Episode 155: The Wailing Jennys

Folk Roots Radio on June 21 2014 (Episode 155) featured interviews with Nicky Mehta from The Wailin Jennys and Mike Hill, Artistic Director at the Mariposa Folk Festival.

The first day of summer is the perfect time for a mystery theme full of summer songs. We started off with “Looking For A Summer” by British singer-songwriter and slide guitarist Chris Rea from what I think was his best album “Auberge” (1991). Chris Rea is a bit of a guilty pleasure artist for me, someone I love though I’m not sure would appeal to everyone. He’s also probably a little AOR (adult-oriented rock) and MOR (middle of the road) for your average folk-roots show, which is why we like to think we’re not your average folk-roots show! Anyway, I think he was also probably singing about a British summer not a Canadian one. We always get one – the UK, err… not so often!

After that we headed back to 1962 for The Jamies and “Summertime Summertime”, then via a trio of “Summertime” songs by Dan Griffin, Irish Mythen and Sarah Harmer (with Jason Euringer for the obligatory Gershwin) to wrap with another favourite “Summer” by War. One thing about summer songs is that they always make you feel that summertime is really here, and after the winter we’ve had; I’ll take that!

The start of summer means the start of music festival season. First up for us, it’s Mariposa which takes place from July 4-6 2014 in beautiful Tudhope Park on the shores of Lake Couchiching in Orillia. Mariposa not only brings together some great singer-songwriters, but this year they also have groups and bands from the Pacific, Ireland and Cuba as well as many locales across Canada and the United States. One of the best things about Mariposa is the fact that they have eleven stages, which means you rarely feel like you are crowded.

We gave over the second hour of the show to music from a variety of Mariposa bands and included a feature interview with Mariposa Artistic Director Mike Hill, discussing not only who is coming to this year’s festival, but how he goes about deciding who that should be. A daunting task for sure. For more information about the festival, visit mariposafolk.com.

Earlier in the show we played an interview with Nicky Mehta from The Wailin’ Jennys. They’re back touring again after a hiatus. Which is a very good thing. They are an incredible live band. Catch them if you can.

This week’s guilty pleasure was Aretha Franklin and the classic (You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman (1967) which was our way of acknowledging Judy’s request for some Aretha, while also acknowledging the passing of one of the world’s greatest lyricists, Gerry Goffin who with then wife Carole King wrote some of the greatest songs of the pop era.

If you have a guilty pleasure you’d like to share – that song you still love though you think other people would find it unfashionable (believe me, they won’t), get in touch. We’d love to play it for you! And, if you have a good story about why you love that song, so much the better.

Well, that’s about all we have time for this week. You can find the full playlist for the show below. Thanks to all the artists who share their music with us, and thank you for listening. We’ll see you next week!

Mystery Theme: “Summertime”

Chris Rea
Looking For The Summer (1991)
The Best Of Chris Rea (1994, Magnet Records)

The Jamies
Summertime Summertime (1962)
Greatest Hits of the 60s Vol 1-2 (2001, Sony Music Distribution)

Dan Griffin
Summertime
Leave Your Life (2012, Ragg Wool Records) CDN

Irish Mythen
Summertime
Sweet Necessity (2007, Myth Records) CDN

Sarah Harmer & Jason Euringer
Summertime
Songs For Clem (2001, Cold Snap Records) CDN

War
Summer
The Best Of War (2010, Rhino)

Ondine Chorus
Hush – The Moon Is Rising
Towards A Little Light (2014, Self) CDN

The Wailin’ Jennys
Begin
Live At The Mauch Chunk Opera House (2009, Red House Records) CDN

Interview: Nicky Mehta from The Wailin’ Jennys discussing touring again.

The Wailin’ Jennys
Bold Riley
Live At The Mauch Chunk Opera House (2009, Red House Records) CDN

This week’s Guilty Pleasure:
Aretha Franklin
(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman (1967)
The Very Best (1994, Rhino)

Ani Di Franco
Mariachi
Whose Side Are You On? (2012, Righteous Babe Records)

Interview: Mike Hill, Artistic Director at Mariposa Folk Festival discussing the performers at Mariposa 2014.

Rosanne Cash
When The Master Calls The Roll
The River & The Thread (2014, Blue Note)

Elephant Revival
Down To The Sea
These Changing Skies (2013, Itz Evolving Records)

Niamh Ni Charra
Paddy’s Lamentation
Súgach Sámh / Happy Out (2010, Self)

Dar Williams
You’re Aging Well
The Honesty Room (1993, Razor & Tie)

Russell deCarle
Can’t Find A Song In My Heart
Under The Big Big Sky (2010, Rusty Car / Fontana North) CDN

Aviva Chernick
Chadesh Yameinu (Turn Your Face to The Sun)
When I Arrived You Were Already There (2012, Self) CDN

Theme:
Mary Margaret O’Hara
Anew Day
Miss America (1988, Virgin) CDN

Background Music:
Tim And Sam’s Tim And The Sam Band With Tim And Sam
Summer Solstice
Lifestream (2010, Static Caravan)

Jayme Stone
Andrea Berget
Room of Wonders (2005, Self) CDN

Lawrence Blatt
Into the Abyss/Infra Red
The Colour of Sunshine (2009, LMB Music)

Trevor Gordon Hall
A Severe Mercy
Entelechy (2011, Candy Rat Records)

Jon Park Wheeler
Reverie
Six Strings North Of The Border Volume 2 (2005, Borealis) CDN