Citr -- The Saturday Edge

2023 has seen some incredible new releases across the spectrum of musical styles we think of as "roots". Here is my first stab at my favourite selections of the year (Part Two will be on next week's show!)

A kitchen sink full of seasonal songs from around the world, culminating with the "traditional" flourish of Fairy Tale of New York, the Nativity scene from Monty Python's Life of Brian, and the only Latin song to reach Number One ever. Plus a few great new Winter albums from Vancouver, Yorkshire, Co. Durham, and Sweden!

A whole bunch of new music which has moved me this year, emanating from all around the world. A few hints and teasers for next weekend's Christmas Special on The Edge On Folk. And a few suggested titles for digital stocking stuffers for the music lovers on your tricky Gift List!

New releases from The Sahara, Indian Ocean, Atlantic islands, BC, Quebec, Ireland, Scotland, Cuba, Haiti, France, USA, and Germany plus a couple of songs about the latest leaks from the UK nuclear power station in Cumbria.

Tribute to The Pogues' singer and songwriter. I would not have had a radio show at all were it not for my old mate John "The Beard" McGovern, who sent me a copy of their debut album - Red Roses for Me. There are also previews of this week's Rogue concerts, and new music from around the globe including young Irish band Realta, and young Irish blues singer Muireann Bradley, NYC roots rockers Hazmat Modine, and Quebec's amazing La Bottine Souriante.

New music from Sahara, Congo, Cape Verde, La Reunion, Cuba, Argentina, India, Italy, Quebec, Ireland, Germany, Louisiana, New York, Scotland, and B.C. this week. Plus concert previews and nostalgia and amazing song titles. Just yer average Saturday morning, really!

Celebrating heaps of new music made right here in Vancouver, and across Canada, and beyond. So many creative minds and busy fingers hard at work striving to make this world a better place. Against all odds, you may say, but here I present over 50 musical selections demonstrating some of the wonders of the musical world around us. If you like this sort of music, go out and see a show and buy a CD. Let's keep the music alive. The planet will thank you, and reward you with her beauty. (Reminds me of a lovely wall graffiti I saw in Halifax, NS, many moons ago: "In the face of beauty, evil is lost!")

A power outage at UBC delayed the start of the show today, but thanks to the diligent work of Jasper Sloan Yip we were able to restart CiTR at around 26 minutes late. Started with a feature on Indian music to celebrate Diwali, the Hindu Festival Of Light. Then came a big segment of songs for and about Remembrance Day and a yearning for peace. Followed that with some exciting new Celtic music and ended the show with some more contemporary songs from across Canada, and over to England and Ireland

Bonfire Night (UK) coincides with the release of Bonfire, the new CD by Hazmat Modine. Lots more new stuff from across Canada and beyond. A lot of magic from amazing musicians, and a few magical songs, plus some local concert previews.

My annual Halloween Special, with lots of spooky songs and a few about the horrors of war, and some concert previews of course, and quite a bit of exhilarating Celtic music to keep that virtual magic carpet in - and on - the air!

Featuring music from the latest issue of Songlines Magazine, a feature on Anoushka Shankar - who played an amazing concert at The Chan Centre last week - and Spanish flamenco guitarist Juan Martín - who plays his first Vancouver concert in many a year next week. Plus a bit of nostalgia from CS&N - &Y, The Byrds, and Della Mae, and heaps of new music - much of it Celtic, from all across this country.

Features included a preview of Celtic Colours Finale concert, some songs about love and war, plenty of new releases from England, Wales, and Canada. Rogue concert previews. And some exhilarating music from Newfoundland, Denmark, Spain, and more.

One of Canada's signature music festivals runs this week in Cape Breton. How I wish I could be there! Next best thing: play music by most of the performers appearing there this week, and then tune in to the daily Live Streams from www.celtic-colours.com Also featured music gleaned from the pages of Songlines Magazine, famed UK world music monthly magazine - which comes with a sampler CD every month. Plus concert previews, including US blues singer Guy Davis, and a nod in the general direction of Steve Dawson's tribute shows to Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, which take place Oct 13 and 14 at West Van's Kay Meek Theatre.

The great bass player with Senegal's classic band died last month. He was the "fulcrum" around which the band swung. Memorable show at The Commodore a few years back really showed how much they were driven by him. This being SOCAN reporting week, I played as many Canadian acts as possible - including lots of concert highlights from the past 12 months and previews of upcoming shows. New releases too. This country's folk and roots music community is so creative and exciting right now!

New releases in the Blues, Celtic, R&B, and Singer Songwriter genres. Plus a whole heap of groovy tunes which demanded my attention. I hope it grabbed yours, too!

English blues singer and guitar wizard Brendan Croker died this week. Such a sad loss. I loved his first few recordings from back in the 80s, so I played a few songs today. Loads of new releases - mostly Canadian - and some concert previews of course.

Features this week include a tribute to Cape Breton singer Bruce Guthro, who passed away this week at the tender age of 62. He was a fine songwriter and also lead singer with Scottish band Runrig for over two decades. Also previewed concerts with Colleen Rennison (BC) and Winter Wilson (UK) this week in Vancouver. Plenty of new music from Songlines magazine, from across Canada, and from northern England.

A few new releases, some songs for Labour Day, more songs from last month's incredible line-up at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival, and previews of upcoming concerts in Vancouver coming up in the next few weeks.

We drove back from Edmonton through the smoke of wildfires, carrying new and newly-found music to reflect on another great year for the "Rolls Royce of Canadian Festivals". Plenty of highlights from EFMF again, and some local concert previews, new releases, a new song from Billy Bragg, and a little shout-out to what would have been Joe Strummer's 71st birthday this weekend.

Featuring many of the performers who impressed me at last weekend's Edmonton Folk Festival, plus some Rogue previews, new releases, and more. Recorded in my car on a windy and hot night in Kamloops - hence the less than perfect sound of my voice overs.