Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – June 9, 2026: Songs of Richard Fariña

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/595/75747.html

Theme: Songs of Richard Fariña.

Richard Fariña was a folksinger, songwriter, dulcimer player and novelist, who died in a motorcycle crash in 1966 at age 29. Richard was married twice – first to folksinger Carolyn Hester, and then to folksinger Mimi Fariña, the younger sister of Joan Baez, with whom he recorded three albums, the third of which was released in his memory two years after his death, which, tragically, happened on Mimi’s 21st birthday. While I never met Richard, I did become friends with Mimi when she came to play several times at the Golem, the folk club I ran in Montreal in the 1970s and ‘80s.

Mimi & Richard Fariña

Mimi & Richard Fariña- Dandelion River Run

Celebrations for a Grey Day (Vanguard)

Judy Collins- Pack Up Your Sorrows

Fifth Album (Elektra)

Caroline Doctorow- Another Country

Another Country: The Songs of Mimi and Richard Fariña (Narrow Lane)

Moore & McGregor- Reno Nevada

Dream with Me (Ivernia)

Rhiannon Giddens- Birmingham Sunday

Freedom Highway (Nonesuch)

Mimi & Richard Fariña- Michael, Andrew and James

Celebrations for a Grey Day (Vanguard)

Mimi & Richard Fariña- Tommy Makem Fantasy

Celebrations for a Grey Day (Vanguard)

Mimi Fariña- Quiet Joys of Brotherhood

Solo (Philo)

Caroline Doctorow- Reflections in a Crystal Wind

Another Country: The Songs of Mimi and Richard Fariña (Narrow Lane)

Stevie Coyle- The Falcon

Ten in One (Tuna Mine Music)

Grace Griffith- A Swallow Song

MinstrelSong (Blix Street)

Mimi & Richard Fariña- Raven Girl

Celebrations for a Grey Day (Vanguard)

Plainsong- One Way Ticket

Reinventing Richard: The Songs of Richard Fariña (Omnivore)

Ben & Dom- Children of Darkness

His Head Lies Heavy (Ben & Dom)

Eric Andersen- Bold Marauder

Waves (Appleseed)

Mimi & Richard Fariña- Morgan the Pirate

Memories (Vanguard)

Joan Baez- All the World Has Gone By

Memories (Vanguard)

Mimi & Richard Fariña- Joy ‘Round My Brain

Memories (Vanguard)

Judy Collins- Hard Lovin’ Loser

In My Life (Elektra)

Plainsong- Mainline Prosperity Blues

Reinventing Richard: The Songs of Richard Fariña (Omnivore)

Mimi & Richard Fariña- Pack Up Your Sorrows

Celebrations for a Grey Day (Vanguard)

Next week: Blonde on Blonde Revisited.

--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

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – May 17, 2025

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/128/70266.html

Jim Rooney & Rooney's Irregulars- One Morning in May

My Own Ignorant Way (JRP)

Garland Frady- The Brand New Tennessee Waltz

Pure Country (Countryside)

Lisa Moscatiello- Biloxi

Second Avenue (Machine Heart)

The Frontmen- That’s a Touch I Like

The Frontmen (Rolltop Discs)

Mike Regenstreif & Jesse Winchester (2009)

Jesse Winchester- Skip Rope Song

Jesse Winchester (Stony Plain)

Tim Hardin- Yankee Lady

Simple Songs of Freedom: The Tim Hardin Collection (Columbia/Legacy)

Chris Rawlings & Mike Regenstreif (2007)

Chris Rawlings- Lake Isle of Innisfree/Song of the Wandering Aengus

Two Sides to Your Story (Cookingfat Music)

Mike Regenstreif & Priscilla Herdman (1978)

Priscilla Herdman- Reedy River

The Water Lily (Philo)

Mike Regenstreif & Garnet Rogers (2006)

Archie Fisher & Garnet Rogers- The Outside Track

The Best Times After All: Live (Snow Goose Songs)

Mary Chapin Carpenter, Julie Fowlis & Karine Polwart- Rebecca

Looking for the Thread (Lambent Light/Thirty Tigers)

Suzie Brown- Mothers and Daughters

Songs Worth Saving (Suzie Brown)

Bettye LaVette- Mama, You Been On My Mind

Things Have Changed (Verve)

Schmaltz & Pepper- I’m Sorry Mama

Schmaltz & Pepper (Schmaltz & Pepper)

Schmaltz & Pepper- Mozart the Mensch

Schmaltz & Pepper (Schmaltz & Pepper)

Suzy Thompson- Louise

Suzy Sings Siebel Volume One (Suzy Thompson)

Suzy Thompson- Bride 1945

Suzy Sings Siebel Volume One (Suzy Thompson)

Paul Siebel- My Town

Woodsmoke and Oranges (Elektra)

Suzy Thompson- Any Day Woman

Suzy Sings Siebel Volume One (Suzy Thompson)

Suzy Thompson- Long Afternoons

Woodsmoke and Oranges (Elektra)

Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi- I Shall Not Be Moved

They’re Calling Me Home (Nonesuch)

Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson- Brown’s Dream

What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow (Nonesuch)

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

American Railroad (Nonesuch)

Carolyn Shulman- Old Farm House

Heart on a Wire (Carolyn Shulman)

Mike Regenstreif & Tim Grimm (2025)

Tim Grimm- Barbed Wire Boys

Bones of Trees (Vault)

Tom Mitchell & Mike Regenstreif (1999)

Tom Mitchell- Sam Ogan

Tom Mitchell (Philo)

Eric Andersen & Mike Regenstreif (2000)

Eric Andersen- Dance of Love and Death

Dance of Love and Death (EARecords)

Louise Coombe & Mike Regenstreif (2024)

Louise Coombe- Paris

Paris (Zoe Cat Music)

Terry Kitchen- Mona Lisa Blue

We All Dream (Urban Campfire Productions)

Gordie Tentrees & Jaxon Haldane- Bobbi & Gus

Double Takes (Gordie Tentrees & Jaxon Haldane)

Jill Sobule- The Last Line

Underdog Victorious: Deluxe Edition (Pinko)

Jill Sobule- A Good Life

F*ck the 7th Grade: Original Cast Recording (Jill Sobule)

Sarah Segal-Lazar- From Sea to Sea

Two If By Sea (Sarah Segal-Lazar)

NEeMA- Unwinding

Watching You Think (Neemaste/Sony)

Leonard Cohen- Traveling Light

You Want It Darker (Columbia)

Perla Batalla- You Want It Darker

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

Mike Regenstreif & Old Man Luedecke (2015)

Old Man Luedecke- I Skipped a Stone

Easy Money (True North)

Robert Thomas & Mike Regenstreif (2025)

Robert Thomas & the sessionmen- Kick the Can

The Way We Roll (Gas)

Brian Campbell- Comedy of Errors

Let’s Talk (Beedeecee Productions)

Ron Sowell- In Search of Some Creole Soul

Dance Till the Music Stops (Mountain Soul)

Mike Regenstreif & Bruce Murdoch (2007)

Bruce Murdoch- Maximeline

Bruce Murdoch (Radio Canada International)

Rees Shad- Porcelain Angel

Porcelain Angel (Shadville Music)

C. Daniel Boling- Wand’rin’ Again

It Matters (Berkalin)

Keith Sykes- Rich Wayfaring Stranger

Keith Sykes (Vanguard)

Susie Arioli Swing Band featuring Jordan Officer- Reuben’s Blues

It’s Wonderful (Susie Arioli Swing Band)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on June 14. I also host Stranger Songs on CKCU every Tuesday from 3:30-5 pm.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – May 6, 2025: The Banjo Special

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/595/70088.html

Theme: The Banjo Special.

Pete Seeger holding his banjo.

All the songs and tunes on this show feature the banjo.

Doc Watson- Rambling Hobo

Memories (Sugar Hill)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Foolish You

Tell My Sister: Kate & Anna McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Michael Jerome Browne- Reverend Strut

Gettin’ Together (Borealis/Stony Plain)

John Hartford- Gentle on My Mind

Live from Mountain Stage (Blue Plate Music)

The Be Good Tanyas- Reuben

Chinatown (Nettwerk)

Mary Gick- Hills of Home

Six Tunes and a Song (Mary Gick)

Finest Kind- Going to the West

Lost in a Song (Fallen Angle)

Marc Nerenberg- Little Birdie: A Reimagined Traditional Song

Little Birdie: Birds, Beasts & Banjo Blues (Marc Nerenberg)

The Dumptrucks- Qu’Appelle

Selections (Laughing Cactus)

Pete Seeger- Monsieur Banjo

American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 4 (Smithsonian Folkways)

Last Forever with John Cohen- Dillard Chandler

No Place Like Home/Last Forever (2nd Story Sound)

Arnie Naiman- My Lucy Stars

My Lucky Stars (Merriweather)

Robert Thomas & the sessionmen- Springhill

The Way We Roll (Gas)

Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer- Redwinged Blackbird

Get Up and Do Right (Community Music)

Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five- Put ‘Em Down Blues

The Hot Fives & Hot Sevens, Vol. III (Columbia)

Paul Barbarin with Danny Barker- Eh La Bas

Paul Barbarin and His New Orleans Jazz (Collectables)

Mark Rubin – Jew of Oklahoma- Berish Katz Breakdown

Dispatches: Songs from a World Gone Mad (Rubinchik)

Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson- Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss

What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow (Nonesuch)

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings- Howdy Howdy

Woodland (Acony)

Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn- Railroad

Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn (Rounder)

Pharis & Jason Romero- Train on the Island

Tell ‘Em You Were Gold (Smithsonian Folkways)

Jayme Stone’s Lomax Project- Lazy John

Jayme Stone’s Lomax Project (Borealis)

Derroll Adams- The Mountain

Songs of the Banjoman (Wundertutte) 

Suzy Thompson- Lose My Blues

Suzy Sings Siebel Volume One (Suzy Thompson)

Jenny Whiteley- Banjo Girl

The Original Jenny Whiteley (Black Hen Music)

Tony Trischka & Steve Martin- Plunkin’ Rag

Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular (Rounder)

Next week: A Tribute to The Klezmatics.

--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 – February 6, 2024: A Tribute to Odetta

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/595/63807.html

Theme: A Tribute to Odetta (1930-2008).

Odetta, the magnificent and highly influential African American folk and blues singer, who died in 2008 at the age of 77, was born Odetta Holmes in Birmingham, Alabama. She originally trained to be an opera singer and her earliest professional jobs were in musical theatre. In 1949, while singing in the touring company of Finian’s Rainbow, she met some folksingers and fell in love with the genre. From then on, she turned her attention to folk and blues, performing concerts and recording prolifically starting in the mid-1950s.

I met Odetta for the first time in 1977 in the hallway of the hotel we were staying at during the Philadelphia Folk Festival. I was there with Priscilla Herdman, who knew Odetta, and when she introduced us, Odetta gave me one of her big hugs. In the 1980s, I brought Odetta to The Golem, the folk club I ran in Montreal, numerous times.

Odetta, pianist Dave Keyes & Mike Regenstreif (2008)

The last time I got to work with Odetta was when I hosted a workshop with her at the 2008 Ottawa Folk Festival, just a few months before she passed away. I was deeply honored when she told me that my friendship over the years meant a lot to her.

All of the songs on this show were from Odetta’s repertoire.

Odetta- Stranger Here

Sometimes I Feel Like Cryin’ (RCA)

Lead Belly with The Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet- Alabama Bound

Take This Hammer – When the Sun Goes Down, Vol. 5 (Bluebird)

Bessie Smith- Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out

Bessie Smith: The Absolutely Essential 3 CD Collection (Big3)

Josh White- House of the Rising Sun

The Josh White Stories, Vols. I & II (Jasmine)

Odetta- Roberta

Lookin’ for a Home: Thanks to Leadbelly (M.C.)

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

Gonna Let It Shine (M.C.)

Gina Coleman- Glory Glory

Tell Me Who You Are: A Live Tribute to Odetta (Guitar One) 

Kim & Reggie Harris- Wade in the Water

Steal Away: Songs of the Underground Railroad (Appleseed)

Odetta- Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child

Odetta at Carnegie Hall (Vanguard)

Bob Dylan- No More Auction Block

The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 [Rare & Unreleased] 1961-1991 (Columbia)

Odetta- Blowin’ in the Wind

Odetta Sings Dylan (RCA)

Chaim Tannenbaum- Ain’t No More Cane on the Brazos

Chaim Tannenbaum (StorySound)

Rhiannon Giddens- Waterboy

Tomorrow is My Turn (Nonesuch)

Sweet Honey in the Rock- The Midnight Special

A Tribute: Live! Jazz at Lincoln Centre (Appleseed)

Coco Love Alcorn- This Little Light of Mine

Rebirth (Coco Love Alcorn)

Odetta & The Holmes Brothers- Down By the Riverside

Gonna Let It Shine (M.C.)

Tom Jones- Hit or Miss

Spirit in the Room (Island)

Penny Lang- Careless Love

Stone + Sand + Sea + Sky (Borealis)

Misty Blues- Go Down, Sunshine

Tell Me Who You Are: A Live Tribute to Odetta (Guitar One) 

Odetta & Dr. John- Oh Papa

Blues Everywhere I Go (M.C.)

Odetta- Goodnight Irene

Lookin’ for a Home: Thanks to Leadbelly (M.C.)

Next week: A Tribute Jelly Roll Morton on Mardi Gras Day.

--Mike Regenstreif