Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – December 9, 2025: The Dark

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/595/73159.html

Theme: The Dark.

This time of year – the weeks leading to the winter solstice – is the darkest time of the year. As well, with the erosion of democracy and human rights, the spread of racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia and homophobia, ongoing wars and the waning belief in proven science typified by climate change denial and vaccine conspiracy theories, we are living in dark times. So, these songs all relate in some way or another to the dark.

Guy Clark- The Dark

The Dark (Sugar Hill)

Steel Rail- Darkest Night

Coming Home (Crossties)

Kate Campbell- Dark Night of the Soul

For the Living of These Days (Large River Music)

Slaid Cleaves- Through the Dark

Together Through the Dark (Candy House Music)

Ana Egge- Ready for the Darkness

Sharing in the Spirit (StorySound)

Arlo Guthrie- Darkest Hour

Amigo (Rising Son)

Gram Parsons with Emmylou Harris- In My Hour of Darkness

Grievous Angel (Reprise)

Tuba Sknny- Echo in the Dark

Some Kind-a-Shake (Tuba Sknny)

Eliza Gilkyson- Dark Ages

Dark Ages (Realiza)

Caroline Doctorow- Children of Darkness

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

Eric Andersen- Darkness

Eric Andersen in (Spoken) Pieces (EARecords)

Leonard Cohen with Cantor Gideon Zelermyer & The Shaar Hashomayim Choir- You Want It Darker 

You Want It Darker (Columbia)

Chris Rusin & Katie Wise- The Dark

Songs from a Secret Room (Rushing River)

Michael Jerome Browne- The Road is Dark

The Road is Dark (Borealis)

Clela Errington- Full Moon Dark Time

Walkin’ Each Other Home (Clela Errington)

Tom Russell- Darkness Visible

Blood and Candle Smoke (Shout! Factory)

Jamie Anderson- Run to the Darkness

The Truth Appears (Tsunami)

Johnny Cash- I See a Darkness

American III: Solitary Man (American)

Rob Lutes- Walk in the Dark

Walk in the Dark (Lucky Bear)

Carrie Newcomer- Singing in the Dark

A Great Wild Mercy (Available Light)

Chris Rawlings- Lifting the Darkness 

Two Sides to Your Story (Cookingfat Music)

Dave Clarke- In the Falling Dark

The Healing Garden (Crossties)

Next week: A Hanukkah Concert with Nefesh Mountain and More Songs for the Holiday.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday April 5, 2022: Remembering John Prine

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/595/55771.html

Theme: Remembering John Prine (1946-2020). John died on April 7, 2020 from COVID-19 at age 73 – an early victim of the pandemic.

John Prine- Souvenirs
Souvenirs (Oh Boy)

Steve Goodman- Blue Umbrella
Jessie’s Jig & Other Favorites (Red Pajamas)
Bonnie Koloc- Clocks & Spoons
Timeless (Mr. Biscuit)
Tim Grimm- Sam Stone
Names (Wind River)
John Prine- Boundless Love
The Tree of Forgiveness (Oh Boy)

Reggie Harris- Hello In There
On Solid Ground (Reggie Harris Music)
Nanci Griffith with John Prine- Speed of the Sound of Loneliness
Other Voices/Other Rooms (Elektra)

John McCutcheon- The Night That John Prine Died
Cabin Fever: Songs from the Quarantine (Appalsongs)
Ellis Paul- Angel from Montgomery
Ellis Paul’s Traveling Medicine Show Vol. 1 (Rosella)
Leo Gillespie- Aimless Love
Leo Gillespie (Leo Gillespie)
John Prine & Iris DeMent- In Spite of Ourselves
In Spite of Ourselves (Oh Boy)

Rob Lutes- Rocky Mountain Time
Walk in the Dark (Lucky Bear)
Tim & Mollie O'Brien- Unwed Fathers
Sugar Hill Records: A Retrospective (Sugar Hill)
John Prine- Egg & Daughter Night, Lincoln Nebraska, 1967 (Crazy Bone)
The Tree of Forgiveness (Oh Boy)

Bonnie Koloc- Sabu Visits the Twin Cities Alone
Timeless (Mr. Biscuit)
John Prine- Please Don’t Bury Me
Souvenirs (Oh Boy)
Mark Haines & Tom Leighton- That’s the Way the World Goes Round
Hand to Hand (Borealis)
Keith Sykes & John Prine- Everybody Wants to Feel Like You
Don’t Count Us Out (Syren)
John Prine- Spanish Pipedream
Live at The Other End, December 1975 (Rhino)

