Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – June 30, 2026: A Tribute to Rosalie Sorrels

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/595/76033.html

Theme: A Tribute to Rosalie Sorrels (1933-2017).

Rosalie Sorrels & Mike Regenstreif (1993)

Rosalie Sorrels, who died in 2017 at age 83, was a great, highly influential and legendary singer, songwriter and storyteller.

I was still a teenager when I met Rosalie for the first time when she played a four- or five-night stand at the Back Door Coffee House in Montreal, sometime around 1970. It was while she was in Montreal for that gig that Rosalie wrote “Travelin’ Lady,” which quickly became her signature song. Rosalie became a great friend and I worked with her often presenting her in concerts in Montreal and at The Golem, the folk club I ran in the ‘70s and ‘80s. In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, I ran a small booking agency for about five years and Rosalie was one of my clients.

The show includes some of Rosalie’s recordings and versions of songs from her repertoire – some of which she wrote and some of which she made her own – as performed by many other artists; as well as a couple of songs written in tribute to her.

Rosalie Sorrels- Travelin’ Lady

Travelin’ Lady (Sire)

Penny Lang- If I Could be the Rain

Stone + Sand + Sea + Sky (Borealis)

John Gorka- I Think of You

So Dark You See (Red House)

Bonnie Koloc- Up is a Nice Place to Be

Wild and Recluse (Epic)

Peter Rowan- Go with Me

Tribute to the Travelin’ Lady Rosalie Sorrels (Tribute to Rosalie Sorrels)

Rosalie Sorrels- One More Next Time

If I Could Be the Rain (Folk-Legacy)

Nanci Griffith- Ford Econoline

Tribute to the Travelin’ Lady Rosalie Sorrels (Tribute to Rosalie Sorrels)

Rosalie Sorrels- Then Came the Children

Then Came the Children (Green Linnet)

Utah Phillips- The Telling Takes Me Home

The Telling Takes Me Home (Philo)

Finest Kind- The Goodnight-Loving Trail

Lost in a Song (Fallen Angle)

The Short Sisters- Rock Salt and Nails

Love and Transportation (Black Socks Press)

Rosalie Sorrels- Rock Me to Sleep

Travelin’ Lady (Sire)

Robin & Linda Williams- Borderline Heart

Tribute to the Travelin’ Lady Rosalie Sorrels (Tribute to Rosalie Sorrels)

Terry Garthwaite- Apple of My Eye

Tribute to the Travelin’ Lady Rosalie Sorrels (Tribute to Rosalie Sorrels)

Rosalie Sorrels- Hitchhiker in the Rain

Borderline Heart (Green Linnet)

As I was preparing this show, I got the sad news that Jane Voss died on June 20 at age 78. So, I’ll be remembering Jane on Part 1 of next week’s edition of Stranger Songs.

Jane Voss & Hoyle Osborne- Postcard from India (Keep On Rockin’)

Sparkle and Shine (Front Hall)

Tom Russell- Pork Roast and Poetry

Tribute to the Travelin’ Lady Rosalie Sorrels (Tribute to Rosalie Sorrels)

Rosalie Sorrels- The Caterpillar and the Butterfly 

Always a Lady (Green Linnet)

Penny Lang- My Last Go Round

Stone + Sand + Sea + Sky (Borealis)

Rosalie Sorrels- Rosalie, You Can’t Go Home Again

Travelin’ Lady (Sire)

Next week: Part 1 – Remembering Jane Voss (1948-2026); Part 2 – Remembering David Clayton-Thomas (1941-2026).

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – September 17, 2024: Hank Williams 101

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/595/66859.html

Theme: Hank Williams 101.

The theme on this edition of Stranger Songs is Hank Williams 101 as the air date for this show –  September 17, 2024 – is the 101st anniversary of the birth of Hank Williams. Hank was just 29 years old when he died on January 1, 1953, but his contributions to the history of music are immense. Most of the songs on this show were written by Hank Williams or are from his repertoire – the rest were inspired by him.

