CiTR -- The Saturday Edge

This week's features included a couple of unique recordings from Rogue concerts, new music from Mali, Senegal, Palestine, Iran, Cuba, Mexico, Poland, Ireland, Louisiana, upstate New York, Galicia, northern England, and Scotland - as well as all across Canada! Quite a few "doubles", with two tracks from new albums and / or classic recordings, cos sometimes a single dose is just not quite enough. So...

Music by many of the performers who will appear at next month's WOMEX Conference in the Canary Islands. These artists are featured in the pages of the fabulous UK magazine, Songlines, which beams to me every month with 100+ pages of news, musical bios and album reviews across the wide world of folk and roots music. Each month it comes with a 15 song virtual CD as well, and there is lots of music f...

Plenty of music from West Africa again this week. So many balafons, koras, and polyrhythms! Some fine Canadian blues and roots and exemplary songwriters, then some masters of Celtic music on guitars, uilleann pipes, fiddles, and voices. Including the first excerpts of a new Dick Gaughan 7-CD box set dating back to BBC sessions over 55 years ago.

With Canada under serious threats from the orange pedophile in the White House, and this being one of our few SOCAN reporting weeks - wherein songwriters can claim their just rewards for creating the wonderful music we get to play on CiTR - I chose to feature the vast majority of this week's selections from Canadian songwriters and tunesmiths. The only exceptions were a sad RIP to legendary Irish...

A good tune can speak volumes without words and without need of translation. So there were plenty of instrumentals in today's show. We started in Mali, of course, as Tinariwen are in town this evening (at UBC, in fact!) There were plenty of fabulous new releases, and a few local concert previews too. The show ended with a flourish of exhilarating - and mostly instrumental - music from all around t...

Lots of music from the latest CD from Songlines magazine, RIP Dolly Parton and Wyckham Porteous, local concert previews, new releases, and a few songs about fires, floods and fascism - the three plagues of the apocalypse (now.)

An outside broadcast of sorts! Coming to you from an island paradise, this episode started in Senegal and Mali, sailed away to Cuba, Italy, Taiwan, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Germany before heading homeward to BC via Georgia, California and Louisiana. The 3rd hour had a distinctly Irish flavour, peppered with plenty of Canadiana, and hour 4 drifted away to Spain, Scotland and Cape Breton before returni...

Looking back at the Edmonton Folk Festival with music by Djekady (American African band), Amble (melodic original songs from Eire), DUG (Scottish / US new trad duo), Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley) and Kate Rusby leading the way. Lots of new music and local concert previews as well as a few songs from Amy Helm who plays Saltspring and Vancouver next week. All this and much more.

Special edition from the Edmonton Folk Music Festival. This show featured many of the performers from this weekend's EFMF, some from last week's Mission Folk Festival, a bunch of new releases, and a few local concert previews.

Today's edition features a bunch of great new releases, some new (to me) CDs by my recent "discoveries" at the Vancouver and Mission Folk Festivals, a sneak peek at artists performing next weekend at The Rolls Royce Of Canadian Folk Festivals (Edmonton), and a few extra special personal favourites to celebrate my birthday (tomorrow). Also a very sad RIP to Irish singer songwriter Glen Hansard, who...

Coming to you from The Mission Folk Music Festival (well, the show was mostly inspired by this year's festival lineup!) Some fabulous songs and tunes from a wide variety of artists who are either performing at Mission or at next month's Edmonton Folk Music Festival, with songs from Mali, Niger, Mauritania, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Cuba, India, Taiwan, Ukraine, Persia, Montreal, and Vancouver - and t...

New music from the latest issue of Songlines magazine, the latest Putumayo Discovery CD - Cuban Connections - and a whole bunch of artists performing at this weekend's Vancouver Folk Music Festival - and next weekend's Mission Folk Music Festival. Researching these shows has been a real journey of discovery for me, and I hope you enjoy my selections! Also new music from veteran rockers Rolling Sto...

Many of the performers at the VFMF this year are complete unknowns to me, so probably complete unknowns to most of our listeners. I unearthed music by a lot of these performers to get an idea of what we might expect next weekend in Jericho Beach Park. Also continued to spin tracks by artists we heard on our recent Irish tour, and there were some amazing new releases from all around the planet this...

No celebration of the US 250th, just a couple of protest songs, and a big feature on new Celtic music, a look back at our recent Irish tour, and some tasty new releases from Lai, Senegal, France, Eire, and Canada

Exciting new music from Mali and Senegal, a feature on Cape Verde (who are still in the World Cup!), a bit of Greek music for Vancouver's Greek Day (this Sunday), a look back at a few highlights of our recent trip to Ireland (we got back on Thursday), a look ahead to some amazing concerts coming to town, and a whole bunch of Canadiana to mark Canada Day (this coming Wednesday)

All kinds of coincidences and related tunes / songs (and seemingly unrelated ones, too!) Starting with Senegal's Ablaye Cissoko and two collaborations - one of them Canadian; and the link between the recently-deceased Toto La Momposina and the Anglo-Colombian groovers Sidestepper. A sneak preview of The Rogue Folk Club Fall Season, a tribute to Martin Carthy - who recently retired from public perf...

New releases from across Canada and beyond. Also a look back at some past favourites and ahead to future favourites coming to local concert halls and festivals.

82 years since D-Day turned WWII, so snuck in this little reminder. Hitler cannot "win" 8 decades after his death. Or can he? Starting to look like it, isn't it? Quite a lot of Canadians, and a bunch of new releases and concert previews too.

This show first aired on June 1st 1985, so this is the 41st Anniversary edition. Sprinkled a few of my favourite artists from these many moons, amongst some stirring new releases from Ireland, Africa, Scotland, B.C., Nova Scotia, Quebec, New Brunswick, Alberta, Spain, England, and the USA. It's always a marathon four hour show, but somehow it never feels like there is enough time to fit in all the...

Sad farewells to indigenous Canadian cellist / songwriter Cris Derksen, who was killed in an automobile accident last week, and to Colombia's principal musical matriarch Totó La Momposina. The singer and bandleader died this week aged 85. She was one of my perennial favourites. I first saw her at the Edmonton Folk festival over 3 decades ago where she and her band were extremely memorable! New rel...

Big birthday celebration next Friday for CBC TV host / biologist David Suzuki, so music by some of the guests who will join him on stage at the QE Theatre in Vancouver. Also Joan Baez announced her retirement, so a few songs from her. Also, another brieft tribute: 45 years ago this week, Bob Marley passed away. Plus music from the new issue of Songlines Magazine, and some other interesting new rel...

May songs from around Europe and across Canada, plus new releases - including the most recent Celtic Colours Festival and Winnipeg's Cara Luft. Lots of local concert previews, and some old favourites from the annals.

Heaps of new music from all around the world, plenty of it Canadian - including brand spanking new albums from Taj Mahal (USA), The McDades (AB) and Veranda (PQ) Features on Melisande and Supertrad, who perform at the Rogue's 39th Anniversary concerts next week.

I was abducted by aliens and transported back to March 7th. When I pleaded with them that I had no desire to relive the past few weeks since Dementia Donny attacked Iran they relented and brought me back. So The Saturday Edge On Folk ran half an hour late and ran half an hour late to 12:30pm today. Phew, what a trip! Thanks to Ciara and Jasper (their earthly names) for bringing me back! This allow...

A tribute to the wonderful Irish singer Moya Brennan (Clannad) who died this week. Also music from some of the winners at last weekend's Canadian Folk Music Awards, a few songs for Earth Day and Visaki, new music from young Irish blues singer Muireann Bradley, new singles by NS duo Mama's Broke, Canadian guitar wizard Don Ross, and the amazing Bette Midler, plus some stunning music from Senegal, H...