Playlist: Episode 163

It was good to be back in the studio after a wonderful weekend at the Kingsville Folk Music Festival. On August 16 (Episode 163) we decided that an all music show was in order – lots of it new, however we still found time for our mystery theme and guilty pleasure.

We couldn’t let the first show after Kingsville pass without indulging ourselves in more of the great music we heard at the festival.

After hearing J.P. Cormier play “Hometown Battlefield” – his song about the challenges veterans face with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), we just knew we had to play it on the show for our listeners. J.P. will be donating 20% of the iTunes sales from the single to Paws Fur Thought, a charity that supplies a service dog companions to people coping with PTSD.

We also felt it was important to play the Ron Hynes classic “Sonny’s Dream”. Hynes battled throat cancer in 2012; it was good to see him back on the folk circuit again. It was also great to be able to play some music by Ray Bonneville who has a stellar new album out, “Easy Gone” (on Red House Records).

We also made time to squeeze in some music from some of the artists we were impressed by, but weren’t familiar with… Mati Haskell, The Oh Chays and the Green Sky Project. Check out our review of the first Kingsville Folk Music Festival if you’ve not already done so.

This week’s mystery theme was built around another vacation-related subject – as it is that time of year; our focus was on ‘hotels’. It was fun to look through some of the hotel-related songs we had available – of which there are many.

We started off with Eliza Gilkyson with the title track from her 2005 album “Paradise Hotel”, followed by Cheryl Wheeler with the the title track from her 1999 album “Sylvia Hotel”. After that we continued with… Greg Brown with “Down At The Sea Hotel”, Patty Larkin’s “New Hotel”, and Edwin McCain with “Gramercy Park Hotel” from his 2006 album “Lost In America”, before wrapping it all up with the very sad Cris Cuddy song, “The Empty Arms Hotel” from his 2010 self-released album “Diamond Shine”. As a nod to one of the more popular hotel songs we also squeezed in The Chieftains with their version of “Heartbreak Hotel”. It was on their 1992 album “Another Country” and featured the late, great Chet Atkins on guitar.

This week’s Guilty Pleasure was “Hotel California” by The Eagles, released as a single in 1977 and topping the Billboard Hot 100 in May that year. We sent it out to Jessie, who admitted to singing the song into the mirror every time she heard it as a child… and also shared that she still does it. Way to go, Jessie!

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.

Among the new music on the show we were pleased to play Ian Tamblyn‘s “Away”, a song that was just voted the top English song in Folk Music Ontario’s Songs From The Heart songwriting competition. As it’s an accolade that comes from your peers, its certainly a nice one to get. We also found time to play a little more from The Hello Strangers and Tumbling Bones, Digging Roots and Shane Philips – who all have great new albums out.

Recently we’ve received some new music from Plumhall, a duo from Yorkshire in the UK featuring Michelle Plum and Nick B Hall (no relation). They got in touch with us after they listened to our Andy White interview (apparently they’ve shared a stage with Andy a few times in the UK). Anyway, their new album “Thundercloud” is really good. We were pleased to play “No Fear” today. We’ll also be setting up a transatlantic interview with them via Skype in the not to distant future.

And, I really should mention the excellent new album “Everything Changes” by folk icon Peggy Seeger. Today we played the title track. It’s a fabulous album – definitely one of the best this year, as far as I’m concerned. The lyrics, the amazing way she delivers the songs (she really gives me goose bumps!) and the excellent musicianship on display are to die for.  Definitely check it out.

Well, that’s about all we have time for this week. Next week, DJ MacDee will be sitting in, as we’ll be off to Eaglewood. Thanks again, MacDee!

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!

You can listen to the show again on Mixcloud.

Folk Roots Radio – August 16 2014 by Folk Roots Radio on Mixcloud

Mystery Theme: “Hotels”

Eliza Gilkyson
Paradise Hotel
Paradise Hotel (2005, Red House Records)

Cheryl Wheeler
Sylvia Hotel
Sylvia Hotel (1999, Philo Records)

Greg Brown
Down At The Sea Hotel
Bathtub Blues (1995, Red House Records)

Patty Larkin
New Hotel
Still Green (2013, Signature Sounds)

Edwin McCain
Gramercy Park Hotel
Lost In America (2006, Vanguard Records)

Cris Cuddy
The Empty Arms Hotel
Diamond Shine (2010, Self) CDN

The Chieftains
Heartbreak Hotel/The Cliffs of Moher Jig
Another Country (1992, RCA Victor)

The Hello Strangers
Runaway
The Hello Strangers (2014, IMI)

Ian Tamblyn
Away
The Four Coast Project Vol 4: Labrador (2014, Self) CDN

J.P. Cormier
Hometown Battlefield
(single) (2014, Self) CDN

Ron Hynes
Sonny’s Dream
Face To The Gale (1997, EMI Music) CDN

This Week’s Guilty Pleasure:
The Eagles
Hotel California
Hotel California (1976, Asylum)

Ronnie Lane’s Slim Chance
Burnin’ Summer
Ooh La La: An Island Harvest (2014, Island Records)

The Claytones
Mississippi Moon
Reserva (2013, Self) CDN

Plumhall
No Fear
Thundercloud (2014, Proper Records)

Ray Bonneville
Two Bends In The Road
Easy Gone (2014, Red House Records) CDN

Mati Haskell
Nothin’ But The Blues
10, 2 & 6 (2011, Americanada Records) CDN

The Oh Chays
Live My Redemption
Big Old World (2014, Self) CDN

Green Sky Project
Star In A Jar
Star In A Jar (2013, Self) CDN

Tumbling Bones
I Don’t Believe You’ve Met My Baby
Loving A Fool (2014, Self)

Digging Roots
The Time Has Come For Going
For The Light (2014, Sugar Bush Music) CDN

Shane Philips
A New World
Social Justice & Peace (2014, Jacob Records) CDN

Ernest Troost
O Love
O Love (2014, Travelling Shoes Records)

Dennis Johnson
Hellhound On My Trail
Slide Avenue (2014, Self)

Ablett & Cooper
Creole Belle
Changing Landscapes (2008, Self) CDN

Imelda May
Sneaky Freak
Mayhem (2010, Decca)

Peggy Seeger
Everything Changes
Everything Changes (2014, Red Grape Music)

Ben & Ellen Harper
A House Is A Home
Childhood Home (2014, Concord Music Group)

Harry Nilsson
I’ll Be Home
Nilsson Sings Newman (The RCA Albums Collection) (2014, Legacy Recordings)

Gathering Sparks
In For The Night
Gathering Sparks (2014, Self) CDN