Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – January 27, 2026: International Holocaust Remembrance 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/595/73873.html

Theme: International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day is marked annually on the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau on January 27, 1945. During the Holocaust, more than one million Jews were gassed to death at Auschwitz-Birkenau. In these times of exploding antisemitism and other forms of racism and hatred, it’s important for us to pause and remember the lessons of the Holocaust when Hitler’s Nazi Germany systematically murdered 6 million Jews – about two-thirds of the Jews who lived in Europe. Many of the lessons of the Holocaust, and what led to it, are sadly relevant to what’s going on in the world today.

SONiA disappear fear- By My Silence

By My Silence (Disappear)

John McCutcheon- MS St. Louis

Field of Stars (Appalsongs)

Brendan Nolan- Watching Myself Watch My Son

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

Simon Spiro- Obodivke Camp (In Obodivker Lager)

Yiddish Glory: The Silenced Songs of World War II (Six Degrees)

Alice Zawadzki- The Sad Camp (Fun a Troyerikn Lager)

Yiddish Glory: The Silenced Songs of World War II (Six Degrees)

Cantor Allan Robuck- So the World Would Know

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

Lee Oskar- Never Forget

Passages Through Music: Never Forget (Dreams We Share Productions)

Madeleine Peyroux- Dance Me to the End of Love

Careless Love (Rounder)

Leonard Cohen- Lovers

Six Montreal Poets (Folkways)

Leonard Cohen- Puppets

Thanks for the Dance (Columbia/Legacy)

Rod MacDonald- Auschwitz

The Man on the Ledge (Shanachie)

Tim Grimm- Anne in Amsterdam

The Turning Point (Cavalier)

Nefesh Mountain- Piece of the Sun (for Anne Frank)

Songs for the Sparrows (Eden Sky)

Brendan Nolan- Parallel Limbs

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

Lenka Lichtenberg- Feel with Blood

Feel with Blood (Six Degrees)

Lenka Lichtenberg- Wintry Dusk

Feel with Blood (Six Degrees)

Psoy Korolenko- Transnistrian Lullaby (Transnistria Viglid)

Yiddish Glory: The Silenced Songs of World War II (Six Degrees)

Alice Zawadzki- A Girl from Kyiv (A Meydele from Kyiv)

Yiddish Glory: The Silenced Songs of World War II (Six Degrees)

Theodore Bikel- Partizaner-March (March of the Partisans)

While I’m Here (Red House)

Perla Batalla- The Partisan

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

Noel Paul Stookey- Jean Claude

Just Causes (Neworld)

Frank London with Cantor Sveta Kundish- Minutn fun bitokhn (Moments of Hope)

Ghetto Songs (Felmay)

Next week: A Tribute to Jackie Washington.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – December 3, 2024: Top 10 for 2024

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/595/67938.html

Theme: Songs from my top 10 folk-rooted and folk-branched albums of 2024.

The annotated and illustrated list is posted on the Folk Roots/Folk Branches blog at this link. https://frfb.blogspot.com/2024/11/top-10-for-2024.html

Number 10 – Heartbreak, Misery & Death by Grayson Capps

Grayson Capps- Hallelujah

Heartbreak, Misery & Death (Royal Potato Family)

Number 9 – Lonesome Road: Suite for Solo Guitar and Voice – Songs of the Lost Generation 1924-1928 by Joel Mabus

Joel Mabus- The Lonesome Road

Lonesome Road: Suite for Solo Guitar and Voice – Songs of the Lost Generation 1924-1928 (Fossil)

Number 8 – American Patchwork Quartet by American Patchwork Quartet

American Patchwork Quartet- Shenandoah

American Patchwork Quartet (Carolina Jasmine)

Number 7 – Heart of the Swan by Carla Sciaky

Carla Sciaky- Standing by a River

Heart of the Swan (Propinquity)

Carla Sciaky- This Forsaken Garden

Heart of the Swan (Propinquity)

Number 6 – Two Sides to Your Story by Chris Rawlings

Chris Rawlings- Bastille Day

Two Sides to Your Story (Cookingfat Music)

Chris Rawlings- Smoker’s Lullaby

Two Sides to Your Story (Cookingfat Music)

Number 5 – Live at the Scala Theatre and In the Real World by Eric Bibb

Eric Bibb- Bring Me Little Water, Sylvie 

Live at the Scala Theatre (Stony Plain) 

Eric Bibb- Best I Can

In the Real World (Stony Plain)

Number 4 – American Railroad by Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens

Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens- Swannanoa Tunnel/Steel-Driving Man

American Railroad (Nonesuch)

Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens- Tamping Song

American Railroad (Nonesuch)

Number 3 – Feel with Blood by Lenka Lichtenberg

Lenka Lichtenberg- Feel with Blood

Feel with Blood (Six Degrees)

Lenka Lichtenberg- Wintry Dusk

Feel with Blood (Six Degrees)

Number 2 – Bandits, Ballads and Blues by James Talley

James Talley- The Love Song of Billy the Kid

Bandits, Ballads and Blues (Cimarron)

James Talley- If We Could Love One Another

Bandits, Ballads and Blues (Cimarron)

Number 1 – A Letter to Leonard Cohen: Tribute to a Friend by Perla Batalla

Perla Batalla- A Singer Must Die

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

Perla Batalla- You Want It Darker

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

I’m taking the next four weeks off and Stranger Songs will feature some repeat shows from 2022. You can see the playlists and stream the shows at the following links.

December 10: Songs of the Mountain City Four and Kate & Anna McGarrigle. https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/57707.html

December 17: “Acapella Stella” and other a capella songs. https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/57170.html

December 24: Happy Holidays. https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/58701.html

December 31: Songs of – or inspired by – Jesse Winchester. https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/56097.html

New programs will resume on January 7.

--Mike Regenstreif

Top 10 for 2024

Here are my picks for the Top 10 folk-rooted or folk-branched albums of 2024. I started with a list of about 30 superb albums released between December 2023 and November 2024. I’ve been over the list several times over the past couple of weeks and came up with several similar – not identical – Top 10 lists. Today’s list is the final one. The order might have been slightly different and there are several other worthy albums that might have been included, had one of the other lists represented the final choice. Any new albums that arrive between now and the end of the year will be considered for my 2025 list. 

1. Perla Batalla – A Letter to Leonard Cohen: Tribute to a Friend (Mechuda Music). Early in her career, in the late-1980s and ‘90s, Perla Batalla toured the world as a backup singer in Leonard Cohen’s band. I remember being mesmerized by her singing as I sat front row, centre at the St. Denis Theatre in Montreal in 1988. In 2004, Perla released the superb collection, Bird on the Wire: The Songs of Leonard Cohen, and now follows up with this sublime album. She includes superb versions of eight of Leonard’s songs; a version of “The Partisan,” a song from the French Resistance in the World War II that Leonard made his own; and two of Perla’s original songs inspired by her friend and mentor.

2. James Talley – Bandits, Ballads and Blues (Cimarron). James Talley has been one of my favorite singer-songwriters since he released Got No Bread, No Milk, No Money, but We Sure Got a Lot of Love in 1974. On Bandits, Ballads and Blues, James sings compassionate songs about old west outlaws, family, a missed dog, and – most importantly – common folk victimized by forces beyond their control.

3. Lenka Lichtenberg – Feel with Blood (Six Degrees). Feel with Blood by Lenka Lichtenberg, the second album that Lenka has done based on poems written by Anna Hana Friesová, her maternal grandmother, while she was a prisoner at the Theresienstadt concentration camp during the Holocaust. While Thieves of Dreams, her first album of this material was largely sung in Czech, this album is largely sung in English translation.

4. Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens – American Railroad (Nonesuch). The Silkroad Ensemble is a multicultural group of musicians founded by Yo-Yo Ma and now under the artistic direction of Rhiannon Giddens. As explained on the Silkroad Ensemble website, American Railroad, was inspired by the impact that African American, Chinese, Indigenous, Irish, and other immigrant communities had on the creation of the transcontinental and connecting railways in North America.

5. Eric Bibb – Live at the Scala Theatre (Stony Plain) and In the Real World (Stony Plain). The always inspiring Eric Bibb, who has been a favorite folk and acoustic blues performer for many years, released both a live album, Live at the Scala Theatre, and a studio album, In the Real World, this year and both are deserving of inclusion on this list, so I decided to bend my list and have two albums share a slot.

6. Chris Rawlings – Two Sides to Your Story (Cookingfat Music). I’ve known Chris Rawlings since circa 1970 and I think that Two Sides to Your Story – featuring stellar backup from Henry Heillig and Jim Hoke – is his best (and best sounding) album yet. Among the highlights is a new version of “Smoker’s Lullaby,” a piece that Chris sang the first time I heard him about 55 years ago, featuring slightly edited lyrics that make a great song even better – and whose opening line gives the album its title.

7. Carla Sciaky – Heart of the Swan (Propinquity). Heart of the Swan, the first solo album in about 30 years by Carla Sciaky, marks a triumphant return of a fine singer and songwriter who was unheard from for too long. This is an album of quiet power with several tracks featuring recurring instrumental or vocal passages from the traditional ballad, “Polly Vaughn,” about a hunter mistakes the woman he loves for a swan.

8. American Patchwork Quartet – American Patchwork Quartet (Carolina Jasmine). American Patchwork Quartet is a multicultural group whose members are both ethnically and musically diverse, traits which they bring to their delightfully re-imagined versions of 14 traditional folksongs that demonstrate how relevant and powerful traditional source material remains for contemporary music.

9. Joel Mabus – Lonesome Road: Suite for Solo Guitar and Voice – Songs of the Lost Generation 1924-1928 (Fossil). Joel Mabus, a longtime veteran of the folk music scene, is a fine singer and player of many stringed instruments. Joel is also an excellent songwriter whose work is well informed by his knowledge of diverse styles including traditional balladry, old-time country, bluegrass, jazz, vintage pop and blues. On Lonesome Road: Suite for Solo Guitar and Voice – Songs of the Lost Generation 1924-1928 Joel offers fine versions of 14 classic songs written between 1924 and 1928.

10. Grayson Capps – Heartbreak, Misery & Death (Royal Potato Family). On Heartbreak, Misery & Death, Grayson Capps, a singer-songwriter from Alabama well-versed in folk and blues styles, turns his attention to really nice versions of traditional folksongs and contemporary folk classics written by the likes of Leonard Cohen, Gordon Lightfoot, Jerry Jeff Walker and Randy Newman.

I will be featuring songs from each of these albums on Stranger Songs, Tuesday December 3, 3:30-5 pm (ET), on CKCU. The program is already available 24/7 for on-demand streaming at this link. https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/67938.html

–Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – November 5, 2024: Addendums to Past Themes

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/595/67577.html

Theme: Addendums to Past Themes.

This is the second of two editions of Stranger Songs airing during CKCU’s 2024 Funding Drive. Your support is meaningful and essential to keeping CKCU’s diverse programming on the air for another year. You can make a donation in support of Stranger Songs and CKCU at this link. Charitable income tax receipts are issued for donations of $20 or more. Thanks for your support. https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/CKCU/p2p/fundingdrive2024/page/stranger-songs

A theme I do every year on the second Stranger Songs funding drive show is Addendums to Past Themes. More often than not, when I choose a theme for Stranger Songs, there are more possible songs to choose from than I can include – and sometimes new music that fits the theme arrives after the show has been produced. So, I’ve chosen a few of the themes from the past year for addendums.

Perla Batalla- A Thousand Kisses Deep

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

Leonard Cohen- Going Home

Old Ideas (Columbia)

Perla Batalla- Everybody Knows

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

Scottie Miller- Ah, New York

Carnival Cocoon (Scottie Miller)

Lucy Kaplansky- Love Song/New York

The Red Thread (Red House)

Amy Speace- In New York City

The American Dream (Windbone)

Shelley Posen- The Old Songs Home

The Old Songs Home (Well Done Music)

Madeleine Peyroux- I Hear Music

Careless Love: Deluxe Edition (Rounder)

The Central Park Sheiks- The People’s Key

Honeysuckle Rose (Flying Fish)

Misty Blues- Keep On Movin’ It On

I’m Too Old for Games: A Live Tribute to Odetta (Guitar One)

Eric Bibb & Odetta- ‘Tain’t Such a Much

Friends (Telarc)

Odetta- Look the World Over

Blues Everywhere I Go (M.C.) 

Bob Dylan- My Back Pages

Another Side of Bob Dylan (Columbia)

Ian & Sylvia- You Were On My Mind

Northern Journey (Vanguard)

Sam Cooke- A Change is Gonna Come

Ain’t That Good News (RCA)

Lenka Lichtenberg- Remember the Sun

Feel with Blood (Six Degrees)

Lenka Lichtenberg- After the Flood

Feel with Blood (Six Degrees)

Sid Selvidge- Pearlee

Twice Told Tales (Elektra Nonesuch)

Rosalie Sorrels- One More Next Time

If I Could Be the Rain (Folk-Legacy)

Gordon Lightfoot- Steel Rail Blues

The Original Lightfoot (EMI)

Duke Ellington- Sugar Hill Shim Sham

Ellington in Order, Volume 8 (1937) (Legacy)

Next week: Remembering Barbara Dane (1927-2024).

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday November 2, 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/128/67537.html

This is the second of three editions of the Saturday Morning show airing during CKCU’s 2024 Funding Drive. Your support is meaningful and essential to keeping CKCU’s diverse programming on the air for another year. You can make a donation in support of Saturday Morning and CKCU at this link. Charitable income tax receipts are issued for donations of $20 or more. Thanks for your support. https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/CKCU/p2p/fundingdrive2024/page/saturday-morning

Walter Hyatt- In November

King Tears (MCA)

Mary Flower- Brother, Can You Spare a Dime

Bywater Dance (Yellow Dog)

El Coyote- Tip Jar

El Coyote (El Coyote)

Old Man Luedecke- Easy Money

Easy Money (True North)

Bonnie Dobson- Living on Plastic

Take Me for a Walk in the Morning Dew (Hornbeam)

Bill Hearne- Cash on the Barrelhead

Always Trust Your Cape (Howlin’ Dog) 

Perla Batalla- Sisters of Mercy

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

Dave Van Ronk- Bird on the Wire

Van Ronk (Polydor)

Martin Simpson- The Stranger Song

Vagrant Stanzas (Topic)

Leonard Cohen- Famous Blue Raincoat

Songs of Love and Hate (Columbia/Legacy)

Perla Batalla- The L of Your First Name

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

Carla Sciaky- Dear Mr. Bowers

Heart of the Swan (Propinquity)

Tom Mitchell & Mike Regenstreif (1999)

Tom Mitchell- Wasted Rose

1976 live recording – used with permission

Amy Speace- Love is Gonna Come Again

The American Dream (Windbone)

Lenka Lichtenberg- Wintry Dusk

Feel with Blood (Six Degrees)

Mike Regenstreif & Brendan Nolan (2023)

Brendan Nolan- Packing Her Bag

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

Chava Alberstein & The Klezmatics- Mayn Shvester Khaye (My Sister Khaye)

The Well (Rounder)

Lenka Lichtenberg- Feel with Blood

Feel with Blood (Six Degrees)

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)

John McCutcheon- If I Had a Hammer

To Everyone in All the World: A Celebration of Pete Seeger (Appalseed)

Perla Batalla- Democracy

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

Connie Kaldor- Set You Free

Keep Going (Coyote Entertainment) 

Carolyn Shulman- Bolt Out of the Blue

Heart on a Wire (Carolyn Shulman)

Kurt Anderson- Whistlers and Jugglers

Life on Interstate 40 (Riverlark Music)

Neale Eckstein & BettySoo- Like a Poem Needs a Rhyme

Never Too Late (Neale Eckstein)

Rik Palieri- When the Circus Leaves Town

Hands of Time (Rik Palieri)

Geneviève Racette- X2

Golden (Geneviève Racette)

Eric Bibb- Make a Change (Chains & Free)

In the Real World (Stony Plain)

Reggie Harris- The Times They are A-Changin’

Ready to Go (Reggie Harris Music)

Bettye LaVette- A Change is Gonna Come

Change is Gonna Come Sessions (Anti-)

Jerron Paxton- Things Done Changed

Things Done Changed (Smithsonian Folkways)

Moses Crouch- Hillbilly Willie’s Blues/Travelin’ Railroad Blues

Earth Music (Riverlark)

Joel Mabus & Mike Regenstreif (2001)

Joel Mabus- Blues in a Bottle

Lonesome Road: Suite for Solo Guitar and Voice – Songs of the Lost Generation 1924-1928 (Fossil)

Misty Blues- Weepin’ Willow Blues

I’m Too Old for Games: A Live Tribute to Odetta (Guitar One)

Odetta with Dr. John- Oh Papa

Blues Everywhere I Go (M.C.)

Terra Spencer & Stephen Fearing- East to West

Sunset (Terra Spencer)

Steve Lundquist- The Great Northwest

The Great Northwest (Steve Lundquist)

Tish Hinojosa- If I Could Only Fly

With a Guitar & a Pen (Tish Hinojosa)

Sav Sankaran- Looking for the Moon

Bluegrass Sings Paxton (Mountain Home)

Amir Amiri Ensemble- Raghseh Choobi (Dance of the Wooden Sticks)

Ajdad – Ancestors: Echoes of Persia (Fifth House)

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

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – January 23, 2024: Holocaust Remembrance

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/595/63632.html

Theme: Songs for International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day falls on January 27 – the 79th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. In these times of exploding antisemitism and other forms of racism and hatred, it’s important for us to pause and remember the lessons of the Holocaust when Hitler’s Nazi Germany systematically murdered 6 million Jews – about two-thirds of the Jews who lived in Europe.

Mara Levine- By My Silence

Facets of Folk (Mara’s Creations)

Brendan Nolan- Packing Her Bag

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

Mella Barnes- Between the Lines

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

Lenka Lichtenberg- Kam jsme to zašli? (What is this place?)

Thieves of Dreams (Six Degrees)

June Tabor- Di nakht (The Night)

Aleyn (Green Linnet)

Sasha Lurje- Tif iz di nakht (Dark is the night)

Jac Weinstein’s Helsinki Yiddish Cabaret (Global Music Centre)

Lee Oskar- Never Forget

Passages Through Music: Never Forget (Dreams We Share Productions)

Psoy Korolenko- Babi Yar

Yiddish Glory: The Lost Songs of World War II (Six Degrees)

Psoy Korolenko- Misha tserayst Hitlers Daytchland (Misha Tears Apart Hitler’s Germany)

Yiddish Glory: The Lost Songs of World War II (Six Degrees)

Perla Batalla featuring Bill Gable- Dance Me to the End of Love

Bird on the Wire: The Songs of Leonard Cohen (Mechuda Music)

Chuck Brodsky- Your Violin

Them and Us (Chuck Brodsky)

Leonard Cohen- The Partisan

Songs from a Room (Columbia/Legacy)

Theodore Bikel- Partizaner-March (March of the Partisans)

While I’m Here (Red House)

Henry Sapoznik- Itzik Vitnberg

Partisans of Vilna (Flying Fish)

Payadora Tango Ensemble featuring Marta Kosiorek- A Prayer for Rescue

Silent Tears: The Last Yiddish Tango (Six Degrees)

Payadora Tango Ensemble featuring Aviva Chernick- The Numbers on My Arm

Silent Tears: The Last Yiddish Tango (Six Degrees)

Chava Alberstein & The Klezmatics- Mayn Shvester Khaye (My Sister Khaye)

The Well (Rounder)

Noel Paul Stookey- Jean Claude

Just Causes (Neworld)

Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble & Sasha Lurje- Shotns (Shadows)

Shotns-Shadows (Fortunoff Video Archive)

Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble & Sasha Lurje- Geto, getunyu (Ghetto, My Dear Ghetto)

Shotns-Shadows (Fortunoff Video Archive)

Lee Oskar- Miracle Children

Passages Through Music: Never Forget (Dreams We Share Productions)

Next week: Conversation and Songs with Garnet Rogers.

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday December 31, 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 recorded and can already be streamed on-demand at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/58855.html

Herdman, Hills & Mangsen- At the Turning of the Year

At the Turning of the Year (Hand & Heart Music)

Perla Batalla- Famous Blue Raincoat

Bird on the Wire: The Songs of Leonard Cohen (Mechuda Music)

Jamie O’Reilly & Michael Smith- Song of Bernadette

Songs of a Catholic Childhood (J. O’Reilly Productions)

Rachelle Garniez- Anthem

Gone to Glory (StorySound)

Leonard Cohen- Leaving the Table

You Want It Darker (Columbia)

Brendan Nolan- The Old Year

Where Do I Go from Here (Ould Segosha Music)

Jennifer Cutting & Lisa Moscatiello- The Turning Year: A New Year’s Toast

The Turning Year: Pandemic Sessions Unplugged (SunSign)

Tim Radford- New Year

Home from Home (Fallen Angle Music)

Tret Fure- New Years

Roses in November (Tomboy Girl)

Steve Lundquist- Brand New Year’s Day

Acting a Fool (Steve Lundquist)

Annie Capps- My Eden

How Can I Say This? (Yellow Room)

Joyce Andersen- For What Was Gained

Tribute to a Songpoet: Songs of Eric Andersen (Y&T Music)

The Longest Johns- The Mary Ellen Carter

Smoke + Oakum (Decca)

Paul Mills- Clank Remembers

The Other Side of the Glass (Borealis)

Shirley Eikhard- My Final Chapter

On My Way to You (Shirley Eikhard)

Bonnie Raitt- Something to Talk About

Luck of the Draw (Capitol)

Shirley Eikhard- Emily Remembers

Going Home (Artisan Music)

Emmylou Harris- Good News

White Shoes (Reprise)

Shirley Eikhard- On My Way to You

On My Way to You (Shirley Eikhard)

Quartette- Hobo Girl

20 Years of Quartette (Outside Music)

Fred Holstein- Here’s to You Rounders

Fred Holstein: A Collection (Fred Holstein)

Rosalie Sorrels & Mike Regenstreif (1993)

Rosalie Sorrels- I Remember Loving You

Travelin’ Lady Rides Again (Green Linnet)

Utah Phillips & Mark Ross- Walking Through Your Town in the Snow

Loafer’s Glory (Red House)

The Wainwright Sisters- Hobo’s Lullaby

Songs in the Dark (MapleMusic)

Tom Paxton- Home to Me (is Anywhere You Are)

Comedians & Angels (Appleseed)

Dave Van Ronk- Ramblin’ Boy

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

Ian & Sylvia- The Last Thing On My Mind

The Lost Tapes (Stony Plain)

Tom Paxton, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer- The Freedom of Forgiving

All New (Community Music)

The Persuasions- What are You Doing New Year’s Eve

No Frills (Rounder)

Chris Coole & John Showman- Steamboat Whistle Blues

Much Further Out Than Inevitable: A Fiddle and Banjo Tribute to Some Music of John Hartford (Chris Coole)

Sam Bush- In Tall Buildings

Radio John: Songs of John Hartford (Smithsonian Folkways)

John Hartford- My Rag

Morning Bugle (Rounder)

Toasted Westerns- Second Fiddle to an Old Guitar

Out to Lunch! (Moo Music)

Payadora Tango Ensemble featuring Lenka Lichtenberg- A Victim of Mengele

Silent Tears: The Last Yiddish Tango (Six Degrees)

Payadora Tango Ensemble featuring Lenka Lichtenberg & Marta Kosiorek- Bitter Winter

Silent Tears: The Last Yiddish Tango (Six Degrees)

Martin Grosswendt- Mournin’ Blues

Pay Day! (Martin Grosswendt)

Dakota Dave Hull- Geremia’s Wobble

Under the North Star (Arabica)

Paul Geremia & Mike Regenstreif (2012)

Paul Geremia- The Truth is on the Streets

Self Portrait in Blues (Red House)

Shelley Posen- Old Loves

Old Loves (Well Done Music)

Lucie Blue Tremblay- So Many Wows

So Many Wows (Maggie & Shanti Musique)

Ferron- Ain’t Life a Brook

Not a Still Life (Cherrywood Station)

Mark Yan- Please Come Home

Just as One (Mark Yan)

Kate Taylor featuring James Taylor- Auld Lang Syne

Beautiful Road (Front Door)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on January 28. 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 December 27, 2022: Songs from Mike Regenstreif’s top 10 folk-rooted and folk-branched albums of 2022

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/595/58799.html

Theme: Songs from Mike Regenstreif’s top 10 folk-rooted and folk-branched albums of 2022. 

Visit https://frfb.blogspot.com/2022/12/top-10-for-2022.html to see the annotated and illustrated list.

#10 – Tuscon by Amy Speace

Amy Speace- Cottonwood

Tuscon (Windbone)

Amy Speace- If You Fall

Tuscon (Windbone)

#9 – Blues from Chicago to Paris: A Tribute to Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon by Kenny ‘Blues Boss’ Wayne

Kenny ‘Blues Boss’ Wayne- Rock and Rolling This House

Blues from Chicago to Paris: A Tribute to Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon (Stony Plain)

Kenny ‘Blues Boss’ Wayne- Stewball

Blues from Chicago to Paris: A Tribute to Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon (Stony Plain)

#8 – Second-Hand by James Keelaghan

James Keelaghan- La Cattiva Strada

Second-Hand (Borealis)

James Keelaghan- Just a Letter

Second-Hand (Borealis)

#7 – Tribute to a Songpoet: Songs of Eric Andersen by Various Artists

Bob Dylan- Thirsty Boots

Tribute to a Songpoet: Songs of Eric Andersen (Y&T Music)

Janis Ian- Hills of Tuscany

Tribute to a Song Poet: Songs of Eric Andersen (Y&T Music)

#6 – Lifetime Achievement by Loudon Wainwright III

Loudon Wainwright III- One Wish

Lifetime Achievement (StorySound)

Loudon Wainwright III- Lifetime Achievement

Lifetime Achievement (StorySound)

#5 – There’s a Bright Side Somewhere by Happy Traum

Happy Traum- Dry Bones

There’s a Bright Side Somewhere (Lark’s Nest Music)

Happy Traum- Love Song to a Girl in an Old Photograph

There’s a Bright Side Somewhere (Lark’s Nest Music)

#4 – Leap! by John McCutcheon

John McCutcheon- Third Way

Leap! (Appalsongs)

John McCutcheon- Everyday

Leap! (Appalsongs)

#3 – Mountain City Four by Mountain City Four

Mountain City Four- Erev Shel Shoshanim

Mountain City Four (Omnivore)

Mountain City Four- Mean Old Frisco

Mountain City Four (Omnivore)

#2 – Songs from the River Wind by Eliza Gilkyson

Eliza Gilkyson- Bristlecone Pine

Songs From the River Wind (Howlin’ Dog)

Eliza Gilkyson- Don’t Stop Lovin’ Me

Songs From the River Wind (Howlin’ Dog)

#1 – Thieves of Dreams by Lenka Lichtenberg

Lenka Lichtenberg- It was a cold dusk, my love

Thieves of Dreams (Six Degrees)

Lenka Lichtenberg- I wanted to curse you, bitter land

Thieves of Dreams (Six Degrees)

Next week: Songs of Tom Paxton

Find me on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Top 10 for 2022

Here are my picks for the Top 10 folk-rooted or folk-branched albums of 2022. As in past years, I started with the list of hundreds of new albums (including reissues) that I listened to over the past year and narrowed it down to a short list of about 30. I’ve been over the short list several times over the past couple of weeks and came up with several similar – not identical – Top 10 lists. Today’s list is the final one. The order might have been slightly different, and there are several other worthy albums that might have been included, had one of the other lists represented the final choice. 

1. Lenka Lichtenberg – Thieves of Dreams/Zloději snů (Six Degrees). The songs on Lenka Lichtenberg’s very poignant and very powerful album, Thieves of Dreams/Zloději snů 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. 

2. Eliza Gilkyson – Songs from the River Wind (Howlin’ Dog). On Songs from the River Wind, Eliza Gilkyson sings songs – some newly written, some older, and some adapted from traditional folksongs – about the part of the West where she’s spent much of her life. She visits such themes as the life of woman who is a travelling musician, and the environment. 

3. Mountain City Four – Mountain City Four (Omnivore). The Mountain City Four – Anna McGarrigle, the late Kate McGarrigle, the late Jack Nissenson, and Peter Weldon – is a legendary Montreal folk group of the 1960s. The Mountain City Four never recorded an album back in the day but Peter Weldon has assembled this CD from live recordings and home demos that show how compelling the Four were as a group and where Kate and Anna came from, musically, when they emerged as superb singer-songwriters in the ‘70s. 

4. John McCutcheon – Leap! (Appalsongs). In Leap! veteran folksinger, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist John McCutcheon offers a superb collection of insightful, often-poignant and occasionally-funny songs that have much to say about the state of the world and human relations. Among the highlights is “The Third Way,” the true story of a refugee – John’s father-in-law – and his brilliant and funny response to a conundrum with a wise lesson for us all. Another is “Second Hand,” inspired by the passing of Holocaust survivor and educator Esther Cohen, a stark reminder that as survivors pass on, it becomes our collective responsibility to keep their memories and lessons alive as antisemitism and fascism rise again in the contemporary world. 

5. Happy Traum – There’s a Bright Side Somewhere (Lark’s Nest Music). On There’s a Bright Side Somewhere, Happy Traum, a six-decade veteran of the folk scene offers a great set that encompasses several instrumentals, traditional folksongs, and songs of Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Eric Andersen, Brownie McGhee and Blind Willie McTell. One of my favorites is “Love Song to a Girl in an Old Photograph,” an original song he first recorded with his late brother, Artie Traum, more than a half-century ago. 

6. Loudon Wainwright III – Lifetime Achievement (StorySound). 53 years since he released his first LP, Loudon Wainwright III has released one of his best albums of original material: a witty, poignant look at life, relationships, regrets, and, yes, achievement, from a mature perspective of someone who has reached age 75, an age that neither of his parents achieved. While there’s occasionally a full band sound, most of the songs are presented with the kind acoustic arrangements that bring out the best in the lyrics and folk-rooted melodies. 

7. Various Artists – Tribute to a Songpoet: Songs of Eric Andersen (Y&T Music). A finely curated 3-CD, 42-track set, including a few previously released recordings, Tribute to a Songpoet: Songs of Eric Andersen is a great homage to the veteran singer-songwriter Eric Andersen. The repertoire ranges from folk-era classics like “Thirsty Boots,” sung by Bob Dylan, “Waves of Freedom,” sung by The Kennedys, and “Violets of Dawn,” sung by Mary Chapin Carpenter, to contemporary topical songs like “Rain Falls Down in Amsterdam,” sung by Willie Nile, “Eyes of the Immigrant,” sung by Lucy Kaplansky, and “Trouble in Paris,” sung by Robert Aaron. Other highlights include Dom Flemons’ version of “Song to J.C.B.” and versions of many of the songs from Eric’s classic album, Blue River. 

8. James Keelaghan – Second-Hand (Borealis). Long one of Canada’s finest, and most dynamic singer-songwriters, Second-Hand is an outstanding collection that finds James offering original songs, including co-writes with Lynn Miles, Catherine MacLennan, JD Edwards and Cara Luft (The Small Glories), Dave Gunning, Coco Love Alcorn and his old Compadres partner Oscar Lopez. There is also James’ excellent translation of the Italian song, “La Cattiva Strada,” and a wonderful version of Jesse Winchester’s nostalgic “Eulalie.” 

9. Kenny ‘Blues Boss’ Wayne – Blues from Chicago to Paris: A Tribute to Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon (Stony Plain). There were several great blues albums released in 2022, but my favorite is pianist-singer Kenny ‘Blues Boss’ Wayne’s tribute to the wonderful and enduring classic duo recordings of pianist Memphis Slim and bassist Willie Dixon from the early-1960s. With the strong collaboration of Russell Jackson on acoustic bass and vocals, and drummer Joey DiMarco, Wayne’s versions of these songs are compelling, infectious, and delightful. 

10. Amy Speace- Tuscon (Windbone). This short album – seven songs, 28 minutes – is Amy Speace’s profoundly moving coming-to-terms with the trauma she suffered from sexual assault when she was young. While there are understandable expressions of anger resulting from the harrowing experience, this is ultimately an album of healing and redemption. 

I will be featuring songs from each of these albums on Stranger Songs, Tuesday December 27, 3:30-5 pm (ET), on CKCU. The program is already available 24/7 for on-demand streaming at this link.

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif 

–Mike Regenstreif

 

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday November 22, 2022: Songs for Holocaust Education Month

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/595/58421.html

Theme: Songs for Holocaust Education Month.

November is Holocaust Education Month and in these times of rising antisemitism and other forms of racism and hatred, it’s important for us to pause and remember the lessons of the Holocaust when Hitler’s Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered 6 million Jews – about two-thirds of the Jews who lived in Europe.

John McCutcheon- Second Hand

Leap! (Appalsongs)

Janis Ian- Tattoo

Best of Janis Ian: The Autobiography Collection (Rude Girl)

Tom Paxton- Train for Auschwitz

The Best of Broadside 1962-1988 (Smithsonian Folkways)

Rod MacDonald- Auschwitz

The Man on the Ledge (Shanachie)

Meghan Hone- No Art

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

Lenka Lichtenberg- Waiting at the end of an alley

Thieves of Dreams (Six Degrees)

Lee Oskar- Never Forget

Never Forget (Dreams We Share Productions)

Art of Time Ensemble featuring Sarah Harmer- Dance Me to the End of Love

Songs of Leonard Cohen Live (Art of Time Recordings)

Chuck Brodsky- Warsaw in May

Them and Us (Chuck Brodsky)

Aviva Chernick & Payadora Tango Ensemble- Silent Tears

Silent Tears: The Last Yiddish Tango

Lenka Lichtenberg & Payadora Tango Ensemble- A Victim of Mengele

Silent Tears: The Last Yiddish Tango

Olga Mieleszczuk & Payadora Tango Ensemble- Vi Ahin Zol Ikh Geyn/Buried Underground

Silent Tears: The Last Yiddish Tango

Brendan Nolan- Kissing the Wall

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

Dave Curley- Mr. Sugihara’s Eyes

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

Tim Grimm- Anne in Amsterdam

The Turning Point (Cavalier)

Psoy Korolenko- Babi Yar

Yiddish Glory: The Lost Songs of World War II (Six Degrees)

Sophie Milman- Tulchin

Yiddish Glory: The Lost Songs of World War II (Six Degrees)

Frank London & Cantor Sveta Kundish- Minutn fun bitokhn

Ghetto Songs (Felmay)

Adrienne Cooper & Zalmen Mlotek- Yid du partizaner (Jew, Partisan)

Ghetto Tango (Traditional Crossroads)

Michael Alpert, Lauren Brody, Adrienne Cooper, Irena Klepfiz, Henry Sapoznik, Jeff Shandler, Lorin Sklamberg, Josh Walensky, & Alan Zemel- Zog nit keyn mol (Never Say)

Partisans of Vilna (Flying Fish)

Next week: Remembering Jack Hardy.

Find me on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif