 2013.

Two exceptional original songs speak to types of inspiration. Grit’s “If You Want to Change the World,” is about the dedication and perseverance required to make social progress and effect change while Ian Robb’s “The Reason Why,” is about the right and wrong reasons for singing and making music.

My very favorite song, though, is the poignantly beautiful version of John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s “In My Life,” sung by Grit as a memorial for friends who have passed on. In the liner notes, Grit talks about our mutual friend, the late Rick Fielding, and I’ve no doubt he was also thinking of David and Tam as he sang the song.

The Friends of Fiddler’s Green will be performing several concerts in Ontario to celebrate the release of Old Inventions.

Owen Sound – Sunday, August 23, 1 pm, during the Summerfolk Festival.

Ottawa – Friday, September 11, 8 pm, at the Westboro Masonic Hall.

Toronto – Saturday, September 12, 8:30 pm, at Hugh’s Room.

London – Sunday, September 13, 7:30 pm, at Chaucer’s Pub (presented by Cuckoo’s Nest Folk Club).

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--Mike Regenstreif