Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – October 13, 2026: Alice’s Restaurant and Other Songs I’ve Heard Arlo Guthrie Sing

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/595/77492.html

Theme: Alice’s Restaurant and Other Songs I’ve Heard Arlo Guthrie Sing.

Mike Regenstreif & Arlo Guthrie (1996)

Arlo Guthrie – who is now 79 years old – is the son of legendary folksinger and songwriter Woody Guthrie and Marjorie Mazia Guthrie, who was a Martha Graham dancer. His career as a recording artist began in 1967 with the release of the original recorded version of Alice’s Restaurant. That led to a long career as a concert artist and to his starring in a feature film version of Alice’s Restaurant. I first met Arlo in the 1970s when his Montreal concerts – often in tandem with Pete Seeger – were presented by my friend and mentor Sam Gesser. When Arlo returned to Montreal in 1996, I produced the concert. Arlo announced his retirement from touring in 2020 but still keeps in touch with friends and fans online. 

Arlo Guthrie- Darkest Hour

Amigo (Rising Son)

Kate Wolf- Highway in the Wind

Carry It On (Flat Rock)

Noel Paul Stookey- Gabriel’s Mother Highway Ballad No. 16 Blues

Paul and (Newworld)

Pete Seeger- Sailing Down My Golden River

Pete (Living Music)

Arlo Guthrie- Can’t Help Falling in Love

More Together Again in Concert (Rising Son)

Steve Goodman- City of New Orleans

No Big Surprise: The Steve Goodman Anthology (Red Pajamas)

Arlo Guthrie- Alice’s Restaurant 

Alice’s Restaurant – The Massacree Revisited (Rising Son)

Woody Guthrie- Hard Travelin’

Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection (Smithsonian Folkways)

Cole Quest & The City Pickers- Pastures of Plenty

Homegrown (Jalopy)

The David Amram Quintet- Ramblin’ Round

David Amram Honors Guthrie and Ochs: Old Souls (Guthrie Legacy)

The Klezmatics featuring Sofia Rei- Plane Wreck at Los Gatos (Deportee)

We Were Made for These Times (Shamus)

Arlo Guthrie- Mother’s Voice (I Hear You Sing Again)

Here Come the Kids (Rising Son)

Arlo Guthrie- Percy’s Song

Washington County (Rising Son)

Crowes Pasture- Hobo’s Lullaby

Crowes Pasture (Crowes Pasture)

Arlo Guthrie- My Peace

Here Come the Kids (Rising Son)

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – October 3, 2026

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/128/77380.html

Martin Simpson- October Song

Home Recordings (Topic)

Vikki Clayton- Who Knows Where the Time Goes

It Suits Me Well: The Songs of Sandy Denny (Castle)

Linda Ronstadt & The Stone Poneys- Driftin’

Evergreen, Vol. 2 (Capitol)

Tommy Makem & Liam Clancy- White Swans and Black/Grey October Clouds

Two for the Early Dew (Shanachie)

Laura Smith & Mike Regenstreif (2013)

Laura Smith- My Bonny

As Long As I’m Dreaming (Borealis)

Mike Regenstreif & Jesse Winchester (2006)

Jesse Winchester- Yankee Lady

Jesse Winchester (Stony Plain)

Karine Polwart & Dave Milligan- Talk to Me of Mendocino

Still As You’re Sleeping (Hudson)

Dave Clarke, Lucinda Chodan & Mike Regenstreif (2025)

Dave Clarke- October 

GuitarSongs (Crossties)

Satellite Birdhouse- October

Satellite Birdhouse (Satellite Birdhouse)

Buddy Miller featuring The War & Treaty- Lay Down the Burden of Your Heart

Buddy Miller (New West)

The Kennedys- Smoketree

Smoketree (The Kennedys)

Dida Pelled- Hesitation Blues

I Wish You Would (La Reserve)

Donna Herula- Wish I Could See You Again

Cold Feet (Donna Herula)

Mary Gauthier- Black Ice

Reckoning (Soundly Music/Thirty Tigers)

Doug McArthur- Lean into the Wind

Smoke & Whiskey (Doug McArthur)

AJ Lee & Blue Summit- Glendale Train

Cover to Cover (Signature Sounds)

Mike Regenstreif & Bruce Cockburn (2017)

Bruce Cockburn- Goin’ Down the Road

Rarities (True North)

Woody Guthrie with Cisco Houston & Sonny Terry- Going Down the Road Feeling Bad

This Land is Your Land: The Asch Recordings Vol. 1 (Smithsonian Folkways) 

Mike Regenstreif & Lisa Gutkin of The Klezmatics (2025)

The Klezmatics- I Wanna Ride

Wonder Wheel – Lyrics by Woody Guthrie: 20th Anniversary Edition (Shamus)

Carla Sciaky- Dear Mr. Bowers 

Heart of the Swan (Propinquity)

Shelley Posen & Mike Regenstreif on Zoom (2023)

Shelley Posen- Packed 

Mazel (Well Done Music)

Shari Ulrich & Mike Regenstreif (2019)

Shari Ulrich- The Sweater

Back to Shore (Borealis)

Mike Regenstreif & Missy Burgess (2014)

Missy Burgess- My Blue Sweater

Lemon Pie (Missy Burgess)

Kate Greenland- Bittersweetheart

Longing and Dreaming (Kate Greenland)

Margo Price- Rita Ballou

Old No. 1 Revisited (Truly Handmade)

Jade Bird- L.A. Freeway

Old No. 1 Revisited (Truly Handmade)

Guy Clark- Dublin Blues 

Dublin Blues: 30th Anniversary Edition (Compass)

Doc Watson- Columbus Stockade Blues

Memories (Sugar Hill)

Carla Gover & Friends featuring Jeri Katherine Howell- Plant a Seed, Write a Song

William Branch is Hard to Find (Joe Hill Music)

Allison Russell featuring Ruby Amanfu- Just Like Saturday

In the Hour of Chaos (Fantasy)

Mama's Broke- Failing

Reunion (Free Dirt)

Rising Appalachia- Sugar Blue

Trade My Troubles (Rising Appalachia)

Frank London & The Loisaida Fife and Drum Corps- My Babe

Touzle Your Kurchy (Adhyâropa)

Harrison Kennedy- Mountain Stomp

Old Fashion Plain (Electro-Fi)

Rhiannon Giddens- High on a Mountain

Hope is the Thing with Feathers (Nonesuch)

Jake Blount- Shady Grove

Single-Footed Horse (Jake Blount)

Mike Regenstreif & Anne Hills (2001)

Anne Hills- The Benevolence of Trees

The Benevolence of Trees (Hand & Heart Music)

Deborah Holland- Your Safe Haven

Unadorned (Deborah Holland)

Mike Regenstreif & Orit Shimoni (2025)

Dan Bern & Orit Shimoni- Pain

Birds (Dan Bern & Orit Shimoni)

Ian Tamblyn- The Road to Ramona

The Fragile Tangent (North Track)

NEeMA- Jealousy

Watching You Think (Neemaste/Sony)

Felicity Hamer & Black Leather Rose- Heavy Hitter

Felicity Hamer & Black Leather Rose (Felicity Hamer & Black Leather Rose)

Mike Regenstreif & Tom Russell (2012)

Tom Russell- October in the Railroad Earth

October in the Railroad Earth (Frontera)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on October 31. I also host Stranger Songs on CKCU every Tuesday from 3:30-5 pm.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – April 14, 2026: Conversation and Songs with David Eisenstadt; Ruination Day

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/595/74924.html

Themes: Part 1 – Conversation and Songs with David Eisenstadt; Part 2 – Ruination Day.

Part 1 – Conversation and Songs with David Eisenstadt

David Eisenstadt is author of Rock Musicians Under the Radar: 18 Notable Canadian Jewish Performers, the fifth in his series of Under the Radar books. https://undertheradarbook.com/

Robbie Robertson- Somewhere Down the Crazy River

Testimony (Universal)

The Lovin’ Spoonful- Blues in the Bottle

Do You Believe in Magic (Sony/Legacy)

Danny Marks- Heading Down to New Orleans

Cities in Blue (Danny Marks)

Marc Jordan- Waiting for the Sun to Rise

Waiting for the Sun to Rise (Linus)

Barenaked Ladies- If I Had $1,000,000

Gordon (Reprise/Sire)

Part 2 – Ruination Day

In her songs, “April the 14th (Part 1)” and “Ruination Day (Part 2),” Gillian Welch reminded us that the shooting of Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth in 1865, the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, and Black Sunday, the biggest dust storm of the Depression-era Dust Bowl in 1935, all occurred on April 14. 

Gillian Welch- April the 14th (Part 1)

Time (The Revelator) (Acony/Stony Plain)

Tony Rice- John Wilkes Booth

Night Flyer: The Singer-Songwriter Collection (Rounder)

Uncle Earl- Booth Shot Lincoln

She Waits for Night (Rounder)

Lead Belly- Abraham Lincoln

Bourgeois Blues: Lead Belly Legacy, Vol. 2 (Smithsonian Folkways)

Eric Bibb & JJ Milteau- Titanic

Lead Belly’s Gold (Stony Plain)

Pete Seeger- Titanic (When That Great Ship Went Down)

Headlines & Footnotes: A Collection of Topical Songs (Smithsonian Folkways)

Mance Lipscomb- God Moves on the Water

Newport Folk Festival – Best of the Blues 1959-68 (Vanguard)

David Olney- Titanic

Eye of the Storm (Philo)

Woody Guthrie- The Great Dust Storm (Dust Storm Disaster)

Dust Bowl Ballads (Rounder)

Crowes Pasture- Going Down the Road Feeling Bad

Crowes Pasture (Crowes Pasture)

Woody Guthrie- Dust Bowl Refugee

Dust Bowl Ballads (Rounder)

Jimmy LaFave- My Oklahoma Home (It Blowed Away)

Peace Town (Music Road)

James Talley- So Long It’s Been Good to Know You

Woody Guthrie and Songs of My Oklahoma Home (Cimarron)

Gillian Welch- Ruination Day (Part 2)

Time (The Revelator) (Acony/Stony Plain)

Next week: Swingtime in Springtime.

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – February 21, 2026

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/128/74216.html

Mike Regenstreif & David Francey (2019)

David Francey- February Morning Drive

Maps (Laker Music)

Judy Collins & Mike Regenstreif (2014)

Judy Collins- Winter Sky

Live at The Town Hall, NYC (Cleopatra)

York Street Thought Process- Winter Walk Part I

Colder (York Street Thought Process)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle & Mike Regenstreif (1976) photo: Felicity Fanjoy

Kate & Anna McGarrigle & Martha Wainwright- Winter Lady

Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man (Verve Forecast)

Jodi Jean & Aylon- Winterlude

Bobfest (Jodi Jean & Aylon)

Sean Gagnier- Winter in the Mountains

Circle Harbor (Sean Gagnier)

Honey Novick- Steam, Steam, Steam

Rising Towards the Seraphim (Honey Novick)

York Street Thought Process- Winter Walk Part II

Colder (York Street Thought Process)

Terry Tufts- With a Little Help from My Friends

Two Nights Solo (Borealis)

Don Bray- Brother Song

I Bless the Wounds (Don Bray)

Pat Moore- When I Love You

The Time’s Never Been Better (Pat Moore)

Al Wood- Treena Ballerina

Mood Swingin’ Blues (Al Wood)

Lynne Hanson- Every Minute In Between

Just Words (Lynne Hanson)

Norman Doucette- Out on the Street

Dangerous Ground (Norman Doucette)

Mary Gick- Waltz for the Trees

Six Tunes and a Song (Mary Gick)

Jamie Anderson- Guitar on the Wall

The Curves are Still There (Tsunami)

Greg Kelly- I Only See the Sun

Ghosts (Greg Kelly)

Jamie Anderson- Last Tuscon Sunrise

The Curves are Still There (Tsunami)

Mike Regenstreif & Rick Fines (2011)

Rick Fines- That’s What Makes You Strong

Solar Powered Too (Rick Fines)

Jimmy Buffett- Gentleman of Leisure

Quiet About It: A Tribute to Jesse Winchester (Mailboat)

Michael Martin Murphey- Freewheeler

Cowboy Songs Four (Valley Entertainment)

Jesse Winchester & Mike Regenstreif (2000)

 
Jesse Winchester- Sweet Loving Daddy

Gentleman of Leisure (Sugar Hill)

Brenda Lewis- I Wave Bye-Bye

Far & Near (Brenda Lewis)

Over the Moon- Lonesome Bluebird

Chinook Waltz (Borealis)

Amy Speace- In This Home

The Blue Rock Session (Windbone)

NEeMA- Stay

Watching You Think (Neemaste/Sony)

Madeleine Peyroux- (Looking for) The Heart of Saturday Night

Half the Perfect World (Rounder)

Eric Kilburn- Antopol 1903

American Prayer (Wellspring)

Roger Davidson & The Frank London Klezmer Orchestra- Villages of Old

Villages of Old (Soundbrush)

Paul Kaplan- I Had an Old Coat

King of Hearts (Old Coat Music)

Emily Scott Robinson- Appalachia

Appalachia (Oh Boy)

Julian Taylor- Under Circumstances Like These

Anthology Vol. 2 (Howling Turtle)

Center of the River- Camp Meeting

Americana Art Music from the Mississippi (CotR)

Tom Russell & Mike Regenstreif (2018)

Tom Russell- Mount Olive

Mount Olive (Frontera)

Eva Cassidy- Route 66

Walkin’ After Midnight (Blix Street)

Mike Regenstreif & Jimmy LaFave (2017)

Jimmy LaFave- Rt. 66 One More Time

Highway Angels…Full Moon Rain (Night Tribe Music)

Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer- Highway 80 (She’s a Mighty Good Road)

Drum Hat Buddha (Signature Sounds)

Hank Snow- I’ve Been Everywhere

I’ve Been Everywhere (RCA)

Woody Guthrie- Biggest Thing That Man Has Ever Done

Woody At Home – Vol 1 + 2 (Shamus)

Cole Quest & The City Pickers- Pastures of Plenty

Homegrown (Jalopy)

Mike Regenstreif & David Amram (2017)

The David Amram Quintet- Ramblin’ Round

David Amram Honors Guthrie and Ochs: Old Souls (Guthrie Legacy)

Sons of the Never Wrong- Stand Up, Shout Out

Feather and Starry Crown (Sons 3)

Gina Forsyth of The Malvinas & Mike Regenstreif (2014)

The Malvinas- How Can I Keep from Singing

God Bless the Grass (Soona Songs)

Tom Chapin- Sing for Peace

Songs of Hope (Sundance Music)

Tehrani Drom & Parisa Karimi Molan- Sizeh Salam Getirmishem

Unveiled (Lulaworld)

Suzanne Nuttall- Losing Has Never Felt So Sweet

Live Without a Net (Suzanne Nuttall)

Debi Smith- Nebraska Moon

Flight of the Robin (Degan Music)

Mike Regenstreif & Tom Paxton (2009)

Tom Paxton & John McCutcheon- Artie’s Last Stand

Together Again (Appalsongs)

Jesse Appelman- Freight Train

Where We Go (Jesse Appelman)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on March 21. I also host Stranger Songs on CKCU every Tuesday from 3:30-5 pm.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – December 30, 2025: My top 10 folk-rooted and folk-branched albums of 2025

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/595/73491.html

Theme: My top 10 folk-rooted and folk-branched albums of 2025.

These are always hard choices. I started with a list of about 30 of my favorite albums for the year. I’ve been over the list several times in the past couple of weeks and came up with several similar – but not identical – Top 10 lists. This 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.

The annotated and illustrated version of this top 10 list is available on the Folk Roots/Folk Branches blog at … https://frfb.blogspot.com/2025/12/top-10-for-2025.html

10. Suzy Sings Siebel Volume One by Suzy Thompson

Suzy Thompson- Bride 1945

Suzy Sings Siebel Volume One (Suzy Thompson)

Suzy Thompson- Long Afternoons

Suzy Sings Siebel Volume One (Suzy Thompson)

9. Personal History by Mary Chapin Carpenter

Mary Chapin Carpenter- Girl and Her Dog

Personal History (Lambent Light/Thirty Tigers) 

Mary Chapin Carpenter- New Religion

Personal History (Lambent Light/Thirty Tigers) 

8. Field of Stars by John McCutcheon

John McCutcheon- Tikkun Olam

Field of Stars (Appalsongs)

John McCutcheon with Windborne- Blessing

Field of Stars (Appalsongs)

7. Woody At Home – Vol 1 + 2 by Woody Guthrie

Woody Guthrie- This Land is Your Land

Woody At Home – Vol 1 + 2 (Shamus)

Woody Guthrie- Peace Call

Woody At Home – Vol 1 + 2 (Shamus)

6. Hardscrabble Hope by Maria Dunn

Maria Dunn- Another Year

Hardscrabble Hope (Distant Whisper Music)

Maria Dunn- Leave It All On the Ice

Hardscrabble Hope (Distant Whisper Music)

5. unentitled by John Gorka

John Gorka- First Snow on the Mountains

unentitled (Red House)

John Gorka- Particle Wave (Goodness in the World)

unentitled (Red House)

4. Every Town: More Songs by Michael Smith by Anne Hills

Anne Hills- Crazy Mary

Every Town: More Songs by Michael Smith (Hand & Heart Music)

Anne Hills- Sure Has Grown

Every Town: More Songs by Michael Smith (Hand & Heart Music)

3. Bones of Trees by Tim Grimm

Tim Grimm- Broken Truth

Bones of Trees (Vault)

Tim Grimm- Up in the Attic

Bones of Trees (Vault)

2. Dark Ages by Eliza Gilkyson

Eliza Gilkyson- Times Like These 

Dark Ages (Realiza) 

Eliza Gilkyson- Holy

Dark Ages (Realiza)

1. David Amram Honors Guthrie and Ochs: Old Souls by The David Amram Quintet

The David Amram Quintet- Talking Subway

David Amram Honors Guthrie and Ochs: Old Souls (Guthrie Legacy)

The David Amram Quintet- When I’m Gone

David Amram Honors Guthrie and Ochs: Old Souls (Guthrie Legacy)

Next week: Remembering Raul Malo, Tim Williams, Joe Ely and Steve Cropper.

--Mike Regenstreif

Top 10 for 2025

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 over the past year and 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. 

1. The David Amram Quintet – David Amram Honors Guthrie and Ochs: Old Souls (Guthrie Legacy). There is no other musician quite like David Amram. Over the course of more than 50 years, I have seen David play at folk festivals and clubs and at jazz festivals and clubs. I have also seen him in tails conducting symphony and chamber orchestras as they perform his classical compositions in concert halls. On this set of five Woody Guthrie songs, and one by Phil Ochs, David offers innovative, jazzy arrangements of familiar lyrics that make them sound new and fresh. At age 95 – OK, he was only 94 when he recorded the album – David has lost none of the magic I’ve seen from him over the years. 

2. Eliza Gilkyson – Dark Ages (Realiza). On many of the songs on this this sometimes subtle, sometimes direct, collection of mostly topical songs, Eliza Gilkyson insightfully explores the darkness wrought by the forces that have taken control of her country and beyond, and offers hope and inspiration that we will find our way past these times. 

3. Tim Grimm – Bones of Trees (Vault). As both a folk-rooted songwriter and interpreter of other songs, Tim Grimm has taken his place as one of our finest artists over the past 25 years. Tim once did a whole album of Tom Paxton songs and Tom’s influence can be heard in such great topical songs as “Broken Truth” and “Woody’s Landlord Revisited,” an updated version of a song Tim first released in 2016, as well as more haunting songs like “Up in the Attic.” 

4. Anne Hills – Every Town: More Songs by Michael Smith (Hand & Heart Music). If “The Dutchman” had been the only song that Michael Smith (1941-2020) ever wrote, he’d still have to be on any list of great songwriters. But Michael wrote so many more great songs. Anne Hills has long been one of Michael’s finest interpreters. October Child, her first album of Michael Smith songs, came out in 1993 and Paradise Lost & Found, an album of their duets, came out in 1995. While every one of these songs is a gem, highlights include “Ballad of Elizabeth Dark,” “Crazy Mary” and a gorgeous duet with John Gorka on “Spoon River.” 

5. John Gorka – unentitled (Red House). John Gorka has an excellent body of work recorded over the past four decades and this collection of wise and perceptive songs might just be his best yet. Among my favorites are “Particle Wave (Goodness in the World,” a beautiful song about finding hope in these dark times, “First Snow on the Mountains,” a reflection on early winter and late-in-life love, and an exquisite interpretation of Stan Rogers’ “Harris and the Mare.” 

6. Maria Dunn – Hardscrabble Hope (Distant Whisper Music). As I’ve said before, Maria Dunn’s inspiring original songs, deeply rooted in folk and Celtic music traditions, capture the good in the human spirit and the essence of communal common cause. Maria captures that spirit and essence beautifully in songs like “Walking the Miles” and “Another Year.” And in songs like “Coal is a Thirsty Business,” she sings insightfully about the consequences of greedy endeavours on our planet. 

7. Woody Guthrie – Woody at Home – Vol 1 + 2 (Shamus). This collection of home recordings made in 1951 and ’52 by Woody Guthrie is a fascinating look at Woody’s songwriting process and includes some familiar material and some songs being heard for the first time. Some songs – like a version of “This Land is Your Land” with verses that are quite different from the ones he wrote more than 10 years earlier – are both familiar and new. Another is “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)” with Woody’s own tune which is different from the melody composed years later by Martin Hoffman. Among the unfamiliar songs is “Back Door Bum and the Big Landlord,” which I’m sure must have been inspired by the landlord Tim Grimm referred to in “Woody’s Landlord Revisited,” and the very clever “My Id and My Ego.” 

8. John McCutcheon – Field of Stars (Appalsongs). John McCutcheon offers yet another superb collection of insightful, often-poignant that have much to say about the state of the world and human relations. While I like the whole album, a couple speak very directly to me. “MS St. Louis” is about the shipload of more than 900 Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany who were refused entry by Cuba, the United States and Canada. Ultimately, many of them were murdered in the Holocaust, while “Tikkun Olam” is inspired by the Jewish concept of repairing the world. Other highlights include “Field of Stars,” co-written and sung with Carrie Newcomer, and “Too Old to Die Young,” a song for those of us among John’s generation who are at that age. 

9. Mary Chapin Carpenter – Personal History (Lambent Light/Thirty Tigers). As the title implies, this is perhaps the most personal album in Mary Chapin Carpenter’s career. Highlights include “Girl and Her Dog,” a reflection on life, love and contentment, “The Night We Never Met,” which captures feelings most of us have had at one time or another, and “Paint + Turpentine,” which recalls being inspired by Guy Clark. 

10. Suzy Thompson – Suzy Sings Siebel, Volume 1 (Suzy Thompson). Paul Siebel (1937-2022) was a brilliant singer-songwriter who recorded just two albums in the early-1970s. His first album, Woodsmoke and Oranges remains one of my all-time favorite LPs. On this collection, Suzy Thompson, who has long been known for mostly playing traditional music, offers 10 of Paul’s songs, including seven from Woodsmoke and Oranges, two from Jack-Knife Gypsy, and one that Paul himself never recorded. I think Paul would have been pleased with Suzy’s fine interpretations. I’ll mention that some of my favorite Siebel songs – including “My Town,” Then Came the Children” and “Legend of the Captain’s Daughter” – are not in this set. So I’m looking forward to Volume 2. 

I will be featuring songs from each of these albums on Stranger Songs, Tuesday December 30, 3:30-5 pm (ET), on CKCU. The program is now available 24/7 for on-demand streaming at this link. 

–Mike Regenstreif