Folkapotamus- I Remember Everything
We’ll Dance Again (PhatCat)
John Prine- Fish and Whistle
Souvenirs (Oh Boy)
Johnny Cash- Paradise
Personal File (Columbia/Legacy)

John Prine- When I Get to Heaven
The Tree of Forgiveness (Oh Boy)

Next week: Songs and Conversation with Eliza Gilkyson

Find me on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday June 19, 2021

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/128/52408.html

 

Donna Adler- Emily’s Café
Remembering Butterflies (Donna Adler)

Mike Regenstreif & Bill Morrissey (2005)

Cliff Eberhardt- When We Were Kings (Bill)
Knew Things (Tin Pan Ally)
Bill Morrissey- Small Town on the River
Bill Morrissey (Philo)
Lucy Kaplansky- Texas Blues
The Tide (Red House)

Murray McLauchaln- Pandemic Blues
Hourglass (True North)
Chris Ronald- Please Don’t Come for Me Now
Light & Dark (Borealis)

Amy Speace with The Orphan Brigade- Father’s Day
There Used to Be Horses Here (Windbone)
Michael ‘Earnie’ Taylor- What My Father Taught Me
Folk ‘n’ Western (Laughing Cactus Music)
Michael Smith- I Brought My Father With Me
Songs of a Catholic Childhood (J. O’Reilly Productions)

Diana Jones- Song to a Refugee
Song to a Refugee (Goldmine)

Joseph Spence- Run Come See Jerusalem
Encore: Unheard Recordings of Bahamian Guitar and Singing (Smithsonian Folkways)
Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Travellin’ On For Jesus
Tell My Sister: Kate & Anna McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

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

Oscar Peterson- Hymn to Freedom
Night Train (Verve)

Erin Ash Sullivan- Spring Come Running
We Can Hear Each Other (Willoughby)
Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi- Waterbound
They’re Calling Me Home (Nonesuch)
Adeline- Whitehorse Breakdown
Adeline (Owl)

Mark Schatz & Bryan McDowell- One Too Many Mornings
Grit & Polish (Patuxent Music)
Howard Gladstone with Bob Cohen- She Belongs to Me
She Belongs to Me – single (Howard Gladstone)
Ladysmith Black Mambazo & Dolly Parton- Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door
Heavenly (Shanachie)

Kate McDonnell- Ballad of a Bad Girl
Ballad of a Bad Girl (Dog Eared Discs)
Donna Herula- Bang at the Door
Bang at the Door (Donna Herula)
Rob Lutes- Knives
Come Around (Lucky Bear)
Kelly’s Lot- Stronger
Where or When (Kelly Zirbes)

Catherine Russell & Mike Regenstreif (2007)

Catherine Russell- Juneteenth Jamboree/Royal Garden Blues
Cat (World Village)
Loudon Wainwright III with Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks- I’d Rather Lead a Band
I’d Rather Lead a Band (Search Party)
Maria Muldaur with Tuba Skinny- Be Your Natural Self
Let’s Get Happy Together (Stony Plain)
Jeff Healey- Sing You Sinners
The Best of the Stony Plain Years: Vintage Jazz, Swing and Blues (Stony Plain)
Annabelle Chvostek- D’être humain
String of Pearls (Annabelle Chvostek)

Dave Clarke- The Healing Garden
The Healing Garden (Crossties)

David Essig- The Way Hate Walks
Tremble and Weep (Appaloosa)
SONiA disappear fear- By My Silence
By My Silence (Disappear)

Willie Dunn- Charlie
Creation Never Sleeps, Creation Never Dies: The Willie Dunn Anthology (Light in the Attic)
Buffy Sainte-Marie- My Country ‘tis of thy People You’re Dying
Medicine Songs (True North)

Guy Davis- God’s Gonna Make Things Over
Be Ready When I Call You (M.C.)
Reggie Harris- Sing Out/March On/Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round
On Solid Ground (Reggie Harris Music)

