Connie Kaldor Archives | Folk Roots Radio

Folk Roots Radio Episode 560: Our Favourite Albums of 2020

Dec 27 2020

We’re getting close to the end of 2020, which means it’s time to announce our favourite albums of the year. After the challenging year we’ve all had, it’s tempting to just want to put 2020 behind us and move on to 2021 to what will, hopefully, be a much better year for everyone. And yet, despite everything, 2020 has actually been a great year for recorded music – especially for those us who tend to focus on music that artists release independently, or via small and boutique record labels. Many artists have actually been making excellent use of the lockdown time forced on them by the coronavirus pandemic to record some wonderful ‘Covid Tune’ singles, EPs and in some case, even full albums. We’ve had great fun sharing them with you this year. We’ve also been doing our best to keep up with regularly scheduled releases. It gives us great pleasure each year, once we have put holiday radio episodes to bed, to consider our favourite albums of the year. One of the best things about doing a radio show is getting loads of great music to listen to each week. One of the hardest things to do is to take all that fabulous music and narrow it down to your ten favourite recordings of the year. You can check out The Top 10 on Episode 560 of Folk Roots Radio. We’ll be playing more of our favourite albums on upcoming episodes of Folk Roots Radio. If you don’t see an album you really loved, that’s likely because it didn’t make it up on our radar because we didn’t receive a copy. Please consider sharing your favourite albums in the comments – we might even spin them on a future episode of the show. Listen to The Top 10 on this episode, and check out the full playlist and the rest of our long list below. Enjoy!

Folk Roots Radio Episode 558: Folk Roots Radio For The Holidays (More Sleigh Bells Edition)

Dec 17 2020

December is here, and winter is upon us – so it’s time to bring out the Christmas music. We know a lot of people are not fans of holiday tunes which is why on this show we like to focus on new songs about the season rather than just the same old songs and tunes given a quick makeover. And if we play something that’s not a new song, well that’s because the artist has taken it somewhere rather special indeed. So, join us for Episode 558 of Folk Roots Radio – the first of two episodes of Folk Roots Radio for the Holidays, which features solstice songs, winter songs, Hanukkah songs and Christmas songs from RUNA, Sara Thomsen & Paula Pedersen, Connie Kaldor, Ed Sweeney, The Honey Larks, Jackie Washington, MacMaster Leahy Family, Finest Kind, SONiA disappear fear, Aaron Nathans & Michael G Ronstadt, Kelly’s Lot, Tony Turner, Céleste Lévis, Ken Tizzard & Music For Goats, Josh Kimbrough and Jeffery Straker. Check out the full playlist below.

Folk Roots Radio Episode 509: feat. Connie Kaldor... In Conversation - Everyday Moments

Apr 30 2020

One of Canada’s finest songwriters, Connie Kaldor joins us on Episode 509 of Folk Roots Radio for an in-depth interview about her career in music. A three time Juno award winner, and a member of the Order of Canada, Connie Kaldor has forged a great career that, alongside some great albums, has also included CD books for children, musicals and music for both film and web-series – and all achieved while remaining proudly independent. Her latest album, her sixteenth, “Everyday Moments” was released in the fall of 2019, however the Covid-19 pandemic has severely limited her ability to tour in support of the new recording. Connie Kaldor joined us from her home in Montreal where she is staying safe with the rest of her family, in what she likes to call the isolation station. A fabulous performer with a very engaging live show, we’re pleased to be able to bring you Connie Kaldor… In Conversation on Folk Roots Radio. Check out the full playlist below.

Folk Roots Radio Episode 471: feat. VK & More New Releases

Nov 01 2019

Steve and Marni Van Kessel, who make music together as VK, join us on Episode 471 of Folk Roots Radio to chat about their new album – album number three, “Charm”, a wonderful bluesy Americana folk-rock recorded with their new band Legends of THE DEEP. We also check out more of the latest new releases, and this time around we hear from Catherine MacLellan, Connie Kaldor, Jake Morley, Unfaithful Servants, Kevin K Gagnon, Adrian Sutherland, Kete Bowers, Lizanne Knott and Stephen Fearing. Check out the full playlist below.

Folk Roots Radio Episode 332 - Hey Canada!

Jun 27 2017

We continue to celebrate Canada Day on Episode 332 of Folk Roots Radio. This special edition of the show is a bit of a travelogue as we start out in the east of the country and head west, but really it’s just another chance for me to share more of my favourite songs about the country I now call home. This episode features music from Great Lake Swimmers, Peter Katz And The Curious, Lennie Gallant, Bob Ardern, Ian Foster, Ashley Condon, Bill Colgate, Blackie & The Rodeo Kings, Connie Kaldor, Dave Gunning, Kevin Roy, Justin Rutledge and Glenn McFarlane. I hope you enjoy the mix. Happy Canada Day everyone! Check out the full playlist below.

Aug 19 2016

This episode is the first of two that features interviews recorded at the 2016 Kingsville Folk Music Festival. Festival producers John and Michelle Law have brought a lovely festival to South-Western Ontario and despite some rain on the Saturday – which didn’t dampen spirits at all, we were all treated to a wonderful weekend of live music and community. Folk Roots Radio was very fortunate to have some artists stop by to chat about their music, and their festival experiences. This week we feature interviews with Connie Kaldor, Erika Kulnys, Gordie Tentrees, Jaxon Haldane, Karen Morand and a festival visitor coming all the way from Germany, Oliver Tamagnini alongside some music from festival artists. I think we’ve captured a little bit of the flavor of the festival and I hope you enjoy it. Special thanks to Gary Glass from Quantum Sound Productions for his help in recording these interviews. Photo: windsorite.ca.

Jul 07 2016

Boston based singer/songwriter Danielle Miraglia is heading to this summer’s Kingsville Folk Music Festival, taking place in beautiful Lakeside Park, in Kingsville, on the shore of Lake Erie in South Western Ontario from August 12-14. We caught up with Danielle between gigs, and out on the road in Pennsylvania to chat about her music and latest album “Glory Junkies” (2015). We also include a tribute to the late great Ralph Stanley and take a look at some new releases.

May 06 2016

This episode features an interview with John & Michele Law who joined us to chat about the line up for the 3rd Annual Kingsville Folk Music Festival, which takes place from August 12-14, in the beautiful confines of Lakeside Park in Kingsville on the shores of Lake Erie It’s a great festival and already gaining a great reputation for bringing fabulous folk, roots, blues and world music down into South-western Ontario. There’s also a lot of new music on this episode. I hope you’ll check it out.

May 04 2016

The performers for the 3rd Annual Kingsville Folk Music Festival, which takes place from August 12-14, have just been announced. This year, the festival, which takes place in the beautiful confines of Lakeside Park in Kingsville on the shore of Lake Erie, features Buffy Sainte-Marie, fresh from success at the Juno Awards with her Polaris Music Prize winning album “Power in the Blood”. Joining Buffy at this year’s festival are Alex Cuba, Quique Escamilla, Irish Mythen, Garnet Rogers, Alysha Brilla, Qristina & Quinn Bachand, Bill Bourne, The Boxcar Boys, Jason Dennie & Rochelle Clark, Tony Gouveia, Maneli Jamal, Connie Kaldor, Kaia Kater, The Laws, Rob Lutes, Danielle Miraglia, The O’Pears, Amanda Rheaume, Gordie Tentrees & Jaxon Haldane, Union Duke, Luther Wright, Dale Butler, Francine Leclair, Whoa Nellie! Vera & Johnny, Tribute to Willie P. Bennett and children’s performers: Jangles The Magical Clown, Butterfingers and Magoo alongside Todd Crowley’s Musical Petting Zoo. Artistic Directors John & Michele Law joined us to chat about this year’s festival. Weekend passes at Kingsville are still under $100 which sounds like a great deal and Children 16 and under are admitted FREE! Regular priced weekend – senior – student and single day passes are now available online HERE. For more information visit kingsvillefolkfest.org. Music: Buffy Sainte-Marie “Power In The Blood” from “Power In The Blood” (2015, True North Records).

Canadian Folk Music Awards 2015

Sep 11 2015

The nominations for the 2015 Canadian Folk Music Awards have been announced. Pharis and Jason Romero lead the pack with four nominations for their album “A Wanderer I’ll Stay”. Their nominations include Traditional Album of the Year, Vocal Group of the Year, Traditional Singer of the Year (Pharis Romero), and Producer of the Year (Pharis and Jason Romero with David Travers-Smith). Amelia Curran (St John’s, NL), Fortunate Ones (St John’s, NL), Jenn Grant (Lake Echo, NS), Whitehorse (Toronto, ON) and Catherine MacLellan (Charlottetown, PEI) each received three nominations.

This year’s youngest nominee is nine year old Vancouver Island artist Stella Swanson for the album “I’m Not A Bunny” in the Children’s Album of the Year category. Inspired by Stella’s pet bunny Romeo, the album was produced by Comox’s Helen Austin, a previous Canadian Folk Music Award and Juno Award recipient and a nominee this year with her group Big Little Lions.

Check out the full list of nominees here. We’ll be previewing the nominees on upcoming editions of Folk Roots Radio.

Mar 09 2015

This week’s Folk Roots Radio features an excerpt of an interview with North Carolina singer-songwriter Jonathan Byrd discussing his forthcoming album “Mother Tongue” (recorded recently in Denmark) and upcoming Ontario tour with The Pickup Cowboys. You can listen to the full interview here. Jonathan Byrd will be in Guelph on Friday March 20 for a show at the great listening venue Silence with another fabulous songwriter, Atlanta’s Eliot Bronson. Check out the event details here. As always, the show also contains a lot of new music and our mystery theme and guilty pleasure.

Jul 10 2014

The Home County Music & Art Festival takes place from July 18 – 20, 2014 in Victoria Park, London ON. Now in its 41st year, the festival is an important part of the southern Ontario folk calendar.