Hank Williams- Move It On Over

40 Greatest Hits (Polydor)

Ball & Chain- I Just Don’t Like This Kind of Livin’

Trouble All the Time (Ball & Chain)

Robert Jones & Matt Watroba- Mind Your Own Business

Common Chords (Common Chords)

Hank Williams- Lost Highway

40 Greatest Hits (Polydor)

Kevin Head- Thanks Hank

Live (Kevin Head Music)

Norah Jones- Cold, Cold Heart

Come Away with Me (Blue Note)

Leon Redbone- Long Gone Lonesome Blues

No Regrets (Sugar Hill)

Martha Seyler & Robert Resnik- Your Cheatin’ Heart

Martha Sings & Robert Plays (Martha Seyler & Robert Resnik)

Hank Williams- Moanin’ the Blues

40 Greatest Hits (Polydor)

John Gorka- Hank Senior Moment

The Company You Keep (Red House)

The Lonesome Ace Stringband- The Log Train

The Log Train – single (The Lonesome Ace Stringband)

The Wailin' Jennys- Weary Blues from Waiting

Fifteen (True North)

Jim Byrnes- Honky Tonk Blues

I Hear the Wind in the Wires (Black Hen Music)

Mose Allison- Hey, Good Lookin’

V-8 Ford Blues (Epic/Legacy)

Hank Williams- Settin’ the Woods on Fire

40 Greatest Hits (Polydor)

Tom Russell- Hank and Audrey

Museum of Memories 1972-2002 (Dark Angel)

Sneezy Waters- Lovesick Blues

Sneezy Waters Sings Hank Williams (Borealis)

Steve Young- Ramblin’ Man

Stars in the Southern Sky (Omnivore)

Jim Rooney & Rooney's Irregulars- House of Gold

My Own Ignorant Way (JRP)

Hank Williams- I Saw the Light

40 Greatest Hits (Polydor)

Lou Dominguez- Hank Songs at the Luna Star

Hanging at the Luna Star (Lou Dominguez)

Hans Theessink- I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry

Songs from the Southland (Blue Groove)

Saul Broudy- Alone and Forsaken

Travels with Broudy (Saul Broudy)

Linda Ronstadt- I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still in Love with You)

Heart Like a Wheel (Capitol)

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band & The Del McCoury Band- Jambalaya

American Legacies (McCoury)

Hank Williams- My Bucket’s Got a Hole In It

40 Greatest Hits (Polydor)

Robin & Linda Williams- Rolling and Rambling (The Death of Hank Williams)

Devil of a Dream (Sugar Hill)

Johnny Cash & Waylon Jennings- The Night Hank Williams Came to Town

Johnny Cash is Coming to Town (Mercury)

Next week: Leonard Cohen at 90.

--Mike Regenstreif 

Various Artists – Tribute to the Travelin’ Lady Rosalie Sorrels

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Tribute to the Travelin’ Lady Rosalie Sorrels

rosaliesorrelstribute.com

I was honored to enjoy a long friendship with the late and great folksinger and songwriter Rosalie Sorrels (1933-2017). I was still in high school, circa 1970, when I first encountered her at the Back Door, a Montreal coffeehouse that existed from 1969 to 1971. It was during that Back Door gig that Rosalie wrote “Travelin’ Lady,” her signature song.

By 1972, as a college student in Montreal, I began producing folk concerts in Montreal and my first concert with Rosalie was a double bill with Utah Phillips in 1973. There would be many more concerts with Rosalie in Montreal, and in the late-‘70s and early-‘80s, when I ran a small booking agency for a select roster of folk music artists, Rosalie was one of my clients.

As I noted in an essay in June when she passed away, “Rosalie taught me much about the endurance of the human spirit and that adversities and personal tragedies can be the basis for cathartic art. And she taught me how to recognize greatness in songs.”

And, as Eliza Gilkyson writes in the notes to her track on Tribute to the Travelin’ Lady Rosalie Sorrels, “Any folksinger of my generation must claim Rosalie Sorrels as a foundational influence.”

Tribute to the Travelin’ Lady Rosalie Sorrels is a 4-CD set encompassing 44 songs by almost as many artists. About half the songs are performed by artists I know – including several old friends – and about half are by artists from Rosalie’s home state of Idaho who fell under her spell. At least two years in the making, most of the songs were written by Rosalie. A few others were songs from her vast repertoire, two were written in tribute to her, and a couple are original songs by the late Guy Clark and the late Jimmy LaFave that I can easily imagine hearing Rosalie do.

The album begins with Tom Russell’s “Pork Roast and Poetry,” an original by Tom in which he describes an evening spent visiting with Rosalie at the cabin her father built in Idaho at Grimes Creek. Having spent more than a few evenings in decades long past visiting with Rosalie and sampling her cooking, I can attest to the absolute authenticity of the song.

There are so many great performances on these four CDs that I can barely begin calling attention to all of them. But some of the songs that touched me deepest include Robin and Linda Williams’ rendition of “Borderline Heart,” the title track of one of my favorites of Rosalie’s albums; Eliza Gilkyson’s interpretation of “Travelin’ Lady,” Rosalie signature song written the same week I first met her and the title track from two great albums; Terry Garthwaite’s version of “Apple of My Eye,” a poignant song written for Rosalie’s daughter Shelley (and hearing Terry sing it brought back fond memories of the concert I produced with Rosalie, Terry and Bobbie Louise Hawkins); Laurie Lewis’ version of “Last Go Round”; Peter Rowan’s version of “Go With Me,” a lovely song from If I Could Be the Rain, the first LP of Rosalie’s I ever heard in the late-‘60s; Barbara Higbie’s interpretation of “Hitchhiker in the Rain,” Rosalie’s heartbreaking remembrance of her late son David; John Gorka’s take on “Song for My Birthday,” a song about Rosalie independent spirit; and Jane Voss and Hoyle Osborne’s performance of “Delia Rose,” a song written for a young child.

Rosalie Sorrels & Mike Regenstreif (1993)

And that’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. There are so many more great songs and wonderful performances – including some which take the songs in different directions from Rosalie’s original versions.

Kudos are particularly due to Idaho singer Rocci Johnson for spearheading this wonderful project (and for her rocking version of “Occasional Man”).

And the four CDs and booklet come in a beautifully designed boxed set inspired by Rosalie’s legendary scrapbook, and filled with photos from it.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Various Artists – Dear Jean: Artists Celebrate Jean Ritchie

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Dear Jean: Artists Celebrate Jean Ritchie
Compass Records 
compassrecords.com

Jean Ritchie, now 91 years old, was born in 1922 to a rural Kentucky family with a rich legacy of singing and preserving the traditional ballads that originated centuries ago in the British Isles and were handed down from generation to generation in the Appalachian Mountains.

Jean arrived in New York City in the 1940s as a social worker but quickly became an important part of a folk scene that included such contemporaries as Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Pete Seeger, Alan Lomax and Oscar Brand.

In a career that remained vital until she suffered a stroke in 2009, Jean's contributions were highly significant on a number of levels. She was, of course, a source singer for the many traditional ballads in the Ritchie Family tradition – many of which became standards of the folk revival. She was a folksong collector of note in both the southern United States, and in the British Isles. She was responsible for popularizing the Appalachian dulcimer during the folk revival. She was a compelling singer and she was one of the greatest and most authentic of traditionally-steeped songwriters.

On the two CDs of Dear Jean: Artists Celebrate Jean Ritchie, a remarkable group of artists – some very famous, some relatively unknown – pay tribute to Jean’s legacy with loving, joyous performances of 37 songs, many of them Jean’s own songs, others traditional folksongs from her repertoire.

While every one of these tracks is more than worthy of praise, I’ll call attention to just a few of my favorites. Among Jean’s own songs that list would have to include the version of the environmental song “Black Waters” that features John McCutcheon, Tim O’Brien and Suzy Bogguss trading verses; “The L&N Don’t Stop Here Anymore” by Robin & Linda Williams; an almost chamber-folk interpretation of “Morning’s Come, Maria’s  Gone” by Janis Ian; a chilling a cappella rendition of “West Virginia Mine Disaster” by Susie Glaze; a lovely, piano-based version of “One I Love” by Judy Collins; a joyous interpretation of “Roll On Clouds in the Morning” by Kim & Reggie Harris; and a sweet “My Dear Companion” by Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer.

Among the traditional songs, I particularly like the versions of “Pretty Betty Martin” by Kathy Reid-Naiman; “Shady Grove” by Sparky & Rhonda Rucker; “Jubilee” by Kathy Mattea; “Fair Nottamun Town,” sung in two-part a cappella harmony by Elizabeth LaPrelle with Sandy Newlin LaPrelle; the driving, old-time rendition of “Jemmy Taylor-O” by Big Medicine and "Hangman," sung conversationally by Ralston Bowles & May Erlewine-Bernard.

The album ends with Jean herself and live recording of “The Peace Round” recorded in 1992 with overdubbed harmony vocals by many of the artists who contributed to this collection.

Congratulations to Mick Lane, Charlie Pilzer and Dan Schatz who, quite obviously, co-produced Dear Jean: Artists Celebrate Jean Ritchie with much love.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Canadian Spaces – CKCU – Saturday October 19, 2013

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

This week’s show was co-hosted by Mike Regenstreif and Pat Moore.

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. Today was my fourth time in the co-host’s chair and Pat Moore was sitting in for Chris White.

Guests: Paul Langille w/Paul Sims; Kevin Head

Bruce Murdoch- I Keep You in My Heart

Matters of the Heart (Bruce Murdoch)

Corin Raymond & the Sundowners- Time to Leave

Paper Nickels (Local Rascal)

Norah Jones w/Martha Wainwright & Rufus Wainwright- (Talk to Me of) Mendocino

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

Chris Rawlings- The Wild Goose

Autumn Gold (Chris Rawlings)

Dave Clarke- October

GuitarSongs (Crossties)

Robin & Linda Williams- Urge for Going

Back 40 (Red House)

Rick Fines- Goin’ Down the Road

Arcadia (Rick Fines)

The Boxcar Boys- Freight Train

Rye Whiskey (Fedora Upside Down)

Fafard & Schwartz- Solid Gone

Borrowed Horses (Joël Fafard & Joel Schwartz)

Ana Miura- Stone Solid Blue

Dancing Alone: Songs of William Hawkins (True North)

James Keelaghan- My Skies

History: The First 25 Years (Borealis)

Laura Smith- John Keane’s Boys

Everything is Moving (Borealis)

Finest Kind- Bully in the Alley

For Honour & For Gain (Fallen Angle)

Cooper Brothers- Love’s Been a Stranger

Southbound (Gunshy)

The next three songs punctuated Pat’s conversation with Paul Langille and Paul Sims.

Paul Langille- The Other One

Pine and Locke (Paul Langille)

Paul Langille w/Paul Sims- Road to Memphis

Live at CKCU

Paul Langille w/Paul Sims- Broken

Live at CKCU

The next four songs punctuated my conversation with Kevin Head.

Kevin Head & Mike Regenstreif (Photo: Vanessa Burnett)

Kevin Head- (Was That) Your Heart or Mine

Kevin Head Live (Kevin Head)

Kevin Head- Thanks Hank

Live at CKCU

Kevin Head- The Arrow

Live at CKCU

Kevin Head- Hands of Time

Live at CKCU

The show is now available for online listening. cod.ckcufm.com/programs/129/14032.html

I’ll be co-hosting Canadian Spaces again on January 25.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif