Canadian Spaces – CKCU – Saturday March 5, 2016

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

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: Judy Collins; Alex Cuba; Sneezy Waters

Judy Collins- Pack Up Your Sorrows

Fifth Album (Elektra)

Allison Lupton- Wooden Ships

Half My Heart (Allison Lupton)

David Francey- False Knight

Empty Train (Laker Music)

Moira Smiley, Tim O'Brien, Margaret Glaspy, Mollie O'Brien, John Magnie, Martin Gilmore, Jayme Stone- The Devil’s Nine Questions

Jayme Stone’s Lomax Project (Borealis)

Mr. Rick- One Kind Favour

Mr. Rick Sings About God + Booze (Mr. Rick)

Sussex- Hollow Log

Parade Day (Lucky Bear)

Corin Raymond- Two Miles of Train

Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams (Local Rascal)

Bentall, Taylor, Ulrich- Disappearing

Tightrope Walk (Borealis)

Rosalie Sorrels- Travelin’ Lady

Travelin’ Lady (Sire)

Jesse Winchester- Yankee Lady

Seems Like Only Yesterday: Live in Montreal 1976 (Real Gone Music)

Brenda Lewis- I Wave Bye-Bye

Far & Near (Brenda Lewis)

The Lucky Sisters- One More Day

So Lucky (Patio)

Riverbend- Out There

Making Waves (Riverbend)

Judy Collins & Mike Regenstreif (2014)

Judy Collins & Jimmy Buffett- Someday Soon

Strangers Again (Wildflower/Cleopatra)

Judy Collins & Willie Nelson- When I Go

Strangers Again (Wildflower/Cleopatra)

Judy Collins & Aled Jones- Stars in My Eyes

Strangers Again (Wildflower/Cleopatra)

Alex Cuba- Unanimé

Ruido en el Sistema (Caracol)

Sneezy Waters- Subterranean Homesick Blues

A Letter Home (Watershed)

Sneezy Waters- A Letter Hime

A Letter Home (Watershed)

The show is now available for online listening. http://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/129/26200.html

I’ll be co-hosting Canadian Spaces again on May 28.

Find me on Twitter. @MikeRegenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

David Francey – Empty Train

DAVID FRANCEY

Empty Train

Laker Music

davidfrancey.com

I’ve written often about David Francey since he emerged – seemingly out of nowhere – in 1999 at age 45 as one of Canada’s greatest folk-rooted singer-songwriters. I’ve reviewed nearly all of his albums – he’s been a prolific recording artist over the past 17 years – and I’ve done newspaper and magazine features about him. My Sing Out! magazine feature from Fall 2005, "David Francey: A Working Man's Poetry," can be read here on the Folk Roots/Folk Branches blog.

With Empty Train, David offers 11 of his insightful, mostly timeless songs (one of which he co-wrote) and a fine version of “False Knight,” the traditional folk song.

The album opens with “Empty Train,” the compelling title track with a heartbeat arrangement featuring Mark Westberg on electric guitar, a texture I’m not used to hearing accompanying David. The insistent pattern of the electric guitar effectively conjures “the rattle of an empty train” that David describes hearing at a lonely train station Ashcroft, BC.

Perhaps the most moving songs are “Crucible,” written about his father and uncle’s service in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, and “Hospital” about visiting his father in the hospital.

“Crucible” describes his father and uncle’s navy duties in the war noting their too-quick growth “from young to old” and the tragic losses of their comrades who didn’t make it home while “Hospital” poignantly describes an old man nearing his end. The song was written in 2004 and David notes that his father did live to come home from that hospital stay – but not the next.

Other highlights include “The Money Boys,” a short, but very effective, topical song about bankers that David sings a cappella with son Colin Francey; “Big Texas Moon,” a love song with a bouncy old-time feel courtesy of Chris Coole’s banjo frailing; and “Blue Girl,” inspired by the National Film Board documentary Give Me Your Soul, which describes the emptiness of pornography and its eventual effect on an actress giving her soul to it.

David is currently on tour performing release concerts for Empty Train. Click here for the tour itinerary.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Judy Collins – Strangers Again

JUDY COLLINS

Strangers Again

Wildflower/Cleopatra

judycollins.com

Fifty-five years after the release of her first LP, A Maid of Constant Sorrow, Judy Collins remains a remarkable singer with one of the most elegantly beautiful of voices – a voice that moves seemingly effortlessly from folk music to art songs and pop music.

Strangers Again, Judy’s latest album, much of which leans toward pop music, is a collection of duets with 12 male singers – some of whom I’ve been listening to for decades and some of whom I’d not heard of until now. As well, some of the songs were familiar to me while others I’d never heard before.

Among the standout tracks is Judy and Willie Nelson’s haunting version of Dave Carter’s “When I Go,” a song that turned out to be prophetic as Dave, a brilliant songwriter who only emerged in his mid-40s, died suddenly from a heart attack just weeks before his 50th birthday in 2002. With the most folk-oriented arrangement on the album, Judy and Willie capture the deep Native American spiritualism at the essence of the song.

Another standout is a version of Leonard Cohen’s sublime composition “Hallelujah” with Bhi Bhiman. Although the song has been covered to death by other artists, I’ve always thought it was almost written with Judy’s voice in mind and – especially given how many of Leonard’s songs Judy has recorded over the years – I’m surprised she hasn’t done before now.

Also among the highlights are the new versions of Ian Tyson’s “Someday Soon” with Jimmy Buffett and Stephen Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns” with Don McLean, two of Judy’s greatest hits from decades ago, and Randy Newman’s “Feels Like Home” with Jackson Browne.

Judy Collins and Mike Regenstreif (2014).

Judy will be here in Ontario next month for three concerts on Friday, March 11, at Southminster United Church here in Ottawa (which I’m highly looking forward to); Saturday, March 12, at Hugh’s Room in Toronto; and Sunday, March 13, at Aeolian Hall in London. All three concerts will be opened by my old friend Garnet Rogers.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif