CiTR -- The Saturday Edge

This year's folk festival runs July 18th to 20th in Jericho Beach Park, and they announced the line-up on Thursday. I hope to broadcast LIVE from the park once again. Meanwhile tracks 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 17, 22, 24, 27, 28, 33, 34, 37, 39, 49, 50, and 55 are by artists performing this year. Some new Putumayo releases were also featured on today's show, as well as many new releases from around the...

Songs for Mother Earth and The Easter Bunny, plus memories of Sandy Denny (who died April 21st 1978) and NL accordionist Frank Maher, who died last week. Plus more new releases and concert previews than you can shake a stick at. Spot the 420 hints, if you can...

From darkness to light, with an RIP to Mali's Amadou Bagayoko of the blind duo Amadou et Mariam, new music from African giants Youssou N'Dour and Salif Keita, heaps more new releases from all across Canada, as well as Sweden, India, New Zealand, and Eire. Plus concert previews and more.

Canada is very cross right now! Anyhow, loads of new releases today, many of them courtesy of fellow DJ Daniel Rosenberg, who was in town for last week's Junos. Thanks, Dan! I managed to play at least one song from each of the ten Canadian provinces and two Canadian Territories. While Lindisfarne's tirade against the Tory government in the UK in the early 1970s was somewhat tongue-in-cheek I added...

Tunes from the brand new Cousin Harley CD, and forthcoming album by NL's Quote The Raven, as well as new music from Stephen Fearing, Kathryn Tickell, Tara Breen, Morgan Toney, Jason Isbell, Melisande, and Dreamers Circus. Aslo a feature on Malian kora virtuoso Ballake Sissoko, and previews of upcoming shows by the likes of Steve Dawson, Aleksi Campagne, Collage Trad, Hildaland, Coig, Quote The Rav...

Songs and tunes for the Persian New Year and the coming of Spring. Sad R.I.P. to Garifuna singer / activist Aurelio who died in a helicopter crash this week. Local concert previews: Ballake Sissoko, Judy Collins, Rum Ragged, Lucy MacNeil Quartet. A few new releases, too. Lots of CanCon. Elbows Up!

Being the closest Saturday to St. Patrick's Day this show was a celebration of Celtic music, with a lot of my favourite Irish artists to the fore. The new CD by Stephen Fearing was released yesterday, so this was a CiTR exclusive. Another exclusive at the end was a track recorded at The Rogue with Co. Clare fiddler Martin Hayes and the late Chicago guitarist Dennis Cahill in 2017. These tunes were...

We still have that north of the 49th. Also lots of great Canadian music, a sprinkling of new music from around the world, previews of Festival du Bois and Rogue shows and a whole bunch more. Yes, folks, there is still much to celebrate in these troubled times. Most of it is great music - and community spirit helps!

A look back at Folk Alliance International in Montreal last week, a look ahead to Festival du Bois next week in Maillardville, new music from all over, a bit of Welsh for St. David's Day, and a White Rabbit for the first of the month.

Whilst enjoying the music and camaraderie of hundreds of musicians, Folk DJs, and concert presenters from around the world at Folk Alliance International in Montreal, I was virtually hosting this show, celebrating new releases from around the globe and local concert previews. What a wonderful world we live in. Such a shame to feel its very existence threatened once again by fascist bastards.

This show was a big preview of next week's Folk Alliance International Conference in Montreal. The last time it was not in the USA was 2019, also in Montreal. Most of this show was Canadian. Most of the showcases I plan to attend feature Canadian performers. I look forward to asking my American friends what the hell they were thinking! At the end I announced The Arrogant Worms song We Are The Beav...

I started this show in June 1985, so it's been almost 40 years now when every Saturday I have assembled a radio show for you, showcasing new releases from around the world, favourite songs and artists from the past few decades, and highlighting concerts and festivals coming to the Lower Mainland in the coming weeks. Plus a few personal historical anecdotes and classic tracks by bands who inspired...

A mixed bag of new releases, a sad R.I.P. to Marianne Faithfull, some vitriolic songs hurled south and east in the general direction of the new capital of fascism in DC, and a whole lot of great music made in Canada by some very talented Canadian musicians. And some great tunes and songs from elsewhere too. Plus a nod of appreciation to former CiTR alumnus Susi Lanagan who has hosted What The Folk...

A very special edition of the show, with features on Robbie Burns Day, freedom for Malian singer Rokia Traoré, and tributes to Garth Hudson - the last surviving member of The Band - and to French folk singer Gabriel Yacoub, both of whom died this week. There were also a few concert previews, and some exciting new releases on this auspicious date: 25 25 - with a tune called "25%" thrown in for good...

New releases from West Africa and Ireland with plenty of Canadian musical excellence and creativity sandwiched in between.

Eight and a half decades on we see the returning spectre of the evils of fascism and the beginnings of imperial expansion. Herr Drumpf is running the fascist playbook - while Pee Pee bows down and our wonderful, peaceful nation is under threat both from without and from within. In the face of these challenges my only means of retaliation is music, music, music! A sort of Canadian "bandstand" of ho...

Songs and tunes which provided highlights of 2024 in Vancouver and beyond, and a look ahead to what's in store here in 2025. With a special emphasis on supporting musicians by buying their merchandise at gigs or from their websites - and a pox on Spotify and the other rip-off merchants who steal their music and make "curated" playlists (cough, splutter!)

Some of my favourite albums of 2024 (and a few from the tail end of 2023) plus some songs for the end of the old year and to welcome in the new one. While things do look awfully grim these days, the music has been - and continues to be - absolutely stellar.

Some of my favourite songs from the last 37 years of these Winter specials, some brand new releases for the Solstice, and a few surprises along the way, too. We bid a sad farewell to Indian percussion master Ustad Zakir Hussain and to NE songwriter Dave Mallett, plus some new releases and heaps of seasonal songs you definitely won't hear in the Malls.

A plethora of new releases from around the globe to kick off the show, and some exciting new Canadiana kept things running in an ultra-cool northern way. Once again I had TEN PAIRS OF TICKETS to give away to see the second preview of the new Bob Dylan bio-pic, A Complete Unknown. A few new songs of winter, lots more Canadians, and some spirited Celtic music to finish up.

New releases from West Africa, Vancouver, Barcelona, Italy, England, Eire, and Scotland. Plus concert previews, a memorial for the 14 women murdered at Ecole Polytechnique in 1989, a couple of Sugaree songs, and a few cuts to herald the incoming Winter and holiday season.

Plenty of new releases on the show today, including Canadian bands Locarno and Aerialists, as well as Cathy Jordan's Crankie Island Song Project, and Crys Matthews' Reclamation. I also had TEN PAIRS of tickets to give away to the exclusive preview showing of the new movie about Bob Dylan - A Complete Unknown. It will be shown at International Village Cinema in Chinatown on Wednesday December 4th a...

Includes brand new music from the likes of Vancouver's Robyn Lane & The Rhythm Makers, Locarno, Tinariwen, Mauro Durante & Justin Adams, Christy Moore, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, and a wonderful new album by Cathy Jordan of the Irish band Dervish. There is also a feature on the next two bands coming to The Rogue Folk Club: Italian trio Ensemble Sangineto (below) - who were the tal...

Anger and consternation at the US election led to some protest songs. Loads of new releases, including a feature on the new Christy Moore CD, and a tip of the proverbial to Louis Riel on "his" day, with a tune played by Vancouver's Kathleen Nisbet (of Viper Central) - a direct descendant of the legendary Metis leader. Also, "The Boss" is coming to town next week, so a sprinkling of his songs too.

Inspired by local music columnist Hadani Ditmars' article in the latest issue of Songlines magazine, the show starts with music from guitar bands in Niger, and gravitates to musical luminaries in Mali (inspired by talking to CFMA winner Sophie Lukacs at The Rogue last week). Searching for songs / signs of HOPE in this dismal week, then focusing on some wonderful bands coming to town this month - f...