Mulligan Stew

This week's guest is Terry Wickham. The hard-working and much-admired Producer of the Edmonton Folk Music Festival.

Thing is – there is no Festival this year.

However, after much discussion, they have come up with a Plan B.

To quote The Doobie Brothers they’re Taking it to the Streets.

It reminds me of Dan Mangan’s Sidedoor concept.

Hosts need artists. Artists need hosts.

So, Terry and his team have come up with Taking it to the Streets.

Music fans can offer their street, lawn, backyard, deck, pier.

Artists will all be from the Edmonton area.

Terry explains how you can apply to be a host.

Find the complete details so you can consider them wisely.

And check out the playlist below – Lots of new tunes from

Canada’s Music Awards – The Junos – take place Sunday night.

50 years ago,  the first-ever Folksinger of the Year Juno went to Bruce Cockburn. Also nominated were Joni Mitchell and Great Speckled Bird featuring Ian and Sylvia) Our guest this week Bruce Cockburn won 13 more Junos over the past 50 years. He’s nominated again for his brilliant instrumental album Crowing Ignites.

We have much to talk about including Bruce’s personal thoughts on the tragedy unfolding at the Residential School in Kamloops, BC.

This is the complete conversation with music included.

www.brucecockburn.com

We first interviewed singer/player/producer/writer Daniel Lanois last November. 7 Grammy Awards. Juno Winner. Order of Canada.

At that time he had recorded his next album Heavy Sun and the first single (Under a)  Heavy Sun had been released.

That’s all we could talk about so we headed off into his amazing influence on a wing of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

U2, Dylan,  Neville Brothers, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson, and many more. (Neil Young. Emmy Lou Harris, The Killers, Willie Nelson, Brian Eno,)

This coming week he’s headed for a gig on the 10th  in NYC with his band to perform The Songs of Red Dead Redemption 2, the soundtrack to the popular game.

They're playing in  The Battery and it’s sold out.

Now that Heavy Sun is released we decided to go back and re-cut  the full interview and play several of the new tunes

Tree of Tule

Dance On

Mother’s Eyes

Along with the great single (Under a) Heavy Sun

Meet the man who has shaped a huge amount of the music many of us grew up with. And he’s Canadian.

Bob Dylan turns 80 years wise on Monday the 24th.

As part of our coverage at CKUA, I started digging into old interviews looking for comments on Bob’s music, influence, and legacy.

I’m delighted to bring you a select group of artists who bring insight into the singular artist we’re celebrating.

A man for many. Matched by few.

Bob Dylan – Thank you for those 80 years.

Guests are:

David Bowie

Susan Tedeschi &  Derek Trucks

Robbie Robertson

Colin Linden

The Avett Brothers

Barney Bentall and Steve Dawson

Greg Keelor

Our CKUA Radio Network Neighbour has always been Holger Petersen’s Natch’l  Blues. It’s the greatest lead in any show could have.

2 hours of blues. Holger celebrated 50 years of Hosting Natch’l Blues in 2019

But that’s not all Holger has accomplished.

He co-founded Edmonton Folk Festival

Co-founded Stoney Plain Records. (Over 400 releases)

Founded Alberta Music

Sat on Board of Directors for Socan

Inducted into  Folk DJ Hall of Fame  in New Orleans

1st non-American to win Best Public Broadcaster.

Hosts Saturday Night Blues on CBC

Now Holger has been awarded The Alberta Order of Excellence.

And he’s our guest on the Mulligan Stew Podcast.

Here’s the complete interview with the iconic Holger Petersen.  Doctor of Blues

Jordan Hart tells the story of discovering  CKUA Radio.  He asked, “what album am I listening to?”  Told it was a radio station.  CKUA! 

His reply was  “There’s no radio station that cool”  With this podcast Jordan has come full circle. Back to CKUA Radio.

In 2019,  Alberta singer/songwriter Jordan Hart embarked on a 100-day straight busking challenge in Toronto, through thunderstorms and snowstorms he played on. Every Sunday, 100 percent of the money he raised was donated to L’Arche Canada.  In L’Arche, people with and without intellectual disabilities live, work, learn, and grow together. L’Arche demonstrates that when persons with intellectual disabilities take their place at the table, they contribute to a more just, compassionate, and vibrant world for all.                                                                                                                                                                                    

The Momentum from his daily busking also culminated in a sold-out show at the Great Hall in Toronto and his career streams also increased by over a quarter of a million. As a featured artist, his work with Lucky Rose on the song ‘’Lost’’ greatly increased his profile.

Jordan has released a fine EP called Only Pieces Of The Truth and with it a confirmation in each of the 7 tracks that he’s destined to become a much bigger artist. Much Bigger.

Add to that discovery that  Jordan is also a natural storyteller.  He talks about life on the streets busking. Being turned down completely by the young woman he wanted to spend his life with. About shooting his video for Freedom with a small group of actors with Down Syndrome.

Have a listen. See if you agree that he’s destined to shine!!

If you are lucky enough to work on the media side of the music business over the years and if you’re honest in your relationships with artists,  many of them become friends.

Rob Baker and Craig Northey are friends and together they’re making music again as Strippers  Union.

It took 10 years to record and release their third album called The Undertaking.

Craig Northey was leading The Odds and working with a long list of people plus being part of the Steven Page Trio.

Rob Baker was of course a member of one of Canada’s greatest bands The Tragically Hip, who lost their heart and soul with the death of  Gord Downey.

We cover a lot of ground here but always come back to the music of The Undertaking. Please enjoy the talk and tracks.

I heard someone say “Valerie June is an overnight sensation.”  Well, just so you know It only took 39 years.

Her Tennessee family was strong but had many hurdles to overcome.

Valerie started performing at 19 in Memphis. After she ended a  marriage to her partner and husband she worked minimum wages and some really seedy joints but kept moving forward. Released her own albums. Booked her own gigs.  Finally, she met Dan Auerbach from The Black Keys who co-wrote and produced her 2013 album “Pushin’ Against the Stone”.

Then came The Order of Time in 2017, which is where we first met.  Rolling Stone called it one of the Albums of the Year.

Now comes the next reflection of her genius The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers.  Like all of her other albums the sound, texture, lyrics, harmonies, and musicianship are unique to Valerie June. In a business that celebrates “been there – done that”, Valerie June is one-of-a-kind. 

And man does she have stories to tell.. 

Listen Up. There’s a hopeful message right in front of you.  It’s Valerie June.

Greg Keelor.  Co-Founder, co-Singer, co-Writer of one of Canada’s premier bands Blue Rodeo. Share the Love is his 6th solo album.

When asked did he know how many he has done and what the names are the answer was No.

And that was the first question. I had another 45 minutes of questions. Now what?

Greg spun his first story about he and Jimmy Bowskill sitting around, in a hash haze throwing lines and guitar licks back and forth and all of a sudden there’s an album taking shape.

They recorded it and went to a small community center at a lake to play the songs again while video cameras shot the songs for promo.

THAT recording was so good, they scrapped the studio record and went with the community hall by the lake session.

That was Greg’s answer to the second question…and we were off and running.

We cover a lot of ground with Greg Keelor..ups and downs.  Losses both human and personal.

The album is very good. His best work yet. We both agreed that the feel of the record was much like the late 60’s in LA with Buffalo Springfield and The Byrds.

He’s a good man that Greg Keelor.

Vancouver's Mint Records yesterday released Soon-Yin Lee and Adam Litovitz jooj two album. 

Behind the release, there’s a very personal story – the love and loss between Sook and Adam.

"When we were making the song ‘Wrecking Heart’, Adam and I looked at each other, blown away by this song that was like nothing we’d ever written. It began with a supercharged sonic fragment he made that became the foundation of an unapologetic banger of a song that possessed and moved through us. We blasted it on the stereo, danced and air-guitared to it. Unconsciously, our lyrics seemed to telegraph our separation. “It sounds like a break up song,” he said, much to our disbelief at a time when we were very much together. But life challenges ended up pushing us in different directions. Though separated, we remained best friends, holding out hope that we would make our way back to each other. Adam landed a job scoring a TV series and I worked on our album, incorporating his notes. He said that he looked forward to playing cathartic meltdown live shows with me.
But that was not to be. Adam is no longer here. I believe he exists on other planes, in those who love him, and in our music, in his music, drawings and writing. With this album, ‘jooj two’, I pick up the pieces of this Wrecking Heart, honoured to share our music."
- Sook-Yin Lee

Adam took his own life. Sook-Yin patiently takes us through what happened and how it shaped the songs and her life. And yes, even though all this, we share smiles and laughs.

I’ve known Sook-Yin a  long time... I think it shows in the discussion.

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