Folk Roots Radio Episode 301: Corin Raymond Interview & More New Releases

On this edition of Folk Roots Radio, we talk to singer/songwriter Corin Raymond who has just received a Juno Award nomination for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year for his wonderful album “Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams”, which just happened to be our favourite recording of 2016.  Corin joined us in the mobile studio at the Folk Music Ontario conference this past October for a wide-ranging conversation that covered his songwriting, the joys of collaboration, his 100 Book Blog, and, of course, the making of “Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams”. We also get to play some tracks from the album we haven’t yet played on the show. And, as always, we fill up the rest of the hour with a look at more of the latest new releases.

“Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams” features some fabulous word craft on ten songs, eight co-written with other top drawer songwriters Jonathan Byrd, Sean Cotton, Rob Vaarmeyer, Rakhu Lokanathan and Jaxon Haldane alongside one Corin Raymond original, the glorious “Morning Glories” and a cover of Doug Norquay‘s “Best Demented Cowgirl Face” (one of the best and most intriguing song titles out there). The album also earned two nominations at the 2016 Canadian Folk Music Awards, with David Gillis taking home the gong for Producer of the Year.

We were only able to include part of our interview with Corin in this episode. You can check out the full interview HERE. You can also find an interview we did at the time Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams was released on the website HERE. For more information about Corin’s music, visit corinraymond.com.

New Releases

Among the new music on this episode, is a new single from Big Little Lions, the wonderful folk-pop duo that developed that a long-distance songwriting partnership between two established musicians, Juno award winning Helen Austin from Vancouver Island and Cincinnati-based Paul Otten. “Against the Wall” was written as a response to the political turmoil engulfing not just the United States, but much of the world, in the aftermath of the US presidential election. The new song is due to appear on their forthcoming album (tentatively scheduled to appear in the late fall of 2016, early 2017), but as it captured the current mood of uncertainty and unease so well, they felt should they get it out now. You can check out the video that accompanies the new song HERE. We also have an interview recorded with Big Little Lions at the 2014 Folk Music Ontario on the website HERE.

Staying with the ‘looking for hope in the face of political turmoil’ theme, Nashville singer-songwriter and activist Susan Shann has just released “Final Word”, a ‘love song for the world’ inspired by a quote from Martin Luther King. As the founder of Transition Nashville, host and creator of Earth Revolution, served on the board of the Tennessee Alliance for Progress, and Nashville Peace and Justice Centre, Susan Shann definitely walks the talk.”Final Word” a preview single for her upcoming album. For more information about Susan’s music, visit susanshann.com.

Vancouver’s folk rockers Lion Bear Fox are a musical force of nature with a BIG sound. Featuring the huge voices of Christopher Arruda, Ryan McMahon, and Cory Woodward, their new self-titled album is just about to be released. Their pre-release single “Battle of Me” because of its very accessible style, is likely to one of the crossover hits of the year. Expect to catch them on a festival stage near you this summer.

Atlantic Union is an acoustic trio from Newfoundland featuring Jane Ogilvie (vocals, flute, Celtic harp, accordion, and keyboards), Dan Rubin (vocals, mandolin, bouzouki, violin, guitar) and Sally Goddard (vocals, guitar, bodhran, bass). This week we listened to their version of William Connellan’s Carolan’s Dream from their new album of traditional and original songs, “Homeward”, out now on Blue Island Records.

Chicago Farmer is the moniker for Bloomington, Illinois’ Cody Diekhoff who released his 7th album “Midwest Side Stories” this past September. We wrap the hour with his version of the late great John Hartford‘s “I’m Still Here” – a song that reminds us that no matter what life throws at us, we’ll survive – we’re still here.

And that’s all we have time for this time around. Thanks to all the artists who share their music with us, and thank you for listening. We have a lot of great music and interviews to bring you on future shows. I hope you’ll join us!

You can listen to this episode again on Mixcloud by following the link below. You can also listen to episodes of Folk Roots Radio, on demand, via iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher and Tune-in Radio. (Click on the highlighted link to reach your chosen platform.)

PLAYLIST

Nicolas & The Iceni (Theme)
Lucy She Rises (Demo)
Roll Right (expected 2016)

Big Little Lions
Against The Wall
(single) (2017, Self) CDN

Lion Bear Fox
Battle of Me
Lion Bear Fox (2017, Elbow Room Recordings) CDN

Susan Shann
Final Word
(single) (2017, Mountainside Audio)

Atlantic Union
Carolan’s Dream
Homeward (2016, Blue Island Records)

Corin Raymond
Rain Bed
Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams (2016, Local Rascal Records) CDN

Interview: Corin Raymond recorded at the 2016 Folk Music Ontario conference.

Corin Raymond
Two Miles Of Train
Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams (2016, Local Rascal Records) CDN

Corin Raymond
Under The Belly Of The Night
Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams (2016, Local Rascal Records) CDN

John McCutcheon
Between Good And Gone
Trolling For Dreams (2017, Appalsongs)

Chicago Farmer
I’m Still Here
Midwest Side Stories (2016, Self)