Canadian Spaces – CKCU – Saturday November 25, 2017

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

This particular show is now available for on-demand listening. https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/129/35097.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: Terry Tufts & Kathryn Briggs (Algonquin Ensemble); Shawna Caspi; Susan McMaster; Campbell Woods.

The Wailin' Jennys- Light of a Clear Blue Morning

Fifteen (True North)

Orit Shimoni- Etz Harimon

Songs for My Father (Orit Shimoni)

Bruce Cockburn- Twelve Gates to the City

Bone On Bone (True North)

Kim Beggs- See That My Grave is Kept Clean

Said Little Sparrow (Out of a Paper Bag Productions)

Chaim Tannenbaum- Mama’s Angel Child

Chaim Tannenbaum (StorySound)

Tom Russell- These Friends of Mine

Play One More: The Songs of Ian & Sylvia (True North)

Kat Goldman- Baby, I Understand

The Workingman’s Blues (Kat Goldman)

Kevin Head- Digby Lament

Hear Them Callin’ (Kevin Head)

Over the Moon- Alberta Moon

Moondancer (Over the Moon)

Julian Fauth- John Henry

The Weak and the Wicked, the Hard and the Strong (Electro-Fi)

Beyond the Pale- Ruckus in Ralja

Ruckus (Borealis)

Algonquin Ensemble- Overture – Birchwood Board

Sonic Palette (Algonquin Ensemble)

Terry Tufts- Northern River

Live in the studio

Shawna Caspi- Love in a Moving Van

Forest Fire (Shawna Caspi)

Shawna Caspi- Numbers Hame

Live in the studio

Susan McMaster- Diagnosis

Gift to be Simple: Crossing Arcs – Alzheimer’s, my mother, and me (Soundcloud)

Susan McMaster- Freeze

Live in the studio

Campbell Woods- She’s a Keeper

Live in the studio

Shawna Caspi w/Campbell Woods- Tennessee Waltz

Live in the studio

Campbell Woods- Blood is Thicker Than Water

Live in the studio

My next show on CKCU is December 9 when I’ll be hosting the Saturday Morning program from 7 until 10 am.

Find me on Twitter. @MikeRegenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Ottawa Folklore Centre benefit concert – July 31

For almost four decades, the Ottawa Folklore Centre, a modest folk-rooted and folk-branched music, musical instrument, and music instruction emporium run by Arthur McGregor has been at the heart and soul of Ottawa’s folk music scene.

The past year, though, as Arthur explained to Ottawa Citizen music critic Lynn Saxberg, has been tough and the Folklore Centre, which has helped so many professional and amateur musicians over the years needs some help.

So Borealis Records, the Canadian folk music record label, has organized a benefit concert for Thursday, July 31, 7:30 pm, featuring some of the finest folk artists in the area: Lynn Miles, Sneezy Waters, James Keelaghan, Terry Tufts & Kathryn Briggs, and Finest Kind with James Stephens.

Originally scheduled to take place at the Sunnyside Wesleyan Church, Folks for the Folklore Centre has been moved to the larger Southminster United Church just down Bank Street from the Folklore Centre at the corner of Aylmer.

It promises to be one of the great folk music events of the year in Ottawa.

Arthur McGregor performing at the 2013 Ottawa Folk Festival.

Tickets are $25 and are available in person at the Folklore Centre (1111 Bank Street), by phone at 613-730-2887 or online at this link.

I wish I could be there but I’ll be out of town that night. So I’m going to show my support by buying a couple of virtual tickets at this link.

Supporting the Ottawa Folklore Centre is a most worthy cause for folk music lovers.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Steel Rail rides again; Bill Garrett & Sue Lothrop

Steel Rail concerts have been too few and too far between in the years since guitarist and songwriter Dave Clarke left Montreal for the milder climes of Victoria, BC. Soon, though, Dave will be back in Steel Rail action with bass player and singer Ellen Shizgal and singer-guitarist Todd Gorr for concerts in Lennoxville and Montreal. They’re promising some new songs and lots of the old favourites in their patented folk-meets-bluegrass style.

The concerts are both double bills with the most excellent duo of Bill Garrett & Sue Lothrop.

The Lennoxville concert is Friday November  26, 8:00 pm, at the Church Street Cafe, 6 Church Street in Lennoxville. Call 819-875-5696.

The Montreal concert, part of the Wintergreen Concert Series, is Saturday November 27, 8:00 pm, at Club Lambi, 4465 St. Laurent in Montreal. Call 514-524-9225.

Here are my Montreal Gazette reviews of the most recent CDs by Steel Rail and Bill Garrett & Sue Lothrop.

STEEL RAIL
River Song
Crossties

This third album by Steel Rail, rooted almost equally in country, bluegrass and folk music, is their best effort yet. The trio’s ensemble sound features vocalist and rhythm guitarist Tod Gorr, who has one of the most naturally country voices this side of George Jones, lead guitarist Dave Clarke, one of the most fluid acoustic pickers in the country, and bassist Ellen Shizgal, who provides the band’s heartbeat, some gorgeous harmonies and two lead vocals. Steel Rail’s secret weapon, though, is the fine craftsmanship of their songwriting. Songs of love and loss mix with pieces that nostalgically recall Belmont Park or that conjure images of the sailor’s church in Old Montreal, the Quebec countryside, beautiful prairie skies and the tough streets of downtown Winnipeg. ****

BILL GARRETT & SUE LOTHROP
Red Shoes
Borealis

On their duo debut, veteran Montreal singer-guitarists Bill Garrett and Sue Lothrop have crafted a fine blend of country, Cajun and folk-rooted material. One of the most affecting songs is the beautiful title track written about Lothrop’s mother at the end of her life. Another is "That’s How the Summer Slips Away," a poetic and wistful piece written by Lucinda Chodan and Dave Clarke. Two topical songs, Shelley Posen’s "No More Fish," and Terry Tufts’s "Never No More," provide moving commentary on contemporary issues, while "Leaving Louisiana," Rodney Crowell’s Cajun stomper, is the album’s most exciting tune. Garrett and Lothrop share the lead and harmony vocals and are well served by a supporting cast that includes Clarke and Tufts, fiddler Don Reed and clarinetist Vern Dorge. ****

--Mike Regenstreif