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

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif finds connections and develops themes in various genres. The show is broadcast on CKCU, 93.1 FM, in Ottawa on Tuesdays from 3:30 until 5 pm (Eastern time) and is also available 24/7 for on-demand streaming.

This episode of Stranger Songs was recorded and can be streamed on-demand, now or anytime, by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/76658.html

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

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

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

Finest Kind- The Faded Roses of December

Lost in a Song (Fallen Angle Music)

Utah Phillips- The Goodnight Loving Trail

The Telling Takes Me Home (Philo)

Jody Stecher & Kate Brislin- Blue Mountain

Stay Awhile (Rounder)

Blue Murder- The Banks of Sweet Primroses

No One Stands Alone (Topic)

Windborne- Gimme Just a Little More Time

Recollections/Revolutions (Wand’ring Feet)

Finest Kind- The Storms May Roll the Ocean

Lost in a Song (Fallen Angle Music)

Peggy Seeger- Going to the West

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

Derek Lamb- The Miner’s Dream of Home

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

Sneezy Waters- I Heard the Bluebirds Sing

Sneezy Waters (Sneezy Waters)

Martyn Wyndham-Read- Sussex Drinking Song

A Rose from the Bush (Greenwich Village)

David Parry- In Praise of Alcohol

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

Coope, Boyes & Simpson- John Barleycorn

Coope, Boyes & Simpson (World Music Network)

Finest Kind- John Barleycorn Deconstructed

For Honour & For Gain (Fallen Angle Music)

Bill Staines- Only Remembered

Looking for the Wind (Red House)

John Roberts & Tony Barrand- A Pilgrim’s Way

Twiddlum Twaddlum (Golden Hind Music)

Bill Garrett & Sue Lothrop- No More Fish

Red Shoes (Borealis)

Finest Kind- Lowlands Low

For Honour & For Gain (Fallen Angle Music)

The Carter Family- Fond Affection

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

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

Best of the Vanguard Years (Vanguard)

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

Dylan’s Gospel (Columbia)

Ben E. King- Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow

Ben E. King Sings for Soulful Lovers (Rhino)

Finest Kind- Jack the Jolly Tar

Silks & Spices (Fallen Angle Music)

Tom Lewis- Bully in the Alley

Tinker Tailor Soldier Singer (Self Propelled Music)

Finest Kind- Who will Sing for Me

Heart’s Delight (Fallen Angle Music)

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – July 8, 2025: Peggy Seeger at 90

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/595/70985.html

Theme: Peggy Seeger at 90.

Peggy Seeger – who I’ve known for many years – turned 90 on June 17. Peggy was born in 1935 to a musical and activist family. Her father, Charles Seeger, was a musicologist, composer and folklorist. Her mother, Ruth Crawford Seeger, was a composer and musicologist. Her older half-brother was Pete Seeger, and her other siblings were Mike Seeger, Barbara Seeger and Penny Seeger. Peggy’s life partner from the 1950s until his death in 1989 was the preeminent British folksinger and songwriter Ewan MacColl.

The show includes some of Peggy’s original songs, as well as traditional folksongs and songs written by other songwriters that were part of her repertoire from some of Peggy’s many recordings and collaborations, and by other artists.

Peggy Seeger- Sing About These Hard Times

Teleology (Red Grape)

Peggy Seeger with Barbara Seeger & Penny Seeger - Five Nights Drunk

Folk Songs with The Seegers (Prestige)

Sheesham & Lotus & ‘Son- I Truly Understand

Clear the Table (Sepiaphone)

Kate & Edith- Pretty Saro

Live at Kelso Hall (Kate & Edith)

Ian & Sylvia- Lady of Carlisle

Four Strong Winds (Vanguard)

Peggy Seeger- When I was Single

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

Linda Ronstadt with Dolly Parton- I Never Will Marry

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

Mike Seeger & Peggy Seeger- Little Birdie

Fly Down Little Bird (Appleseed)

Bonnie Dobson- The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

Philadelphia Folk Festival – 40th Anniversary (Sliced Bread)

Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger- Dirty Old Town

Black and White: The Ewan MacColl Definitive Collection (Cooking Vinyl)

Peggy Seeger- On This Very Day

An Odd Collection (Rounder)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle & Roma Baran- Willie Moore

Tell My Sister (Nonesuch)

Peggy Seeger- Tell My Sister

Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Rufus Wainwright & John Legend- Heading for Home

Folkocracy (BMG)

Sue Foley- Freight Train

One Guitar Woman: A Tribute to the Female Pioneers of Guitar (Stony Plain)

Rosalie Sorrels with Peggy Seeger- Schofield Mine Disaster

Strangers in Another Country: The Songs of Bruce “Utah” Phillips (Red House)

Fourtold- Ballad of Springhill

Fourtold (Appleseed)

Peggy Seeger- It’s a Free World

An Odd Collection (Rounder)

Robin Greenstein- I’m Gonna Be an Engineer

Images of Women, Vol. 2 (Windy)

Peggy Seeger with Irene Pyper-Scott- Fatal Flower Garden

Live (Appleseed)

Peggy Seeger- Bring Me Home

Bring Me Home (Appleseed)

Next week: Blues in the Night.

--Mike Regenstreif

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

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif finds connections and develops themes in various genres. The show is broadcast on CKCU, 93.1 FM, in Ottawa on Tuesdays from 3:30 until 5 pm (Eastern time) and is also available 24/7 for on-demand streaming.

This episode of Stranger Songs was recorded and can be streamed on-demand, now or anytime, by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/70383.html

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

Guest: Mark Rubin – Jew of Oklahoma.

Tim Grimm- Broken Truth

Bones of Trees (Vault)

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

Bruce Murdoch- Let’s Lay Down Our Drums

33 1/3 Revolutions per Minute (Stormy Forest)

Eric Bibb- Masters of War

Migration Blues (Stony Plain)

Tom Paxton & John McCutcheon- Ukrainian Now 

Together (Appalsongs)

Artists for Action- Which Side Are You On? *

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

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

Ian Robb & James Stephens- God and the Orange Clown

Declining …with thanks (Fallen Angle Music)

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

This Joy (Righteous Babe)

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

Mike Regenstreif & Mark Rubin on Zoom (2025)

Mark Rubin – Jew of Oklahoma- Dog Whistle

Dispatches: Songs from a World Gone Mad (Rubinchik)

Mark Rubin – Jew of Oklahoma- Blues for the Innocent

Dispatches: Songs from a World Gone Mad (Rubinchik)

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

Dispatches: Songs from a World Gone Mad (Rubinchik)

Brendan Nolan- Packing Her Bag

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

Shelley Posen- Packed

Mazel (Well Done Music)

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

Song to a Refugee (Goldmine)

Liz Miller- New Normal

Love Bubble (Liz Miller)

James Talley- In These Times

Ballads, Bandits and Blues (Cimarron)

Next week: Busking.

--Mike Regenstreif

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

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif finds connections and develops themes in various genres. The show is broadcast on CKCU, 93.1 FM, in Ottawa on Tuesdays from 3:30 until 5 pm (Eastern time) and is also available 24/7 for on-demand streaming.

This episode of Stranger Songs was recorded and can be streamed on-demand, now or anytime, by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/67256.html

Theme: Finest Kind’s Kind of Songs

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

Finest Kind- The Faded Roses of December

Lost in a Song (Fallen Angle Music)

Utah Phillips- The Goodnight Loving Trail

The Telling Takes Me Home (Philo)

Jody Stecher & Kate Brislin- Blue Mountain

Stay Awhile (Rounder)

Blue Murder- The Banks of Sweet Primroses

No One Stands Alone (Topic)

Windborne- Gimme Just a Little More Time

Recollections/Revolutions (Wand’ring Feet)

Finest Kind- The Storms May Roll the Ocean

Lost in a Song (Fallen Angle Music)

Peggy Seeger- Going to the West

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

Derek Lamb- The Miner’s Dream of Home

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

Sneezy Waters- I Heard the Bluebirds Sing

Sneezy Waters (Sneezy Waters)

Martyn Wyndham-Read- Sussex Drinking Song

A Rose from the Bush (Greenwich Village)

David Parry- In Praise of Alcohol

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

Coope, Boyes & Simpson- John Barleycorn

Coope, Boyes & Simpson (World Music Network)

Finest Kind- John Barleycorn Deconstructed

For Honour & For Gain (Fallen Angle Music)

Bill Staines- Only Remembered

Looking for the Wind (Red House)

John Roberts & Tony Barrand- A Pilgrim’s Way

Twiddlum Twaddlum (Golden Hind Music)

Bill Garrett & Sue Lothrop- No More Fish

Red Shoes (Borealis)

Finest Kind- Lowlands Low

For Honour & For Gain (Fallen Angle Music)

The Carter Family- Fond Affection

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

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

Best of the Vanguard Years (Vanguard)

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

Dylan’s Gospel (Columbia)

Ben E. King- Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow

Ben E. King Sings for Soulful Lovers (Rhino)

Finest Kind- Jack the Jolly Tar

Silks & Spices (Fallen Angle Music)

Tom Lewis- Bully in the Alley

Tinker Tailor Soldier Singer (Self Propelled Music)

Finest Kind- Who will Sing for Me

Heart’s Delight (Fallen Angle Music)

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

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday December 5, 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/128/49975.html

 

Sara Thomsen & Paula Pedersen- Winter Wind
Winter Wanderings (Sara Thomsen & Paula Pedersen)

Clancy Brothers with Louis Killen- Girl from the North Country
Save the Land! (Audio Fidelity)
Boreal- Snow Falls Down
Snow Falls Down – single (Boreal)
Lynn Miles- Last Night
Winter (Lynn Miles)
Judy Collins & Jonas Fjeld with Chatham County Line- River
Winter Stories (Wildflower/Cleopatra)

Joni Mitchell-A Melody in Your Name
Archives – Volume 1: The Early Years 1963-1967 (Rhino)
Joni Mitchell- Carnival in Kenora
Archives – Volume 1: The Early Years 1963-1967 (Rhino)
Bob Franke- Hard Love
The Other Evening in Chicago (Waterbug)
Steel Rail- Darkest Night
Coming Home (Crossties)
Katy Moffatt- Mother of Pearl
Chrysalis (Sunset Blvd. Records)

Murray McLauchlan- I Live On a White Cloud
I Live On a White Cloud – single (Murray McLauchlan)
Leyla McCalla- Song for a Dark Girl
Vari-Colored Songs: A Tribute to Langston Hughes (Smithsonian Folkways)
Marc Nerenberg- Hear the Sirens in the Night: A Topical Blues
Little Birdie: Birds, Beasts & Banjo Blues (Marc Nerenberg)
Dan Hill- What About Black Lives?
What About Black Lives? – single (Sunandsky/ADA/Warner)

Extended feature – Songs of Ewan MacColl. The next 14 songs were written by Ewan MacColl (1915-1989), one of the most influential figures in the British folk revival.

Bonnie Dobson- The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
Philadelphia Folk Festival 40th Anniversary (Sliced Bread)
Swing & Tears- Dirty Old Town
Swing & Tears (Swing & Tears)
Short Sisters- Schoolday’s Over
A Little Gracefulness (Black Socks Press)
Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger- Ballad of Accounting
Black and White: The Definitive Collection (Cooking Vinyl)
James Keelaghan- Sweet Thames Flow Softly
A Few Simple Verses (Jericho Beach Music)

Eliza Carthy- Thirty-Foot Trailer
Joy of Living: A Tribute to Ewan MacColl (Compass)
Norma Waterson- Moving On Song
Joy of Living: A Tribute to Ewan MacColl (Compass)
Martin Carthy- I’m Champion at Keeping ‘Em Rolling
Joy of Living: A Tribute to Ewan MacColl (Compass)
Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger- The Driver’s Song
Black and White: The Definitive Collection (Cooking Vinyl)

Sean Gagnier- Shoals of Herring
Circle Harbor (Sean Gagnier)
Windborne- The Terror Time
Recollections/Revolutions (Wand’ring Feet Records)
Chaim Tannenbaum- My Old Man
Joy of Living: A Tribute to Ewan MacColl (Compass)
Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger- Nobody Knew She was There
Black and White: The Definitive Collection (Cooking Vinyl)
Garnet Rogers- The Joy of Living
At a High Window (Snow Goose Songs)

Doc & Merle Watson- Below Freezing
Songs Doc Didn’t Sing (FLI Records)

Christine Lavin- On My Way to Hooterville (pt. 3)
On My Way to Hooterville (Christine Lavin)
Suzzy Roche & Lucy Wainwright Roche- Little
I Can Still Hear You (StorySound)

Andy Cohen- Step It Up and Go
Tryin’ to Get Home (Earwig)
Etta Baker- Railroad Bill
One-Dime Blues (Rounder)
Last Forever- Louis Collins/Spike Driver Blues
Trainfare Home (StorySound)
Mississippi John Hurt- My Creole Belle
Live (Vanguard)
Andy Cohen- Talkin’ Casey
Tryin’ to Get Home (Earwig)
Rahsaan Roland Kirk- Make Me a Pallet on the Floor
Boogie Woogie String Along for Real (Warner Bros.)

Rosalie Sorrels- Feather Ben
Travelin’ Lady Rides Again (Green Linnet)
Tom Mitchell- Old Cloth
Old Cloth (Yabut Music)
Braden Gates- Song for the Line Cook
Kitchen Days (Borealis)
Rodney Rice- Walk Across Texas
Same Shirt, Different Day (Moody Spring Music)
Jimmy LaFave- Rt. 66 One More Time
Highway Angels…Full Moon Rain (Night Tribe Music)

Ofra Harnoy- She’s Like the Swallow
On the Rock (Analekta)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on January 2, 2021.

Find me on Twitter. @MikeRegenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Sally Rogers & Claudia Schmidt – We are Welcomed

SALLY ROGERS & CLAUDIA SCHMIDT

We are Welcomed

Pragmavision

claudiaschmidt.com

sallyrogers.com

For the fourth time since 1981, Sally Rogers and Claudia Schmidt – both of whom I first met sometime in the ‘70s – have combined their always lovely and frequently powerful voices together in glorious harmony.

We are Welcomed features seven of Claudia’s original songs, three of Sally’s, and four drawn from other songwriters that they make their own.

Among the highlights from Claudia’s songs are a couple of powerful topical songs. “Willful Ignorance,” carries wise advice to those might be seduced by trumpian demagoguery, while “Still on the Bridge” reflects both on the deadly attack on civil rights marchers in 1965 in Alabama as they left Selma and crossed the Edmund Pettis Bridge en route to Montgomery and how, half a century later, we are still, figuratively, on that bridge.

Other highlights from among Claudia’s songs are “Jamaica’s Tree,” a poignant tribute to a young woman from her neighborhood who lost her life at a too young age, and to the resilience of her mother; and the inspiring “Quiet Hills,” a 1994 song from one of Claudia’s solo albums that is re-recorded here with Sally’s magnificent harmonies.

Sally’s songs include the title track, “We are Welcomed,” a zipper song that celebrates new life (or rejuvenated life) with “song,” “joy,” “hope” and “love”; “Prudence Crandall,” a homage to a Connecticut teacher, who, many decades earlier, had been persecuted for breaking the color barrier in her classroom; and “The Tunes Jacqueline Plays,” a tribute to the seemingly magic musical abilities of pianist Jacqueline Schwab (who is the pianist on the album and on this song).

Each of the four songs by other writers is a sublime choice. Neal Hagberg’s “Star Girls” is a heartrending but, ultimately, hopeful tribute to girls and young women who are sold into slavery and/or repressed by religious fundamentalism. Peggy Seeger’s “Love, Call Me Home” is a lovely paean to friendship, while Jean Ritchie’s “The Cool of the Day,” based on a passage from Genesis when Adam and Eve are in the Garden of Eden, is given a stunning treatment with Sally’s lead vocal and Claudia’s harmony.

My favorite of the cover songs is a magnificent version of Sandy Denny’s autumnal masterpiece “Who Knows Where the Time Goes.” There have been many great versions of this song since the late-1960s and this version stands very tall among them. By the way, the drummer on the album, and on “Who Knows Where the Time Goes,” is Dave Mattacks, who was once a member of Fairport Convention with Sandy Denny (although I believe he joined the band after they recorded the song).

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

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

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Joy of Living: A Tribute to Ewan MacColl

Compass Records

compassrecords.com

ewanmaccoll.co.uk

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif