Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – March 31, 2026: A Tribute to Buddy Holly

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/595/74747.html

Theme: A Tribute to Buddy Holly (1936-1959).

Buddy Holly, who grew up in Lubbock, Texas, was one of the great artists of early rock ‘n’ roll. Tragically, he lost his life at the tender age of 22 on February 3, 1959 in a small plane crash that also claimed Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper, an event that Don McLean referred to as “the day the music died,” in his song, American Pie.

Buddy Holly- Peggy Sue

The Buddy Holly Collection (MCA)

Serena Ryder- It Doesn’t Matter Anymore

If Your Memory Serves You Well (EMI)

The Beatles- Words of Love

Beatles for Sale (Parlophone)

Buddy Holly- Fool’s Paradise

The Buddy Holly Collection (MCA)

Natalie Merchant- Learning the Game

Rarities 1998-2017 (Nonesuch)

The Rolling Stones- Not Fade Away

GRRR! (ABKCO)

Buddy Holly- Rock Around with Ollie Vee

The Buddy Holly Collection (MCA)

Linda Ronstadt- It’s So Easy

Simple Dreams: 40th Anniversary Edition (Elektra/Rhino)

David Olney with Daniel Seymour- Everyday

Nevermore: The Final Live in Holland Sessions II (Strictly Country)

Buddy Holly- Look at Me

The Buddy Holly Collection (MCA)

Nanci Griffith & The Crickets- Well… All Right

Not Fade Away (remembering Buddy Holly) (MCA)

Nanci Griffith & The Crickets- Heartbeat

The Crickets & Their Buddies (Sovereign Artists)

Buddy Holly- Rock Me My Baby

The Buddy Holly Collection (MCA)

Elvis Presley- (You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care

Elvis Presley Sings Leiber & Stoller (RCA/Legacy)

Jenny Whiteley- Raining in My Heart

Forgive or Forget (Black Hen Music)

Buddy Holly- Modern Don Juan

The Buddy Holly Collection (MCA)

The Crickets- The Real Buddy Holly Story

The Crickets & Their Buddies (Sovereign Artists)

Jim Wurster- Rave On

Transcendental Inclinations (Y&T Music)

Buddy Holly- I’m Lookin’ for Someone to Love

The Buddy Holly Collection (MCA)

John Prine & The Crickets- Oh Boy

The Crickets & Their Buddies (Sovereign Artists)

Carolyn Hester- Lonesome Tears

From These Hills (Road Goes On Forever)

Buddy Holly- Listen to Me

The Buddy Holly Collection (MCA)

Linda Ronstadt- That’ll Be the Day

Hasten Down the Wind (Elektra)

Nanci Griffith with The London Symphony Orchestra- Tell Me How

The Dust Bowl Symphony (Elektra)

Buddy Holly & The Hollies- Peggy Sue Got Married

Not Fade Away (remembering Buddy Holly) (MCA)

Mary Chapin Carpenter & Kevin Montgomery- Wishing

Not Fade Away (remembering Buddy Holly) (MCA)

Los Lobos- Midnight Shift

Not Fade Away (remembering Buddy Holly) (MCA)

Buddy Holly- I’m Gonna Love You Too

The Buddy Holly Collection (MCA)

Chuck WIllis- It’s Too Late

Stroll On: The Chuck Willis Collection (Razor & Tie)

Madeleine Peyroux- Changing All Those Changes

The Blue Room (Decca)

Buddy Holly- Reminiscing 

The Buddy Holly Collection (MCA)

Next week: Songs of Phil Ochs.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – December 30, 2025: My top 10 folk-rooted and folk-branched albums of 2025

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/595/73491.html

Theme: My top 10 folk-rooted and folk-branched albums of 2025.

These are always hard choices. I started with a list of about 30 of my favorite albums for the year. I’ve been over the list several times in the past couple of weeks and came up with several similar – but not identical – Top 10 lists. This 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.

The annotated and illustrated version of this top 10 list is available on the Folk Roots/Folk Branches blog at … https://frfb.blogspot.com/2025/12/top-10-for-2025.html

10. Suzy Sings Siebel Volume One by Suzy Thompson

Suzy Thompson- Bride 1945

Suzy Sings Siebel Volume One (Suzy Thompson)

Suzy Thompson- Long Afternoons

Suzy Sings Siebel Volume One (Suzy Thompson)

9. Personal History by Mary Chapin Carpenter

Mary Chapin Carpenter- Girl and Her Dog

Personal History (Lambent Light/Thirty Tigers) 

Mary Chapin Carpenter- New Religion

Personal History (Lambent Light/Thirty Tigers) 

8. Field of Stars by John McCutcheon

John McCutcheon- Tikkun Olam

Field of Stars (Appalsongs)

John McCutcheon with Windborne- Blessing

Field of Stars (Appalsongs)

7. Woody At Home – Vol 1 + 2 by Woody Guthrie

Woody Guthrie- This Land is Your Land

Woody At Home – Vol 1 + 2 (Shamus)

Woody Guthrie- Peace Call

Woody At Home – Vol 1 + 2 (Shamus)

6. Hardscrabble Hope by Maria Dunn

Maria Dunn- Another Year

Hardscrabble Hope (Distant Whisper Music)

Maria Dunn- Leave It All On the Ice

Hardscrabble Hope (Distant Whisper Music)

5. unentitled by John Gorka

John Gorka- First Snow on the Mountains

unentitled (Red House)

John Gorka- Particle Wave (Goodness in the World)

unentitled (Red House)

4. Every Town: More Songs by Michael Smith by Anne Hills

Anne Hills- Crazy Mary

Every Town: More Songs by Michael Smith (Hand & Heart Music)

Anne Hills- Sure Has Grown

Every Town: More Songs by Michael Smith (Hand & Heart Music)

3. Bones of Trees by Tim Grimm

Tim Grimm- Broken Truth

Bones of Trees (Vault)

Tim Grimm- Up in the Attic

Bones of Trees (Vault)

2. Dark Ages by Eliza Gilkyson

Eliza Gilkyson- Times Like These 

Dark Ages (Realiza) 

Eliza Gilkyson- Holy

Dark Ages (Realiza)

1. David Amram Honors Guthrie and Ochs: Old Souls by The David Amram Quintet

The David Amram Quintet- Talking Subway

David Amram Honors Guthrie and Ochs: Old Souls (Guthrie Legacy)

The David Amram Quintet- When I’m Gone

David Amram Honors Guthrie and Ochs: Old Souls (Guthrie Legacy)

Next week: Remembering Raul Malo, Tim Williams, Joe Ely and Steve Cropper.

--Mike Regenstreif

Top 10 for 2025

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 over the past year and 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. 

1. The David Amram Quintet – David Amram Honors Guthrie and Ochs: Old Souls (Guthrie Legacy). There is no other musician quite like David Amram. Over the course of more than 50 years, I have seen David play at folk festivals and clubs and at jazz festivals and clubs. I have also seen him in tails conducting symphony and chamber orchestras as they perform his classical compositions in concert halls. On this set of five Woody Guthrie songs, and one by Phil Ochs, David offers innovative, jazzy arrangements of familiar lyrics that make them sound new and fresh. At age 95 – OK, he was only 94 when he recorded the album – David has lost none of the magic I’ve seen from him over the years. 

2. Eliza Gilkyson – Dark Ages (Realiza). On many of the songs on this this sometimes subtle, sometimes direct, collection of mostly topical songs, Eliza Gilkyson insightfully explores the darkness wrought by the forces that have taken control of her country and beyond, and offers hope and inspiration that we will find our way past these times. 

3. Tim Grimm – Bones of Trees (Vault). As both a folk-rooted songwriter and interpreter of other songs, Tim Grimm has taken his place as one of our finest artists over the past 25 years. Tim once did a whole album of Tom Paxton songs and Tom’s influence can be heard in such great topical songs as “Broken Truth” and “Woody’s Landlord Revisited,” an updated version of a song Tim first released in 2016, as well as more haunting songs like “Up in the Attic.” 

4. Anne Hills – Every Town: More Songs by Michael Smith (Hand & Heart Music). If “The Dutchman” had been the only song that Michael Smith (1941-2020) ever wrote, he’d still have to be on any list of great songwriters. But Michael wrote so many more great songs. Anne Hills has long been one of Michael’s finest interpreters. October Child, her first album of Michael Smith songs, came out in 1993 and Paradise Lost & Found, an album of their duets, came out in 1995. While every one of these songs is a gem, highlights include “Ballad of Elizabeth Dark,” “Crazy Mary” and a gorgeous duet with John Gorka on “Spoon River.” 

5. John Gorka – unentitled (Red House). John Gorka has an excellent body of work recorded over the past four decades and this collection of wise and perceptive songs might just be his best yet. Among my favorites are “Particle Wave (Goodness in the World,” a beautiful song about finding hope in these dark times, “First Snow on the Mountains,” a reflection on early winter and late-in-life love, and an exquisite interpretation of Stan Rogers’ “Harris and the Mare.” 

6. Maria Dunn – Hardscrabble Hope (Distant Whisper Music). As I’ve said before, Maria Dunn’s inspiring original songs, deeply rooted in folk and Celtic music traditions, capture the good in the human spirit and the essence of communal common cause. Maria captures that spirit and essence beautifully in songs like “Walking the Miles” and “Another Year.” And in songs like “Coal is a Thirsty Business,” she sings insightfully about the consequences of greedy endeavours on our planet. 

7. Woody Guthrie – Woody at Home – Vol 1 + 2 (Shamus). This collection of home recordings made in 1951 and ’52 by Woody Guthrie is a fascinating look at Woody’s songwriting process and includes some familiar material and some songs being heard for the first time. Some songs – like a version of “This Land is Your Land” with verses that are quite different from the ones he wrote more than 10 years earlier – are both familiar and new. Another is “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)” with Woody’s own tune which is different from the melody composed years later by Martin Hoffman. Among the unfamiliar songs is “Back Door Bum and the Big Landlord,” which I’m sure must have been inspired by the landlord Tim Grimm referred to in “Woody’s Landlord Revisited,” and the very clever “My Id and My Ego.” 

8. John McCutcheon – Field of Stars (Appalsongs). John McCutcheon offers yet another superb collection of insightful, often-poignant that have much to say about the state of the world and human relations. While I like the whole album, a couple speak very directly to me. “MS St. Louis” is about the shipload of more than 900 Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany who were refused entry by Cuba, the United States and Canada. Ultimately, many of them were murdered in the Holocaust, while “Tikkun Olam” is inspired by the Jewish concept of repairing the world. Other highlights include “Field of Stars,” co-written and sung with Carrie Newcomer, and “Too Old to Die Young,” a song for those of us among John’s generation who are at that age. 

9. Mary Chapin Carpenter – Personal History (Lambent Light/Thirty Tigers). As the title implies, this is perhaps the most personal album in Mary Chapin Carpenter’s career. Highlights include “Girl and Her Dog,” a reflection on life, love and contentment, “The Night We Never Met,” which captures feelings most of us have had at one time or another, and “Paint + Turpentine,” which recalls being inspired by Guy Clark. 

10. Suzy Thompson – Suzy Sings Siebel, Volume 1 (Suzy Thompson). Paul Siebel (1937-2022) was a brilliant singer-songwriter who recorded just two albums in the early-1970s. His first album, Woodsmoke and Oranges remains one of my all-time favorite LPs. On this collection, Suzy Thompson, who has long been known for mostly playing traditional music, offers 10 of Paul’s songs, including seven from Woodsmoke and Oranges, two from Jack-Knife Gypsy, and one that Paul himself never recorded. I think Paul would have been pleased with Suzy’s fine interpretations. I’ll mention that some of my favorite Siebel songs – including “My Town,” Then Came the Children” and “Legend of the Captain’s Daughter” – are not in this set. So I’m looking forward to Volume 2. 

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

–Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – July 23, 2024: When the Saints Go Marching In

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/595/66100.html

Theme: When the Saints Go Marching In.

All of the songs on this show refer, in one way or another, to saints. Some of the songs are about specific saints. Some refer to saints in generic terms, and some refer to places named for a saint.

Bruce Springsteen & The Sessions Band- When the Saints Go Marching In

Live in Dublin (Columbia)

Darrell Scott- Saint Cecilia

Jaroso (Full Light)

Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer- Farewell to Saint Delores

Tanglewood Tree (Signature Sounds)

Nanci Griffith- Saint Teresa of Avila

Blue Roses from the Moons (Elektra)

Mary Chapin Carpenter- The Moon and St. Christopher

Sometimes Just the Sky (Lambent Light)

Dr. John with The Neville Brothers- Litanie des Saints

Goin’ Back to New Orleans (Warner Bros.)

Mike Regenstreif & David Francey (2019)

David Francey- Saints and Sinners

Torn Screen Door (Laker Music)

Jamie O’Reilly & Michael Smith- Song of Bernadette

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

Jennifer Warnes & Leonard Cohen- Joan of Arc

Famous Blue Raincoat: The Songs of Leonard Cohen – 20th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)

Jessica Rhaye & The Ramshackle Parade- I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine

Just Like a Woman: Songs of Bob Dylan (Jessica Rhaye)

Jack Hardy- Saint Clare

Noir (Great Divide)

Katy Moffatt- St. Anthony with Broken Hands

Midnight Radio (True North)

Gretchen Peters- Saint Francis

Hello Cruel World (Scarlet Letter)

Little Miss Higgins- St. Louis Blues

Junction City (Little Miss Higgins)

Tom Russell & Mike Regenstreif (2000)

Tom Russell & The Norwegian Wind Ensemble- St. Olav’s Gate

Aztec Jazz (Frontera)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Complainte pour Ste-Catherine

Tell My Sister: Kate & Anna McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Jimmy LaFave- On a Bus to St. Cloud

Favorites 1992-2001 (Music Road)

Ken Tizzard & Amelia Curran- St. John’s Waltz

A Good Dog is Lost: A Collection of Ron Hynes Songs (Booth Street)

Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers- When the Saints Go Marching In

Miss Smith to You! (Fat Note)

Next week: Remembering Happy Traum (1938-2024).

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday December 6, 2022: Songs of Eric Andersen

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/595/58558.html

Theme: Songs of Eric Andersen

Eric Andersen, who will turn 80 on February 14, and who is still actively performing and writing, has been a significant singer-songwriter since he started on the folk scene in the early-1960s. I’ve known Eric for about 40 years – the first time he played at the Golem, the folk club I was then running in Montreal, was on February 12, 1983.

Eric Andersen & Mike Regenstreif (2000)

Eric Andersen- Thirsty Boots

Woodstock Under the Stars (Y&T Music)

Pete Seeger- My Land is a Good Land

God Bless the Grass (Columbia/Legacy)

Peter, Paul & Mary- Rolling Home

Album 1700 (Warner Bros.)

Eric Andersen- I Shall Go Unbounded

Woodstock Under the Stars (Y&T Music)

Mary Chapin Carpenter- Violets of Dawn

Tribute to a Songpoet: Songs of Eric Andersen (Y&T Music) or The Village: A Celebration of Greenwich Village (429)

The Kennedys- Waves of Freedom

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

Cliff Eberhardt- Dusty Box Car Wall

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

Dom Flemons- Song to J.C.B.

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

Happy Traum- Mary, I’m Coming Back Home

Tribute to a Songpoet: Songs of Eric Andersen (Y&T Music) or There’s a Bright Side Somewhere (Lark’s Nest Music)

Denice Franke- Baby, I’m Lonesome

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

Eric Andersen- Sign of a Desperate Man

Eric Andersen (Warner Bros.)

Alice Howe- Is It Really Love at All

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

David Buskin & Robin Batteau- Wind and Sand

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

Linda Ronstadt- (I Ain’t Always Been) Faithful

Tribute to a Songpoet: Songs of Eric Andersen (Y&T Music) or Linda Ronstadt (Capitol)

Jim Wurster- Sheila

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

Amy Helm- Blue River

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

Lucy Kaplansky- Eyes of the Immigrant

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

Eric Andersen- Rain Falls Down in Amsterdam

Woodstock Under the Stars (Y&T Music)

Eric Andersen (2019)

Eric Andersen- Just a Country Dream

A Country Dream (Vanguard)

Next week: Joni Mitchell.

Find me on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday November 5, 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 on October 3 and can already be streamed on-demand at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/58218.html

This show airs during CKCU’s Annual Funding Drive for 2022. Please visit https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/76213 to make your charitable donation to help us continue bringing you creative, volunteer-programmed, listener-supported community radio for another year.

Stillhouse Junkies- El Camino

Small Towns (Dark Shadow Recording)

Sneezy Waters & Mike Regenstreif (2013)

Sneezy Waters- Brother, Can You Spare a Dime

Sneezy Waters (Sneezy Waters)

Hannah Shira Naiman- The Grouse

The Wheels Won’t Go (Hannah Shira Naiman)

Ofra Harnoy- Lonely Waterloo

On the Rock (Analekta)

Jamie Anderson- Public Radio

Better Than Chocolate (Tsunami)

Darryl Purpose- A Place Where Everyone Sings

Two Good Hands EP (Darryl Purpose)

The Dumptrucks- Clyde Beattie

Selections (Laughing Cactus)

Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard- Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar

Pioneering Women of Bluegrass: The Definitive Collection (Smithsonian Folkways)

Zachary Lucky- Rex’s Blues

Songs for Hard Times (Zachary Lucky)

The Claytones- If I Needed You

Reserva (Rip Roar Music)

Townes Van Zandt- Highway Kind

Sunshine Boy: The Unheard Studio Sessions and Demos (Omnivore)

David Olney with Daniel Seymour- For the Sake of the Song

Evermore: The Final Live in Holland Sessions I (Strictly Country)

Jesse Winchester- Yankee Lady

Jesse Winchester (Stony Plain)

Steve Lundquist with Mike Fjerstad- I Wave Bye-Bye

Acting a Fool (Steve Lundquist)

Suzie Vinnick- Raino

Fall Back Home (Suzie Vinnick)

Walter Hyatt- In November

King Tears (MCA)

Tom Mitchell- When Nobody’s Lookin’

Old Cloth (Yabut Music)

Mike Regenstreif & Tony Turner (2018)

Tony Turner- Heart of Your Man

A Matter of Time (Tony Turner)

Doug McArthur- 1911

Letters from the Coast/Sisteron (Snow Goose Songs)

Lynn Miles- Million Brilliant

Downpour (Lynn Miles)

Ian Tamblyn- Voice in the Wilderness

Voice in the Wilderness (North Track)

Garnet Rogers- Sweet Spot

Summer’s End (Snow Goose Songs)

Amy Speace- My Father’s House

Tuscon (Windbone)

John Fusco- Coyote Man

Borderlands (Rocket 88)

Linda Ronstadt with Emmylou Harris- Across the Border

Feels Like Home: Songs from the Sonoran Borderlands – Linda Ronstadt’s Musical Odyssey (Putomayo)

Tom Russell- Down the Rio Grande

Borderland (HighTone)

Mountain City Four- All the Good Times

Mountain City Four (Omnivore)

Rory Block- Freight Train

Ain’t Nobody Worried: Celebrating Great Women of Song (Stony Plain)

Fink, Marxer, Gleaves- Oh Babe, It Ain’t No Lie

Shout and Shine (Community Music)

Deborah Robins- Shake Sugaree

Home Fires (Zippety Whippet Music)

Elizabeth Cotten- Fare You Well, My Darling

Shake Sugaree (Smithsonian Folkways)

James Keelaghan- Walk On

Second-Hand (Borealis)

Tom Chapin featuring The Chapin Sisters- Hold Our Ground Forever

Hold Our Ground (Sundance Music)

Penny Lang & Mike Regenstreif (1976) photo: Felicity Fanjoy

Penny Lang- Never Turning Back

Carry On Children (She-Wolf)

Reggie Harris- Sing Out/March On/Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round

On Solid Ground (Reggie Harris Music)

Sean Gagnier- South Coast

Circle Harbor (Sean Gagnier)

Finest Kind- Going to the West

Lost in a Song (Fallen Angle)

The Dumptrucks- Dobro Song

Selections (Laughing Cactus)

Abbie Gardner- Down the Mountain

DobroSinger (Abbie Gardner)

Chaim Tannenbaum, Dane Lanken, Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Dig My Grave

The McGarrigle Hour (Hannibal)

Loudon Wainwright III- Town & Country

Lifetime Achievement (StorySound)

Terra Spencer & Ben Caplan- Mr. M

Old News (Terra Spencer & Ben Caplan)

Mary Chapin Carpenter- Traveler’s Prayer

One Night Lonely (Lambent Light)

Philip Dyson- Maple Leaf Rag

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

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on December 3. I also host Stranger Songs on CKCU every Tuesday from 3:30-5 pm. And, I’ll be hosting Canadian Spaces on Saturday November 19 from 10 am-noon.

Find me on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday December 28, 2021: Top 10 for 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/595/54677.html

Theme: My Top 10 folk-rooted and folk-branched albums of 2021. Visit the Folk Roots/Folk Branches blog at https://frfb.blogspot.com/2021/12/top-10-for-2021.html to see the annotated and illustrated list.

#10 – Blues/Ballads/Cowboy Songs by Peter Keane

Peter Keane- Clay Pigeons
Blues/Ballads/Cowboy Songs (Peter Keane)
Peter Keane- Cool Water
Blues/Ballads/Cowboy Songs (Peter Keane)

#9 – Let’s Get Happy Together by Maria Muldaur with Tuba Skinny

Maria Muldaur with Tuba Skinny- I Go for That
Let’s Get Happy Together (Stony Plain)
Maria Muldaur with Tuba Skinny- Some Sweet Day
Let’s Get Happy Together (Stony Plain)
Maria Muldaur with Tuba Skinny- Swing You Sinners
Let’s Get Happy Together (Stony Plain)

#8 – Pay Day by Hans Theessink & Big Daddy Wilson

Hans Theessink & Big Daddy Wilson- Everybody Ought to Treat a Stranger Right
Pay Day (Blue Groove)
Hans Theessink & Big Daddy Wilson- I Got Plenty
Pay Day (Blue Groove)
Hans Theessink & Big Daddy Wilson- Old Man Trouble
Pay Day (Blue Groove)

#7 – One Night Lonely by Mary Chapin Carpenter

Mary Chapin Carpenter- I am a Town
One Night Lonely (Lambent Light)
Mary Chapin Carpenter- Farther Along and Further In
One Night Lonely (Lambent Light)

#6 – Joyful Banner Blazing by Maria Dunn

Maria Dunn- Secondhand Skates
Joyful Banner Blazing (Distant Whisper)
Maria Dunn- Joyful Banner Blazing
Joyful Banner Blazing (Distant Whisper)

#5 – Hourglass by Murray McLauchlan

Murray McLauchlan- Hourglass
Hourglass (True North)
Murray McLauchlan- Wishes
Hourglass (True North)

#4 – On Solid Ground by Reggie Harris

Reggie Harris- Hello In There
On Solid Ground (Reggie Harris Music)
Reggie Harris- High Over the Hudson
On Solid Ground (Reggie Harris Music)

#3 – Archives – Volume 2: The Reprise Years (1968-1971) by Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell- Hunter
Archives – Volume 2: The Reprise Years (1968-1971) (Rhino)
Joni Mitchell- Urge for Going
Archives – Volume 2: The Reprise Years (1968-1971) (Rhino)

#2 – Song to a Refugee by Diana Jones

Diana Jones- Song to a Refugee
Song to a Refugee (Goldmine)
Diana Jones, Steve Earle, Richard Thompson, Peggy Seeger & Zahara Phillips- We Believe You
Song to a Refugee (Goldmine)

#1 – Outside Child by Allison Russell

Allison Russell- Montreal
Outside Child (Fantasy)
Allison Russell- Persephone
Outside Child (Fantasy)

Next week: The Folk Roots of Rock ‘n’ Roll and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Branches of Folk Music.

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

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Top 10 for 2021

Here are my picks for the Top 10 folk-rooted or folk-branched albums of 2021. 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. Allison Russell – Outside Child (Fantasy). On this brave and compelling song-cycle, Allison Russell – known for her work with Po’ Girl, Sankofa, Birds of Chicago and Our Native Daughters – documents the childhood sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of her step-father and how she was able to overcome and break that cycle of abuse. On a personal note, I’m about 25 years older than Allison and didn’t yet know her at the time of the abuse she writes and sings about – we first met in 2003 when she was a member of Po’ Girl and they were guests on my Folk Roots/Folk Branches radio program in Montreal – but Allison as a child lived about a block away from me. I had no idea, at the time, that such things were happening in my neighborhood. Now, of course, we understand that such things happen in virtually every neighborhood.

2. Diana Jones – Song to a Refugee (Goldmine). Over the course of 13 poignant and moving songs, Diana Jones sings about the plight of refugees in the modern world. Some of these songs, like “We Believe You,” with Steve Earle, Richard Thompson and Peggy Seeger joining Diana, are addressed to refugees. Others, like “The Sea is My Mother,” are sung from the perspective of refugees. As I mentioned to Diana when she was my guest on the July 13 edition of Stranger Songs, these are magnificent songs that I wish did not have to be written.

3. Joni Mitchell – Archives – Volume 2: The Reprise Years (1968-1971) (Rhino). This 5-CD set includes home demos, studio outtakes and alternate versions, and several concerts recorded live, including a 1968 set recorded here in Ottawa at the legendary Le Hibou coffee house – which I featured in its entirety on the December 7 edition of Stranger Songs. These often-enthralling recordings provide valuable insight into Joni Mitchell’s masterful songwriting as she developed and went beyond her folk roots.

4. Reggie Harris – On Solid Ground (Reggie Harris). On his second solo album, after many as a duo with Kim Harris, Reggie Harris offers another inspired and inspiring set of mostly original songs including topical songs, civil rights songs, love songs, and a glorious tribute to Pete Seeger. He also includes superb interpretations of songs from Malvina Reynolds, John Prine, and, perhaps surprisingly, The Beatles.

5. Murray McLauchlan – Hourglass (True North). On one of the finest albums of a career that has stretched back more than a half-century, Murray McLauchlan offers a largely topical set of songs that comments on such contemporary issues as income inequality, racism, refugees, and threats to democracy. Most of the songs were played when Murray was my guest on the July 27 edition of Stranger Songs.

6. Maria Dunn – Joyful Banner Blazing (Distant Whisper). Maria Dunn’s inspiring original songs, deeply rooted in folk and Celtic music traditions, capture the good in the human spirit and the essence of communal common cause. She also includes a stunning version of “From Dublin with Love,” written by the late, great Newfoundland songwriting legend, Ron Hynes.

7. Mary Chapin Carpenter – One Night Lonely (Lambent Light). In November 2020, during the pandemic, Mary Chapin Carpenter was filmed and recorded at the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in Virginia, near Washington, DC, performing a PBS concert with no audience. Now available as a 2-CD set, One Night Lonely, is a beautiful solo performance of many of the finest songs from throughout her career.

8. Hans Theessink & Big Daddy Wilson – Pay Day (Blue Groove). Hans Theessink is a Dutch-born, Austrian-based, singer and guitarist who has long been one of my favorite blues artists. On Pay Day, he offers a wonderful and subtle collaboration with Big Daddy Wilson, a fine North Carolina blues singer, who has primarily toured and recorded in Europe over the past several decades. The album includes in-the-tradition original songs from both, and exceptional interpretations of classics drawn from Blind Willie Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt, Skip James and Washington Phillips.

9. Maria Muldaur with Tuba Skinny – Let’s Get Happy Together (Stony Plain). On her latest collection, Maria Muldaur is backed by Tuba Skinny, a marvelous group of traditional New Orleans jazz musicians, for a set of wonderful old, mostly obscure, songs from the New Orleans tradition. There’s much joy in Maria’s singing and Tuba Skinny’s playing.

10. Peter Keane – Blues/Ballads/Cowboy Songs (Peter Keane). As indicated by the title, Peter Keane’s latest album is a terrific collection of mostly old songs from blues, folk and country sources (plus one original), that are mostly performed solo by just Peter and his archtop Gibson guitar – with some limited and tasteful overdubs on a few tracks. If I have one criticism of this set it’s that at just 26 minutes, it’s over much too soon.

I will be featuring songs from each of these albums on Stranger Songs, Tuesday December 28, 3:30-5 pm, on CKCU. The program is now available 24/7 for on-demand streaming by clicking "Listen Now" at this link.

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

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

–Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday August 15, 2020

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 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/128/48677.html

Dennis Warner- Potter’s Wheel

Pilot Me (Main Trail Productions)

In memory of John R. Lewis (1940-2020)

Sally Rogers & Claudia Schmidt- Still on the Bridge

We are Welcomed (Pragmavision)

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

Gonna Let It Shine (M.C.)

Kim & Reggie Harris- Eyes on the Prize

Rock of Ages (Appleseed)

In memory of Michael Smith (1941-2020). I wrote about Michael at this link.

Michael Smith- Spoon River

Love Letter on a Fish (Tales from the Tavern)

Jamie O'Reilly & Michael Smith- Sister Clarissa

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

Anne Hills & Michael Smith- The Dutchman

Paradise Lost and Found (Red Wing)

Michael Smith- We Become Birds

Love Letter on a Fish (Tales from the Tavern)

Josie Bello- Have Purpose Live Long

Have Purpose Live Long (Josie Bello)

Graham Lindsay with The Small Glories, April Verch, Joe Phillips & Ian Foster- The Next Best Thing

The Next Best Thing (Graham Lindsay)

Ronny Cox- Silver City

Live at the Kitchen Sink (Ronny Cox)

David Bromberg Band- Take This Hammer

Big Road (Red House)

Extended Feature: Summer Songs. The next 16 songs are about summer or set during the summer.

Moore & McGregor- Summertime

Dream with Me (Ivernia)

Tom Mitchell- Nuts for Bolts

Unreleased 1976 live recording – used with permission

Steel Rail- Rain

Coming Home (Crossties)

Antonio Andrade- Steve Forbert’s Midsummer Night’s Toast

Lucky in Love (Life Shakes Records)

Chaim Tannenbaum- Brooklyn 1955

Chaim Tannenbaum (StorySound)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Swimming Song

Tell My Sister: Kate & Anna McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Lisa Moscatiello- Biloxi

Second Avenue (Machine Heart)

Taj Mahal- Fishin’ Blues

The Real Thing (Columbia/Legacy)

The Barbaloots- Catfish Wish

Possum Came to Town (Anything is Possumable)

Shelley Posen- Canoeing My Troubles Away

Roseberry Road (Well Done Music)

David Francey- Blue Skies

So Say We All (Laker Music)

Nina Ricci- Donna Donna

Fare Thee Well: A Joan Baez Tribute (Nina Ricci)

Mandy Marylane- Summer Lovin’ Blues

Mandy Marylane (Y&T Music)

David Mallett- Summer of My Dreams

Midnight on the Water (North Road)

Night Sun- Summer Songs

One Moment of Grace (Borealis)

Sultans of String- Summer in Tehranto

Refuge (Sultans of String)

Arlo Guthrie & Jim Wilson featuring Vanessa Bryan- Hard Times Come Again No More

Hard Times Come Again No More – single (Rising Son)

Kronos Quartet with Sam Amidon, Brian Carpenter, Lee Knight & Aoife O'Donovan- Where Have All the Flowers Gone

Long Time Passing: Kronos Quartet & Friends Celebrate Pete Seeger (Smithsonian Folkways)

Eric Andersen- Thirsty Boots

Woodstock Under the Stars (Y&T Music)

Scott Cook- Passin’ Through

Tangle of Souls (Scott Cook)

Mary Chapin Carpenter- It’s OK to Be Sad

The Dirt and the Stars (Lambent Light/Thirty Tigers)

Lynn Miles- The Saddest Song I Ever Wrote

We’ll Look for Stars (Must Have Music)

Emma Swift- I Contain Multitudes

Blonde on the Tracks (Tiny Ghost/CRS)

Ken Tizzard & Music for Goats- One Too Many Mornings

Living the Dream: Live at the Little Pub (Ken Tizzard)

Charlie Barnett- Corrina, Corrina

All By His Own Self (Modern Songbook Records)

Kris Delmhorst- The Horses

Long Day in the Milky Way (Big Bean Music)

David Wiffen- Mr. Wiffen

David Wiffen (Fantasy)

Orit Shimoni- Strange and Beautiful Things

Strange and Beautiful Things (Orit Shimoni)

VickiKristinaBarcelona- Tango Till They’re Sore

Pawn Shop Radio (StorySound)

Don Armstrong- Hey Little Bird

Mother Don’t Give Up on Me Now (Ronstadt Record Co.)

Vincent Beaulne- Joe’s Guitar

The Voice is Mine (Blues Del Records)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on September 12 when my extended feature will be “A Hundred Floors above in the Tower of Song: A tribute to Hank Williams.”

Find me on Twitter. @MikeRegenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif