Folk Roots Radio Episode 313: Karen Morand Interview & More New Releases

Windsor-based singer-songwriter Karen Morand joins us on Episode 313 of Folk Roots Radio to chat about her great new album with band Bosco, “Junkyard Heart”. We also take a look at more of the latest new releases. Check out the full playlist below.

The Interview

Karen Morand’s development as a songwriter continues on her third album “Junkyard Heart”. The album features eight new Karen Morand songs, with more of a confessional revival meeting style than her previous efforts, while retaining the warm acoustic feel we associate with her band Bosco. The album was recorded in Tecumseh ON with Walter Riggi. It definitely deserves to be checked out.

The CD release for Junkyard Heart takes place at The Bank Theatre in Leamington with special guest, the fabulous Aussie-Canadian bluesy country roots singer-songwriter Gina Horswood on April 22 2017. GET TICKETS. Bosco features Aaron Verhulst on guitars and mandolin and Benny Santoro on cajon, with Karen Morand on lead vocals, guitar, ukulele, accordion and banjo. Following the album release, Karen and Gina head off across Southern Ontario together on their Saints & Sinners tour. For more information about Karen Morand and the rest of the tour dates, visit karenmorand.com.

Show Notes

Notes about some of the new music on our radar that made it into this episode.

Davey O., from Buffalo New York’s has just released his latest, “A Bright Horizon Line” (2017, Self), the follow-up to the very well-received “No Passengers,” (2014, Self). A Bright Horizon Line is a collection of 10 tracks (9 original compositions, and a cover of the Crowded House classic “Don’t Dream It’s Over”. On this episode, we play “For Them”, a song about people who come up to musicians at gigs and insist they play acertain song – even if they don’t know it.

Zoe Mulford splits her time between the US (Swarthmore PA) and the UK (Manchester, England) – she took advantage of this to bring together some of the best musicians on both sides of the Atlantic to create her latest, “Small Brown Birds” – an album that retains a transatlantic flavour on songs that weave traditional music into Appalachian roots while touching on some current American themes. The album prominently features one of England’s best fiddlers Tom Kitching, whose style has been likened to the late great British fiddler Dave Swarbrick. On this episode we play “Speak True”, which features harmony vocals from Pat Wictor.

Halifax NS Singer-songwriter Doug Hawco popped up on our radar via a message posted to our Facebook page. His latest album, “Life On The Water” features seven songs that reflect on different aspects of life. On this episode we play “All I Need To Know”. Worth a listen.

We seem to be moving into a new golden age of the protest song. The new president south of the border certainly seems to be inspiring America’s songwriters, if not the rest of the country – or the world, for that matter. Kerrville New Folk winner Paul Sachs heads into the world of love on his latest “Love Is Love” (2016, Self), taking a look in some of its dark corners as he tackles love compromised, love revealed and love as pain. On this episode, we play the somewhat self-explanatory “Late for the Protest”. Singer-songwriter Judy Kass from Tarrytown NY has released a new demo single about protests, “Look At Us Marching Now” and Indiana’s Tim Grimm is channeling Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan on “Gonna Be Great” from his great new album of deep poetic ballads and groove-driven social commentary “A Stranger In This Time” (2017, Vault Records).

We wrap the hour with Prince George BC singer-songwriter William Kuklis with “Somebody Put Me Down”, from his great new album “Save Me” (2017, Self), which I hope is not how you feel after listening to an hour of Folk Roots Radio!

And that’s all we have time, 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!

Listen

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 (Pre-release, self)

Gregger Botting
The Grand Catastrophe
Never Saw a Thing Coming (2017, Self) CDN

Davey O.
For Them
A Bright Horizon Line (2017, Self)

Zoe Mulford
Speak True
Small Brown Birds (2017, Azalea City Recordings)

Doug Hawco
All I Need To Know
Life On The Water (2017, Self) CDN

MANdolinMAN
Polka Leefdaa
Unfolding The Roots (2017, Arc Music)

Karen Morand & Bosco
Sucker Creek
Junkyard Heart (2017, Self) CDN

Interview: Karen Morand discussing new album “Junkyard Heart”.

Karen Morand & Bosco
Junkyard Heart
Junkyard Heart (2017, Self) CDN

Karen Morand & Bosco
Big Muddy
Junkyard Heart (2017, Self) CDN

Paul Sachs
Late For The Protest
Love Is Love (2016, Self)

Judy Kass
Look At Us Marching Now
Demo (2017, Self)

Tim Grimm
Gonna Be Great
A Stranger In This Time (2017, Vault Records)

William Kuklis
Somebody Put Me Down
Save Me (2017, Self) CDN