Mark Rubin – Jew of Oklahoma- A Day of Revenge
The Triumph of Assimilation (Rubinchik)
Sophie Milman- Taybls Briv (Taybl’s Letter to Her Husband at the Front)
Yiddish Glory: The Lost Songs of World War II (Six Degrees)

Sons of the Never Wrong- Muddy Muddy River
Undertaker’s Songbook (Sons 3)
The Slowinks- Stay With Me Awhile
Stay With Me Awhile (weewerk)
Lorenzo Wolff featuring Osei Essed- There’s a Rugged Road
Down Where the Valleys are Low: Another Otherworld for Judee Sill (StorySound)
Jackson Browne- My Cleveland Heart
My Cleveland Heart – single (Inside Recordings)
Steve Marriner- Long Way Down
Hope Dies Last (Stony Plain)

Bùmarang- Weasel
Echo Land (Fallen Tree)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on July 17. I also host Stranger Songs on CKCU every Tuesday from 3:30-5 pm.

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

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Canadian Spaces – CKCU – Saturday January 30, 2021

CKCU can be heard at 93.1 FM in Ottawa and www.ckcufm.com/ on the web.

This particular show is now available for on-demand listening. https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/129/50686.html

Canadian Spaces on CKCU in Ottawa is Canada’s longest-running folk music radio program. It is heard Saturday mornings from 10:00 am until noon (Eastern time).

It was hosted for more than 33 years by the late Chopper McKinnon and is now hosted by Chris White and a rotating cast of co-hosts.

This week’s show was co-hosted by Mike Regenstreif and Chris White.

Guests: Marc Nerenberg; Jim Hurcomb (author of Rockin’ on the Rideau: Ottawa’s Golden Age of Rock and Roll). We also recorded interviews with Orit Shimoni and Kat Goldman which, I believe, Chris will be playing on next week's episode of Canadian Spaces.

El Coyote- Come Around
El Coyote (El Coyote)

Corin Raymond- Rec Room
Dirty Mansions (Local Rascal Records)

Susan Ellenton- Yukon Women
Learning to Listen (Susan Ellenton)

Maria Dunn- Ontario Song
Joyful Banner Blazing (Distant Whisper)

Marc Nerenberg- This Time Around: A Banjo-Harmonica Duet
Little Birdie: Birds, Beasts & Banjo Blues (Marc Nerenberg)

Orit Shimoni- Strange and Beautiful Things
Strange and Beautiful Things (Orit Shimoni)

Rick Fines- Scared to Dance
Solar Powered Too (Rick Fines)

Suzie Vinnick- Drift Away
Shake the Love Around (Suzie Vinnick)

Rob Lutes- Rabbit
Walk in the Dark (Lucky Bear)

Kat Goldman- The Workingman’s Blues (Kat Goldman)
The Workingman’s Blues (Kat Goldman)

Shelley Posen- The Best Song Ever Written
Ontario Moon (Well Done Music)

Steel Rail- Flow River Flow
Coming Home (Crossties)

Three Sheets to the Wind- Woodsmoke and Oranges
Canoesongs, Volume 1 (Portage)

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

Lynn Miles- Something Beautiful
Fall for Beauty (True North)

Linda Morrison- Line By Line
Line By Line (Heartstrung Music)

Don Norman & The Other Four- Low Man
Low Man – single (Sir John A.)

Doris Folkens- Across the Sea
Doris Folkens (Doris Folkens)

Eugene Ruffalo- Fool for Every Season
Fool for Every Season (Continental Song City)

Jennifer Noxon- The Bottomless Cup
Watch As You Walk (Jennifer Noxon)

Announcement: I have a new weekly show on CKCU called Stranger Songs that will debut on Tuesday, February 9 from 3:30 until 5 pm. Expect an eclectic, roots-based show that will often revolve around a specific theme. Like all CKCU shows, Stranger Songs will be available 24/7 for on-demand streaming.

Find me on Twitter. www.twitter.com/mikeregenstreif
 
And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday October 12, 2019

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 http://www.ckcufm.com/ on the web.

This episode of Saturday Morning can be streamed on-demand at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/45128.html

The Refugees- Turnagain Arm

How Far It Goes (The Refugees)

Marc Nerenberg- Darlin’ Corey

Delia’s Gone: Murder Ballads & Other Songs of Love & Death (Marc Nerenberg)

Linda McRae- Caney Fork River

Going to the Well (42 RPM)

Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer- Jump Up Ginger

Wahoo! (Community Music)

Ian & Sylvia- Darcy Farrow

The Lost Tapes (Stony Plain)

Marty Morrissey- Grapes on the Vine

The Ancient Ground (Marty Morrissey)

Steve Gillette & Cindy Mangsen- When the First Leaves Fall

A Sense of Place (Redwing)

Katherine Rondeau- Urge for Going

Unfortunate Point of View (Katherine Rondeau)

Disappear Fear- Changes

Get Your Phil (Disappear Records)

Sharon Goldman- Lone Black Crow

Every Trip Around the Sun (Sharon Goldman)

Tom Russell- October in the Railroad Earth

October in the Railroad Earth (Frontera)

Gathering Sparks- Hey Marguerite

All That’s Real (Borealis)

Shelley Posen- Emily

Ontario Moon (Well Done Music)

Katie Dahl- Helen

Wildwood (Leaky Boat)

Christine Lavin- Jane

The Best of Christine Lavin (Christine Lavin)

Extended Feature: Remembering Bessie Smith (1894-1937). Versions of the next 15 songs were recorded by Bessie Smith between 1923 and 1937.

Rory Block- Weeping Willow Blues

A Woman’s Soul: A Tribute to Bessie Smith (Stony Plain)

Penny Lang- Careless Love

Stone + Sand + Sea + Sky (Borealis)

Jim Kweskin & The Neo-Passé Jazz Band- Jazzbo Brown from Memphis Town

Jump for Joy (Vanguard)

Ann Rabson- Do Your Duty

In a Family Way (Emit Doog Music)

Bessie Smith- I’m Wild About That Thing

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

Bessie Smith

Vassar Clements & Maria Muldaur- I Ain’t Gonna Play No Second Fiddle

Livin’ with the Blues (Acoustic Disc)

Judy Henske- Empty Bed Blues

The Elektra Albums (Ace)

Dave Van Ronk- You’ve Been a Good Old Wagon

…and the tin pan bended, and the story ended… (Smithsonian Folkways)

Gaye Adegbalola- Need a Little Sugar in My Bowl

Bitter Sweet Blues (Alligator)

Bessie Smith- Gimme a Pigfoot (and a Bottle of Beer)

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

Martin Grosswendt & Susanne Salem-Schatz- After You’ve Gone

New Songs, Old Hats (Martin Grosswendt & Susanne Salem-Schatz)

Tom Rush- Black Mountain Blues

Tom Rush/Take a Little Walk with Me (BGO)

Odetta- Rich Man Blues (Poor Man’s Blues)

Blues Everywhere I Go (M.C.)

Memphis Slim- Backwater Blues

The Folkways Years 1959-1973 (Smithsonian Folkways)

Bessie Smith- On Revival Day

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

The Durham County Poets perform tonight at the Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield.

Durham County Poets- Hand Me Down Blues

Hand Me Down Blues (Durham County Poets)

Ball & Chain and the Wreckers perform tonight at Irene’s.

Ball & Chain and the Wreckers- Surrender

Surrender (Ball and Chain)

Sneezy Waters performs at on Wednesday, October 23 at Irene’s.  

Sneezy Waters- Bird of Paradise

A Letter Home (Sneezy Waters)

Rob Lutes performs Thursday, October 24 at the National Arts Centre Fourth Stage.

Rob Lutes- Hardest Thing of All

Walk in the Dark (Lucky Bear)

“Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story,” starring Ben Caplan, returns to the Babs Asper Theatre at the National Arts Centre from October 17-27.

Ben Caplan- You’ve Arrived

Old Stock (Rhyme and Reason)

The Small Glories- Sing

Assiniboine & the Red (Red House)

The Wild Reeds- Tom Traubert’s Blues

Come On Up to the House: Women Sing Waits (Dualtone)

Bill Jones- So, Here’s to You

Wonderful Fairy Tale (Brick Wall Music)

Aviva Chernick- A Ti, Espanya

La Serena (Aviva Chernick)

Perla Batalla- Cucurrucucu Paloma

Discoteca Batalla (Mechuda Music)

Alex Cuba- La Mujeres

Sublime (Caracol) 

Allison Lupton- Ontario Tune Set

Words of Love (Allison Lupton Music)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on November 9 during the CKCU Funding Drive.

Find me on Twitter. @MikeRegenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif