Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – December 2, 2025: Many Rivers to Cross

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/595/73081.html

Theme: Many Rivers to Cross.

Jimmy Cliff- Many Rivers to Cross

The Harder They Come (Island)

Veronneau- River

Blue Tapestry (Antidote Sounds)

Tom Russell- Down the Rio Grande

Borderland (HighTone)

Kurt Anderson- Kern River

Life on Interstate 40 (Riverlark Music) 

Ronney Abramson- Purify My River

Ronney Abramson (Capitol)

J.P. Cormier- Long River

The Long River: A Personal Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot (Flash Publishing)

Steve Gillette- That Song About the River

Best of (Compass Rose) 

Steel Rail- Flow River Flow

Coming Home (Crossties)

James Keelaghan- Sweet Thames Flow Softly

A Few Simple Verses (Jericho Beach Music)

Tamarack- The Grand River Canal

On the Grand: The Story of a River (Folk Era)

William Pint & Felicia Dale- The Essakeeba River (Essequibo River)

Hearts of Gold (Waterbug)

Peter, Paul & Mary- Bamboo (River Come Down) 

Peter, Paul and Mary (Warner Bros.)

Happy Traum- Boat’s Up the River

Relax Your Mind (Kicking Mule)

Sean Gagnier- Big River

Circle Harbor (Sean Gagnier)

Sheesham & Lotus & ‘Son- Mississippi River Blues

The High Stepping Music of Sheesham & Lotus & ‘Son (Sepiaphone)

Leon Bibb- Ol’ Man River

Praising Peace: A Tribute to Paul Robeson (Stony Plain)

Jane Siberry- O Shenandoah

Hush (Sheba)

Bill Staines- So Sang the River

One More River (Red House)

Tom Paxton- Deep Fork River

How Come the Sun/Tom Paxton EP (BGO)

Eliza Gilkyson- Before the Great River was Tamed

Songs From the River Wind (Howlin’ Dog)

Mia Kelly- Kitchissippi

Garden Through the War (Mia Kelly)

The Persuasions- Black Muddy River

Might as Well: The Persuasions Sing Grateful Dead (Grateful Dead)

Mason Daring & Jeanie Stahl- River

Recordings Celebrating 50 Years of a Musical Partnership (Mason Daring & Jeanie Stahl)

Next week: The Dark.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – August 26, 2025: Songs of August & Highway 61 Revisited – Revisited

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/595/71687.html

Themes: Part 1 – Songs of August; Part 2 – Highway 61 Revisited – Revisited.

Part 1 – Songs of August

Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer with Chao Tran- August Flower

From China to Appalachia (Community Music)

Emily Triggs- Beautiful August

The Great Escape (Emily Triggs)

Jay Linden- August Night

Satchel (Jay Linden)

The Lucky Sisters- On an August Night

So Lucky (Patio)

Preservation Hall Jazz Band- August Nights

That’s It (Legacy)

Joan Baez- The 33rd of August

Blessed Are (Vanguard)

Jeanie Stahl- The August of Our Years

Mysteries (Daring)

Benny Carter- August Moon

Aspects (United Artists)

Part 2 – Highway 61 Revisited – Revisited.

It was 60 years ago, on August 30, 1965, that Bob Dylan released his monumental folk-rock album, Highway 61 Revisited.

Rory Block- Like a Rolling Stone

Positively 4th Street: A Tribute to Bob Dylan (Stony Plain)

Tim O’Brien- Tombstone Blues

Red On Blonde (Sugar Hill)

Ian Hanchet- It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry

Dealin’ from the Bottom (of My Heart) (Ian Hanchet)

Bob Dylan- From a Buick 6

Highway 61 Revisited (Columbia)

Ben Sidran- Ballad of a Thin Man

Dylan Different (Bonsai)

Emma Swift- Queen Jane Approximately

Blonde on the Tracks (Tiny Ghost/CRS)

Ray Benson- Highway 61 Revisited

Swingin’ and Skankin’ (Primary Wave Music)

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

Folk Hotel (Frontera)

Bill Camplin- Desolation Row

Bob Dylan Project One (Bill Camplin)

Bob Dylan recorded versions of the next three songs during the sessions for Highway 61 Revisited but did not include them on the album.

Lucinda Williams- Positively 4th Street

The Village: A Celebration of the Music of Greenwich Village (429)

Bob Dylan & The Hawks- Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window (single version)

Side Tracks (Columbia/Legacy)

Bob Dylan- Sitting On a Barbed Wire Fence

The Best of the Cutting Edge 1965-1966 (Columbia/Legacy)

Next week: Crazy Blues and Other Crazy Songs.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday October 17, 2023: Remembering Kate Wolf

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/595/62361.html

Theme: Remembering Kate Wolf (1942-1986).

Kate Wolf was a very fine singer and songwriter, and folk music activist, who died of leukemia on December 10, 1986, about six weeks before she would have turned 45. Although her career as a touring and recording artist was relatively brief, Kate was, in her time, and to this day, a highly influential artist.

Kate Wolf- The Minstrel

Weaver of Visions: The Kate Wolf Anthology (Rhino)

Kate Wolf- Emma Rose

Back Roads (Rhino)

Dave Alvin- These Times We’re Living In

Treasures Left Behind: Remembering Kate Wolf (Red House)

Nanci Griffith- Friend of Mine

Treasures Left Behind: Remembering Kate Wolf (Red House)

John Gorka- Sweet Love

Treasures Left Behind: Remembering Kate Wolf (Red House)

Peter, Paul & Mary- Give Yourself to Love

Discovered: Live in Concert (Warner Bros./Rhino)

Kate Wolf- Safe at Anchor

Safe at Anchor (Rhino)

Eric Bogle- Katie and the Dreamtime Land

Something of Value (Philo)

Eric Bogle- Cornflower Blue

Treasures Left Behind: Remembering Kate Wolf (Red House)

Kate Wolf- Poet’s Heart

Poet’s Heart (Rhino)

Utah Phillips- See Here, She Said

Treasures Left Behind: Remembering Kate Wolf (Red House)

Mason Daring & Jeanie Stahl- Across the Great Divide

Forty (Daring)

Lucinda Williams- Here in California

Treasures Left Behind: Remembering Kate Wolf (Red House)

Greg Brown- Kate’s Guitar

In the Hills of California (Red House)

Kate Wolf- Old Jerome

The Wind Blows Wild (Rhino)

Kate Wolf- All He Ever Saw was You

Poet’s Heart (Rhino)

Steve Fisher- Streets of Calgary

River (SNR Music)

Eve Goldberg- Traveling Day

Ever Brightening Day (Sweet Patootie)

Rosalie Sorrels- In China, or a Woman’s Heart

Report from Grimes Creek (Green Linnet)

Steven Gellman- California (For Kate)

All You Need (Hidden Poet Music)

Kate Wolf- Bird on a Wire

Looking Back at You (Rhino)

Next week: A conversation with Terri Thal, author of My Greenwich Village: Dave, Bob and Me.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday December 14, 2021: Remembering Bill Staines (1947-2021)

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/595/54514.html

Theme: Remembering Bill Staines (1947-2021). Bill Staines was a folksinger, a songwriter, a colleague and a friend since 1970. Bill died on December 5, 2021 from an aggressive cancer at age 74.

The previously announced theme, “The Folk Roots of Rock ‘n’ Roll and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Branches of Folk Music,” has been rescheduled to the January 4, 2022 edition of Stranger Songs.

Bill Staines- Happiness Is
Somebody Blue (Champlain)
Bill Staines- Rye Whiskey Joe
Bill Staines (Evolution)
Bill Staines- Ballad of the Maples
Third Time Around (Catfish)

Mason Daring & Jeanie Stahl- The Boats They Come and the Boats They Go
The Early Years (Daring)
Nanci Griffith- Roseville Fair
One Fair Summer Evening (MCA)
Paul Mills- A Place in the Choir
Unreleased – used with permission

Bill Staines- Jubilee
The Whistle of the Jay (Folk-Legacy)

Mike Regenstreif & Bill Staines (1993)

Bill Staines- The Black Fly Song
Just Play One Tune More (Folk-Legacy)
Bill Staines- Early Morning Rain
Looking for the Wind (Red House)
Bill Staines- Rompin’ Rovin’ Days
Journey Home (Red House)
Bill Staines- The Piney Wood Hills
Journey Home (Red House)
Bill Staines- The French Girl
Beneath Some Lucky Star (Red House)

Bill Staines- Eyes to Eyes
Sandstone Cathedrals (Mineral River)
Jerry Jeff Walker- Flowers in the Snow
Navajo Rug (Rykodisc)
Priscilla Herdman- The Faith of Man
Darkness into Light (Flying Fish)
Bill Staines- Sueño
Sandstone Cathedrals (Mineral River)

Josh White, Jr..- Bridges
Live (Silverwolf)
Priscilla Herdman- Lovers and Losers
Forgotten Dreams (Flying Fish)
Bill Staines- My Sweet Wyoming Home
Miles (Mineral River)

Jeanie Stahl & Bill Staines- Music to Me
Mysteries (Daring)
Eve Goldberg- Crossing the Water
Crossing the Water (Borealis)
Mara Levine- River
Jewels and Harmony (Mara’s Creations)

Bill Staines- Traveling Shoes
Tracks and Trails (Philo)

Next week: A Stranger Songs Christmas

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

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday October 26, 2021: Songs of Randy Newman

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/595/53908.html

Theme: Songs of Randy Newman

Randy Newman (Twitter)

Randy Newman- She Chose Me
Dark Matter (Nonesuch)

Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee with Arlo Guthrie- Sail Away
Sonny & Brownie (A&M)
Randy Newman- It’s Lonely at the Top
Sail Away (Reprise)
Dave Van Ronk- Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear
To All My Friends in Far-Flung Places (Gazell)
The Duhks- Political Science
Sail Away: The Songs of Randy Newman (Sugar Hill)

Randy Newman- Burn On
Sail Away (Reprise)
Sussex- Dayton, Ohio – 1903
Parade Day (Lucky Bear)
Tracy Nelson- God’s Song (That’s Why I Love Mankind)
Homemade Songs/Come See About Me (Flying Fish)

Chris Smither- Old Kentucky Home
I’m a Stranger Too (Tomato)

Caroline Doctorow- I Think It’s Going to Rain Today
Dreaming in Vinyl (Narrow Lane)
Odetta- Mama Told Me Not to Come
Odetta Sings (Polydor)
Randy Newman- I’ll Be Home
Randy Newman Live (Warner Bros.)

The Del McCoury Band- Birmingham
Sail Away: The Songs of Randy Newman (Sugar Hill)
Judy Collins- Marie
Hard Times for Lovers (Elektra)
Randy Newman- Mr. President (Have Pity on the Working Man)
Good Old Boys (Warner Bros.)
Madeleine Peyroux- Guilty
The Blue Room (Decca)
Michael Jerome Browne- Louisiana 1927
That’s Where It’s At! (Borealis)
Mollie O'Brien- Rollin’
Big Red Sun (Sugar Hill)

Jeanie Stahl- Texas Girl at the Funeral of Her Father
Mysteries (Daring)
Peter Mulvey- In Germany Before the War
Ten Thousand Mornings (Signature Sounds)
Nina Simone- Baltimore
Baltimore (Epic/Legacy)
Randy Newman- Old Man on the Farm
Little Criminals (Warner Bros.)

Mary McCaslin- Living Without You
Way Out West (Philo)
Peggy Lee- Love Story
Is That All There Is (Capitol)
Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton & Emmylou Harris- Feels Like Home
Trio II (Asylum)
Randy Newman- Harps and Angels
Harps and Angels (Nonesuch)

Next week: CKCU Funding Drive – Show Us the Money, Please

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

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday August 19, 2017

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 at 93.1 FM in Ottawa and http://www.ckcufm.com/ on the web.

This episode of Saturday Morning can be streamed on-demand at http://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/33685.html.

Extended theme – Songs of Tom Russell.

Bruce Cockburn- States I’m In

Bone on Bone (True North)

Kim & Reggie Harris- Eyes on the Prize

Rock of Ages (Appleseed)

Too Sad for the Public w/Ana Egge- Old Alabama

Oysters Ice Cream Lemonade: American Folk Fantasies Written and Arranged by Dick Connette (StorySound)

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

Gonna Let It Shine (M.C.)

Shawna Caspi- Never Enough

Forest Fire (Shawna Caspi)

Catherine MacLellan- Shilo Song

If It’s Alright With You: The Songs of Gene MacLellan (True North)

Chris Ronald- Fragments

Fragments (Borealis)

Lynn Miles- All the Birds

Black Flowers Vol. 4 (Lynn Miles)

Jolie Holland & Samantha Parton- Biding My Time

Wildflower Blues (Cinquefoil)

The Early Mays- Say-O

Chase the Sun (The Early Mays)

Dakota Dave Hull & Sean Blackburn- Old Fashioned Love

Ace Pickin’ and Sweet Harmony (Arabica)

Ball & Chain- Jackson

Trouble All the Time (Ball & Chain)

Ben Hunter, Joe Seamons & Phil Wiggins- Struttin’ with Some Barbecue

A Black & Tan Ball (Tantamount)

Jayme Stone, Moira Smiley, Sumaia Jackson, Joe Phillips, Felicity Williams & Denzal Sinclaire- Wait on the Rising Sun

Jayme Stone’s Folklife (Borealis)

Bill Staines- Zane Grey

Miles (Mineral River)

Sylvia Tyson- String too Short to Save

Gypsy Cadillac (Silver City)

Dave Alvin- Down the Rio Grande

Ashgrove (Yep Roc)

Tom Russell- Leaving El Paso

Folk Hotel (Frontera) 

Steve Young- Angel of Lyon

Switchblades of Love (Watermelon)

Gretchen Peters- Saint Francis

Hello Cruel World (Scarlet Letter)

Katy Moffatt- Marina

Where the Heart Is (Centerfire)

Tom Russell- Rise Again, Handsome Johnny

Folk Hotel (Frontera)

Mike Regenstreif & Tom Russell (2012)

Jerry Jeff Walker- Navajo Rug

Navajo Rug (Rykodisc)

Joe Ely- Gallo del Cielo

Letter to Laredo (MCA)

Ian Tyson- Wolves No Longer Sing

Carnero Vaquero (Stony Plain)

Tom Russell- I’ll Never Leave These Old Horses

Folk Hotel (Frontera)

Tom Paxton & Anne Hills- Manzanar

Under American Skies (Appleseed)

Tracy Grammer- Blue Wing

Book of Sparrows (Tracy Grammer)

Nanci Griffith- St. Olav’s Gate

The Last of the True Believers (Philo)

Tom Russell- The Light Beyond the Coyote Fence

Folk Hotel (Frontera)

Claire Lynch- Kingdom Come

North By South (Compass)

Dakota Dave Hull & Sean Blackburn- Take Me to the Land of Jazz

North By Southwest (Arabica)

Mason Daring & Jeanie Stahl- Chattanooga Choo Choo

Forty (Daring)

Jackie Washington- When that Midnight Choo Choo Leaves for Alabam’

Midnight Choo Choo (Borealis)

Dakota Dave Hull & Sean Blackburn- River of Swing

River of Swing (Arabica)

Terry Gillespie- Another Black Night

Home Boy: Live at the Granary (Terry Gillespie)

Rob Lutes- Better Past

Walk in the Dark (Lucky Bear)

Missy Burgess-- Basket of Blues

Lemon Pie (Missy Burgess)

David Bromberg- Delia

The Blues, the Whole Blues and Nothing But the Blues (Red House)

Rob Lutes- I Am the Blues

Walk in the Dark (Lucky Bear)

Beyond the Pale- Ion Dragoi

Ruckus (Borealis)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on September 16.

Find me on Twitter. @MikeRegenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Mason Daring and Jeanie Stahl – Forty

MASON DARING AND JEANIE STAHL

Forty

Daring Records

daringandstahl.com

“What a surprise, that after a few decades, we would record another album,” write Mason Daring and Jeanie Stahl in the liner notes to Forty, an album that celebrates the four decades since they first worked together as a duo – and their first new recordings as a duo in well over three decades,

And how nice it is to hear this new music from old friends. Back in the late-1970s, I operated an independent booking agency for a few years and Mason and Jeanie were among the artists I worked with. They were among the top performers in the bustling New England folk scene back then and I started working with them on the strength of a great LP called Sweet Melodies in the Night that included several classics like Mason’s “Marblehead Morning,” Jeanie’s beautiful title song and definitive interpretations of songs by Bill Staines and Robin Batteau. During the time I worked with them they recorded a second great LP called Heartbreak. Years later, many of the songs from those LPs were collected on a CD called The Early Years, and now, decades after that, we have Forty.

By the time I wound down my agency, Mason was heavily into scoring films – notably for director John Sayles – and Jeanie went on to record several solo albums. While both have pursued other primary interests over the past three decades-plus, they have continued to get together to perform on occasion.

All this time later, Mason and Jeanie still sound great together on Forty’s 10 songs – half of them originals, half of them classics drawn from contemporary folk music, country, western swing and the Great American Songbook. Jeanie’s voice remains exquisite while Mason’s glides effortlessly on pieces like Roger Miller’s “King of the Road.”

There’s a timelessness to the songs on the album and originals like Mason’s “Too Much” and Jeanie’s “The Ring” stand tall next to the classics.

And while Forty is a delightful listen from start to finish, I’ll pick out a few of my very favorite tracks.

“The Ring,” is a lovely song which uses the metaphor of a 40-year-old ring in a jewel box for the seemingly quick passage of time that those of us of a certain age can now look back on. It also captures that passage of time celebrated with this album.

“It’s Funny,” written and sung by Mason, is a cool, love comes-love goes tune that would have been at home on a Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett LP, while their versions of “San Antonio Rose” and Chattanooga Choo Choo,” – both of which I’m sure I remember Mason and Jeanie playing live back in the day – are full of playful swing.

Perhaps my favorite track, though, is Jeanie’s sublime interpretation of “Across the Great Divide,” a beautiful song written by my late friend Kate Wolf. Perfection.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif