Our Favourite Albums of 2019 Archives

Leaf Rapids’ Keri Latimer – Citizen Alien – Folk Roots Radio at FMO

Jan 18 2020

Our interview with Keri Latimer from Leaf Rapids went so much further than what we were able to include in Episode 489 of Folk Roots Radio. Check out our full in-depth conversation here.

Keri Latimer and her partner Devin Latimer, formerly of Juno Award-winning alt-country quartet Nathan, released “Citizen Alien”, their second album as Leaf Rapids in May 2019. Citizen Alien is a wonderful recording, that uses Keri and Devin’s own family history to tell stories about the nature of identity and reflect on what it means to belong, in a world where more and more politicians are using populist nationalistic rhetoric to separate the ‘us’ from the ‘them’. According to Keri Latimer, “Every family has stories of people who crossed oceans, who survived, who struggled and tried. People who knew injustice. And though some of those stories now fade into the haze of time, the truth of them remains vivid. On Citizen Alien, the album’s title track, love declared by ancestors leads to separation through the travesty of Canada’s Second World War-era Japanese internment camps; if the same thing happened today, Devin and I would be split up, our children taken away.” The 10 songs on the new album were co-produced with acclaimed multi-instrumentalist and composer Rusty Matyas (Imaginary Cities, The Sheepdogs) at Paintbox Recording and feature Keri Latimer (vocals, guitar and theremin), Devin Latimer (bass), Rusty Matyas (piano/keyboards/trumpet), Joanna Miller (drums) and Bill Western (pedal steel) with special guests: Alexa Dirks (Begonia), Madeleine Roger, Grant Davidson (Slow Leaves), Myron Schultz, Chris Dunn and JP Hoe. Keri Latimer sat down with Folk Roots Radio at the 2019 Folk Music Ontario conference for an in-depth conversation about her music and the new album. Citizen Alien was included on our long list of Our Favourite Albums of 2019. Check them all out HERE. For more information about the music of Leaf Rapids, visit leafrapids.org. Music: Leaf Rapids “Dear Sister”, “Citizen Alien”, Barbershop Shears” and “There They Go” from “Citizen Alien” (2019, Coax Records) CDN.

Annie & Rod Capps – When They Fall – Folk Roots Radio Interview

Jan 17 2020

We included an excerpt from our in-depth interview with Annie Capps in Episode 488 of Folk Roots Radio. You can now check out the full interview here.

Annie & Rod Capps released their eighth, self-produced album “When They Fall” in 2019, a wonderful collection of songs that really fits every mood – from the light and cheery, to the serious and dramatic. What all these songs have in common is they are all very well-written, and beautifully sung and played by a fine group of musicians. Joining Annie Capps (vocals, guitar, banjo) and Rod Capps (guitar, viola and harmony vocals) on the album are regular band members Jason Dennie from Thunderwüde (mandolin, mandola and harmony vocals) and Dan Ozzie Andrews (bass) with Michael Shimmin (Joshua Davis, the olllam, May Erlewine) on drums and percussion. Drew Howard also guests on pedal steel and Jenny Bienemann provides some delicate vocal harmonies on the song “Brevity”. When They Fall was deservedly included on our long list of Our Favourite Albums of 2019. Check them all out HERE. Annie Capps joined us on Folk Roots Radio for an in-depth conversation about the new album. Annie & Rod Capps have also joined forces with two of their favourite songwriters, Jan Krist & Jim Bizer in a new project, and with the addition of Jan’s partner Alan Finkbeiner on percussion, they are now Diamonds In the Rust. A full length album from the new combo is expected in 2020. For more information about the music of Annie & Rod Capps, visit maynardmusic.com. Photo: Jennifer Prouty. Music: Annie & Rod Capps “When They Fall”, “(That Would Do) Some Good” and “This Little Apple” from “When They Fall” (2019, Yellow Room Records)

Sharon Goldman – Every Trip Around The Sun – Folk Roots Radio Interview

Jan 15 2020

New Jersey based Sharon Goldman has built a fine reputation as a songwriter with a wonderful string of albums culminating in KOL ISHA (A Woman’s Voice) from 2016 which focused on her own experience growing up in an orthodox Jewish family on Long Island. Her latest 12-song album “Every Trip Around The Sun”, produced with Allison Tartalia, was released in July 2019 to more critical acclaim. The new recording features a fabulous selection of songs – some topical, some romantic, some nostalgic and some inspirational – all of them well-crafted and engaging. Every Trip Around The Sun was included on our long list of Our Favourite Albums of 2019. Check them all out HERE. For more information about the music of Sharon Goldman visit sharongoldmanmusic.com. Music: Sharon Goldman “A Garden”, “Am I There Yet”, “Sunset At The Border” and “Penny With The Waves” from “Every Trip Around The Sun” (2019, Self).

Emily Mure – Sad Songs & Waltzes – Folk Roots Radio Interview

Emily Mure - Sad Songs and Waltzes - Folk Roots Radio Interview

Jan 09 2020

Emily Mure is a classically-trained oboist who performed at world-class venues like Carnegie Hall as a teenager, before picking up a guitar and developing a career as a singer-songwriter. After three albums of original music, Emily’s six-track EP of reimagined cover songs, “Sad Songs & Waltzes” features folky and acoustic versions of songs that were originally performed by Radiohead, The Cranberries, Coldplay, Willie Nelson, Wilco, and The Shins. Working on these songs – favourites while she was growing up, gave Emily the opportunity to use her classical music background to take some of these songs, like Radiohead’s “No Surprises” (with the addition of piano, English horn and cello) to another place altogether. The new E.P. was co-produced with Dan Cardinal at Boston’s Dimension Sound Studios with a small group of collaborators including Elizabeth Ziman (from Elizabeth and the Catapult) who played piano and added background vocals, Audrey Q. Snyder (cello), Emily DiAngelo (English horn) and singer/songwriter Caroline Cotter (backing vocals). Sad Songs and Waltzes was included on our long list of Our Favourite Albums of 2019. Check them all out HERE. For more information about the music of Emily Mure, visit emilymure.com. Music: Emily Mure, “Yellow”, “Sad Songs & Waltzes” and “No Surprises” from “Sad Songs & Waltzes” (2019, Nine Athens Music).

Folk Roots Radio Episode 487: feat. Sharon Goldman & More Favourite Albums of 2019

Folk Roots Radio Episode 487: feat. Sharon Goldman & More Favourites of 2019

Jan 03 2020

New Jersey based singer-songwriter Sharon Goldman joins us on Episode 487 of Folk Roots Radio to chat about her fine new album “Every Trip Around The Sun”, the follow up to the very well-received “KOL ISHA – A Woman’s Voice” from 2016 which focused on Sharon’s experience growing up in an orthodox Jewish family on Long Island. The new recording has garnered more praise, with a great selection of songs – some topical, some romantic, some nostalgic and some inspirational – and all of them well-crafted and engaging. In fact, we’ve included “Every Trip Around The Sun” on our long list of Our Favourite Albums of 2019. We’re going back to that list today as we also include music from Gillian Nicola, The Small Glories, Tomato Tomato, Frank Birtwistle, Irish Mythen, Sofia Talvik and Tim Grimm. Check out the full playlist below.

Folk Roots Radio Episode 486: Our Favourite Albums of 2019

Dec 31 2019

It’s that time of year… we’re holding back the interviews on Episode 486 of Folk Roots Radio as we check out our ten favourite albums of 2019. 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 this episode. 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, maybe it didn’t make it up on to our radar, or perhaps we never received 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 and check out the full playlist below. Enjoy!

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