Mulligan Stew

Blackie and the Rodeo Kings are one of the most interesting bands working anywhere today. Sometimes they're in a recording studio time warp with more songs to choose from than Gabriel. Followed by tours and festivals everywhere. Then they disappear The punch line to the tale is, the Blackie guys have their own lives, careers and fan bases. What's most remarkable is, after more than 25 years, they are still a band and friends. For Example: Stephen Fearing is releasing his next album on March 13 - The Empathist. Wildly outstanding music. (We'll be talking again.) Stephen starts his Canadian tour at The Carleton Room in Halifax with two sold-out nights Feb 4-5. Kicks off album release March 13 at Mary Winspear in Sidney, Vancouver Island. Alberta dates March 21 Festival Place Sherwood Park, March 22 River Park Church Calgary. Colin Linden Colin continues to produce artists at his Pinhead Recorders in Nashville. He's also been touring with T Bone Burnett. He co-wrote and co-produced T Bone's latest album The Other Side. Next week Colin starts a new album, just in time to hit the road again. Colin begins his own tour - The Ride on Tour - on April 23, hitting Calgary on June 1 and Canmore on June 3. Tom and Terry Tom Wilson I'll just give you the short version. Re-recording songs, with son Thompson, from his play Beautiful Scars. Writing and recording soundtrack music for a number of projects including a film by Tanya Tagaq. Between his flourishing artwork, writing a new book, and starting a new album, Tom also enjoys the glow of an Order of Canada induction. That's the short version. Blackie - The Band. Plans are underway for dates in Canada. Winnipeg Folk Festival, Mariposa Folk Festival, Belmont Festival Edmonton (June 20) They are planning shows in Hamilton, Toronto where cameras will be filming. More events to come.

The fires outside Los Angeles had brought tragedy and carnage. Everything stopped for the firefighters, medical teams, first responders, the support teams and those affected directly by the wildfires. It's awards season in LA. The 2025 Critics Choice Film and TV Awards were to take place in January just as the fires were raging. Those fires and the conditions that swept them through homes and communities have subsided enough that the Critics Choice Awards are now taking place Friday, Feb 7th. 4-7 Pacific/7-10 East On E Channel It's also found on FuboTV and DirectTV and SlingTV. Firefighters and first responders will be honoured at the beginning of the broadcast. Our guests on this critic's roundtable are Hillary Atkin - The Atkin Report Los Angeles Shawn Edwards - Fox 4 Kansas City Reginald Ponder - The Reel Critic Chicago

Rhys Pender - Master of Wine/Little Farm Winery (Similkameen) Kathy Malone - Winemaker at Hillside Estate (Naramata Bench) There are so many elements in play during the 2025 BC wine-growing season. AND it's just started. Two cold snaps that damaged or killed many vines and vineyards over the past two Winters. It caused many growers to consider planting more winter-proof varietals and adjusting vineyard locations. Then came news that an agreement had been reached between Wine Growers of BC and the BC provincial government. While the new plantings were taking hold, in order to help farming families survive, for one year BC wineries could source their grapes from out of the province. Many headed for Washington. Some to Oregon, California, Ontario, the Frazer Valley and Vancouver Island. The last two BC wine regions were not hit by the cold. Some wineries flatly refused to use non-BC fruit. Soon, we'll all start to see labels that say something like "Washington grapes crafted in BC"! Have fun tasting the blends and varietals that we've never seen or tasted here before. You're supporting BC farmers and wineries at the same time. On Tasting Room Radio and this Podcast, we'll be doing a series of specials on how various wineries and growers have committed to survive and thrive. Who knows what their new direction may be. There's no denying it - BC Wines will be changing but there will be wines!!! Enjoy the conversation between myself and Master of Wine Rhys Pender and Winemaker at Hillside Estate on the Naramata Bench Kathy Malone. www.hillsidewinery.ca www.wineplus.ca www.littlefarmwinery.ca

BC Wine/Alberta wine fans. - Finally, a hug and a handshake. Our guest is Paul Saywer. Board Chair BC Wine Growers & leadership at Dirty Laundry (Summerland)

BC wineries can now ship Direct-To-Consumer in Alberta!

Starting this week, BC wineries who register can sell into Alberta; report and make payment to AGLC for the wine products they sell directly to consumers in Alberta.

Alberta is a huge market for BC wineries, so it is about time that the AGLC caught up, to allow this mutually beneficial relationship.

Al Hudec and I advocated against Alberta's blockade of BC wine one year ago. This is great news for BC wineries and growers. Hello Alberta wine fans!!! Paul Saywer takes us through the process that achieved this partnership. It took top-level government teams on both sides of the Alberta/BC border get this right. We thank those involved and Paul and the board at Wine Growers for speaking on our behalf. www.winebc.com www.dirtylaundry.ca

Welcome to 2025 all. Our guest is Oscar Lopez. 2 time Juno winner. 10 albums were released. Nothing usual about the words above, except that for several years Oscar had disappeared! From entertainment, media and life itself. This interview is his way of explaining how he went from winning two Juno awards and walking onto stages with loving audiences to living in his car on the streets of Calgary. Through tears, Oscar talks about the dark years he's been through. Mental and alcohol battles. Second guessing himself. With the help of his family members and an overflowing GoFundMe effort, he's finally found the peace and strength to find a place to call home and return to the stage. Jan 17/18 at La Bodeguita Stereo in Calgary

It's our first-ever Trans Canada Christmas - starring the Trans Canada Highwaymen. Steven Page - BNLadies and Steven Page Trio Moe Berg - Pursuit of Happiness Craig Northey - Odds and Steven Page Trio Chris Murphy - Sloan They are great friends, each with his band and career. What they have in common is a sense of the music they grew up with and a welcome sense of humour. These Christmas sessions began in the '70s at CBC Vancouver with Producer Susan Englebert: Shari Ulrich, Valdy, Terry Frewer, Roy Forbes, and several guests. 5-6 years of gathering around a series of microphones, playing Christmas songs and telling Christmas stories. Such fun. Sadly, we lost our friend Susan to cancer and the Christmas show to time itself. The concept returned at Roundhouse Radio in Vancouver in 2015 and we enjoyed three years of Christmas in the Round with Barney Bentall and his assorted friends. We've played all three years on past Christmas Stews. Now comes CKUA's turn to host the same tradition. Each Highwayman brings a Christmas song and stories of past Christmas tales. 5 songs in total. Craig Northey's was co-written with Brent Butt of Corner Gas. Steven's is about cheese logs. Chris's is about kids coming home and Moe's is the Christmas Classic Mistletoe and Holly. They finish with Do they know it's Christmas. Thank you to Arianne, Duke, Jasmine, and Bren for their production skills in bringing this show to air. Amazing work. And to Corey Wood for his skills and friendship in the edit and graphic studio here on Vancouver Island.

Liam Mayclem and I met doing interviews at film junkets weekends in LA, NYC, Chicago etc. Me from Vancouver. He from San Fransisco. We talked about two things -Movies and Wine. Now Liam moves at a speed most humans couldn't and wouldn't abide. He's become an essential key to San Fransisco's dynamic hospitality, culinary and wine communities. The Host of Food Chap, CBS radio and TV. His foodie chap podcast etc. and any charity that needs a razor sharp auctioneer or host or both. Liam has always stayed in touch and always keen to know about the BC wine industry and food scene. Here's his latest podcast interview - with yours truly. www.bookliam.com

We're nearing the end of a volatile year in BC Wine. It featured wildfires, floods, COVID, road closures, price, tax and wage increases and two cold snaps over two Winters. Vineyards were damaged or destroyed by the freeze. Wineries and growers were facing a 2025 with little or no wines to cellar and sell. The Wine Industry and Government leadership came up with a plan to allow BC Wineries to harvest next year's fruit this year in Washington, Oregon, California, Ontario and The Cowichan Valley. As long as the label states "Crafted in BC" and the process is transparent. Will BC wine fans buy their favourite labels if the fruit comes from another region? If they like the new juice, will they still embrace their original BC wines? What gets replanted, and what new varietals will we see growing in the new BC? So much to consider. Which is why we've invited four of the most connected leaders from the BC wine industry to share opinions, suggestions and creative ideas over the course of an hour. They are: Cristine Coletta: Co-Owner Okanagan Crush Pad. For 9 years, executive director of the BC Wine Institute! Specialist in marketing and branding wine. www.okanagancrushpad.com DJ Kearney - Wine Director The Terminal City Club. Wine Educator at large. @djwines www.tcclub.com Rhys Pender - Master of Wine. Co-owner of Little Farm Wine. Similkameen Valley www.wineplus.ca Lauren Skinner Buksevics- Director of Sales and Marketing Painted Rock. Okanagan Falls. Member of the Wine Growers of BC Board. @paintedrocklaur @paintedrockwine www.paintedrock.ca www.winebc.com www.totabc.org

Jim Cuddy guests on Mulligan Stew Saturday.

He's on stage Saturday with The Jim Cuddy Band at the National Art Center Ottawa and Wednesday next at Massey Hall. Then Jim and Blue Rodeo partner Greg Keelor head for The Whistler Film Fest Dec 6-8 For the premier of their documentary Lost Together.

2025 will be a celebration of Blue Rodeo's 40th anniversary. Lots to talk about. Complete interview on Mulligan Stew Podcast and terrydavidmulligan YouTube channel

Lisa Ahier is known far and wide as the owner and chef at Sobo in Tofino. Sobo is the kind of dining and room you like so much, you send all your best friends there. It's the centre of the town. Locals meet there for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Lisa has moved on from Sobo and is now making notes for her third book and has become the darling of this years Top Chef competition. Five shows in and she's still there, the oldest competitor since they started years ago. We have lots to talk about - lean in, it's a hoot. https://www.instagram.com/lisaahier/