Even though most of us are pretty sick of Christmas music by now, there are some songs that you just need to hear every year, and we’re here to present the almost ultimate list of essential Christmas songs, as well as some great ones that you probably won’t hear anywhere else. Good music makes Christmas much more bearable, so hopefully, these songs will make your days a little more merry and bright!

Artist – Song Title – Album Title – CDN=Canadian – MB=Manitoba Artist – WPG=Winnipeg artist

Teddy Thompson – Boycotting Christmas – single
The Pogues – Fairytale of New York – If I Should Fall From Grace With God
Belle Plaine – Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis – The Unrequited Love – CDN
Steve Earle – Nothing But a Child – Copperhead Road
Skydiggers – Good King Wenceslas – Still Restless: The Lost Tapes – CDN
The Kelele Brothers – Father Christmas – Has-Beens & Wives – CDN
David Myles – Santa Never Brings Me a Banjo – It’s Christmas – CDN

Robert Earl Keen – Merry Christmas from the Family – No. 2 Live Dinner
Robert Earl Keen – Happy Holidays Y’all – Walking Distance
Mike Plume – Merry Xmas to my Ex-Miss – Back Home For Christmas – CDN
Lindi Ortega – All I Want for Christmas Is a Cowboy – Tennessee Christmas – CDN
Hayes Carll – Grateful for Christmas – Kmag Yoyo (& Other American Stories)
The Mavericks – Hey! Merry Christmas! – Hey! Merry Christmas!

Steeleye Span – Cadgwith Anthem – All Around My Hat
Steve Earle – Christmas in Washington – El Corazon
Calexico – Green Grows the Holly – Holidays Rule
John Prine – Christmas in Prison – Sweet Revenge
Beards – Incarcerated Christmas – Christmas
Paul Kelly – How to Make Gravy – Words And Music

Swank! – Santa Claus Is Out on Bail – Christmas Is Fun – CDN
NQ Arbuckle – Christmas in Hell – single – CDN
Mary Gauthier – Christmas in Paradise – Filth & Fire
Otis Gibbs – Crap for Christmas – Once I Dreamed of Christmas
John McCauley III – Christmas in a Chinese Restaurant – live recording
The Details – Strings and Ribbons – single – CDN – WPG
Off the Wagon – Kiss Me Christmas Eve – River City Christmas – CDN – WPG

It must be getting painfully close to the holidays, because we find ourselves seeing double, triple, and even quadruple on today’s show, as we profile some great artists, as well as playing some great German requests, some new music and announcements, and much more!

Artist – Song Title – Album Title – CDN=Canadian – MB=Manitoba Artist – WPG=Winnipeg artist

Paul Kelly – How to Make Gravy – Words and Music
Paul Kelly – With the One I Love – Nature
Paul Kelly – God Told Me To – Stolen Apples
Paul Kelly – Coming Back for More (w/Clairy Brown) – The Merri Soul Sessions
Rheostatics – Me and Stupid – Introducing Happiness – CDN
Sarah Harmer – Just Get Here – The Al Purdy Songbook – CDN

Rheostatics Loving Arms – The Story of Harmelodia – CDN
Good Lovelies – Hurry Home – Under the Mistletoe – CDN
Po’ Girl – Ain’t Life Sweet – Home To You – CDN
Donovan Woods – I Live a Little Lie – Both Ways – CDN
Sarah Jane Scouten – When the Bloom Falls From the Rose – When the Bloom Falls From the Rose – CDN
Ron Hawkins – Kind of the Only Blues (w/Stephen Stanley) – live performance – CDN

Ben de la Cour – Company Town – The High Cost of Living Strange
Ben de la Cour – Brandywine Bouquet – Midnight in Havana
Ben de la Cour – (Ain’t Going) Down that Road – Midnight in Havana
John Blek – The Body (w/Joan Shelley) – Thistle & Thorn
John Blek – Salt in the Water – Catharsis Vol. 1

John Blek – Ruby Blood – Cut the Light
John Blek & the Rats – Calling Out My Name – Leave Your Love at the Door
Anna Mitchell – Radio Waves – Anna Mitchell
Ags Connolly – I Hope You’re Unhappy – Nothin’ Unexpected
Jess Klein – Back to My Green – Back to My Green
The Wicks – Hale-Bopp 1997 – Leaning in the Sun – CDN
The Wicks – Ghosts of Summer – Leaning in the Sun – CDN

Great music galore today, with some new music, the first two announcements for the almighty Static Roots Festival in July, German requests, solid classics, and more!

Artist – Song Title – Album Title – CDN=Canadian – MB=Manitoba Artist – WPG=Winnipeg artist

Hayes Carll – Jesus and Elvis – What It is
Susto – Homeboy – Ever Since I Lost My Mind
The Decemberists – Traveling On – Traveling On EP
Rose Cousins & Don Brownrigg – Little Road to Bethlehem – single – CDN
Joe Nolan – I’m Just Looking for your Heart – recorded live on UMFM – CDN
Joe Nolan – Stand Up for your Love – Cry Baby – CDN

Luke Tuchscherer – When the Dream Dies – Always Be True
Luke Tuchscherer – Darling, It’s Just Too Hard to Love – You Get so Alone at Times That It Just Makes Sense
Caroline Spence – More Than Christmas – single
Gabriel Kahane – Little Love – Book of Travelers
Chris Smither – Killin’ the Blues – Happier Blue
Green on Red – Frozen in my Headlights – Too Much Fun

Dylan LeBlanc – Easy Way Out – Cautionary Tale
Blue Rodeo – Never Look Back – The Things We Left Behind – CDN
Jay Farrar & Benjamin Gibbard – These Roads Don’t Move – One Fast Move Or I’m Gone Music From Kerouac’s Big Sur
Patty Griffin – Heavenly Day – Children Running Through
Ry Cooder – I Can’t Win – Bop Till You Drop
Band Of Horses – Marry Song – Cease to Begin
Band Of Horses – Detlef Schrempf – Cease to Begin

The Weakerthans – Pamphleteer – Left and Leaving – CDN – WPG
Nathan – John Paul’s Deliveries – Key Principles – CDN – WPG
Blue Shadows – Deliver Me – On The Floor Of Heaven – CDN
Del Barber – Big Smoke – Prairieography – CDN – WPG
Kelly Willis & Bruce Robison – Baby, It’s Cold Outside – Happy Holidays

It’s December once again, and with some great music, we’ll surely make it through, so we kicked off with some survival-empowering songs, moseyed into some great new music, some German requests, some of the very best of 2018, and looked at a few of our favourite CFMA winners and nominees!

Artist – Song Title – Album Title – CDN=Canadian – MB=Manitoba Artist – WPG=Winnipeg artist

Oh Susanna & Michael Johnston – City Snow – Decemberly – CDN
Blue Shadows – If We Make It Through December – On The Floor Of Heaven – Deluxe Re-issue – CDN
Chris Trapper – This December – It’s Christmas Time
The Minus 5 – See You in December – Dear December
Shannon Lyon – December Song – Naive – CDN
Shannon Lyon – The Price that I Pay – X-Mas In Korea – CDN
NQ Arbuckle – XOK – XOK – CDN
Altameda – Rolling Back To You – Time Hasn’t Changed You – CDN

The Bright Light Social Hour – Harder Out Here (“Sneaky Pete” Main Title Theme) – single
Craig Finn & John K Samson and the Uptown Controllers – Wrecking Ball – Don’t Stop Now II: A Collection of Covers
Abigail Lapell – Gonna Be Leaving – Getaway – CDN
Dustin Bentall – Not Been Sleeping – single – CDN
Don Brownrigg – Room for Me – Fireworks – CDN
Jennah Barry – Roller Disco – single – CDN

The Chestnuts – Rudolph The Black-Eyed Reindeer – single
May Erlewine – Grateful – Mother Lion
Uncle Tupelo – No Depression – No Depression
Golden Smog – Radio King – Down By The Old Mainstream
Jeff Tweedy – Don’t Forget – WARM
Dave McEathron – His Mother Named Him Angel – Abandoned Companions & the Abandoned Companions Companion Piece – CDN
Dave McEathron – I Will – Abandoned Companions & the Abandoned Companions Companion Piece – CDN

Jonathan Byrd – Tractor Pull – The Pickup Cowboys
Jonathan Byrd – When the Well Runs Dry – The Pickup Cowboys
The Lynnes – Recipe for Disaster – Heartbreak Song for the Radio – CDN
Rob Lutes – There’s No Way to Tell You That Tonight – Walk in the Dark – CDN
Pharis & Jason Romero – Salt and Powder – Sweet Old Religion – CDN
Raine Hamilton – Lift Me Up – Night Sky – CDN – WPG
Kellie Loder – Telescope – Benefit of the Doubt – CDN
Catherine MacLellan – Thorn in my Shoe – If It’s Alright With You – The Songs of Gene MacLellan – CDN

A large part of this episode was inspired by a fine night of country music this weekend put together by Sean Burns of CKUW’s Boots & Saddle. We spun some of his special guests and some of the great classics covered on stage. We also got back into playing German requests, took a trip to Mexico, and spun some Steel Belted style roots-rock classics. Best of all, we were joined by co-host, Jeremy, The Whispering Ghost.

Artist – Song Title – Album Title – CDN=Canadian – MB=Manitoba Artist – WPG=Winnipeg artist

Loudon Wainwright III – Surviving Twin – Surviving Twin
Gene Autry – Take Me Back to my Boots & Saddle – Back In the Saddle Again
Patsy Cline – I Fall to Pieces – Greatest Hits
Darrell Scott – You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive – Aloha From Nashville
Sol James – Here’s to Drinkin’ – Sol James – CDN – WPG
Skinny Dyck & Friends – Willow Tree (Shaela Miller) – Twenty One-Nighters – CDN

Mel Tillis – Mental Revenge – Stateside
John Prine – Spanish Pipedream – John Prine
Merle Haggard – I’m A Lonesome Fugitive – I’m A Lonesome Fugitive
Buck Owens – Streets of Bakersfield – Buck ‘Em! Volume 2: The Music Of Buck Owens (1967-1975)
Sean Burns – Big Freightliner – Music for Taverns, Bars, And Honky Tonks – CDN – WPG
Glen Hansard – Her Mercy – Didn’t He Ramble
Laura Gibson – Damn Sure – Empire Builder
Cat Clyde – The Meadow – Ivory Castanets
The Haden Triplets – Raining Raining – The Haden Triplets

Geoff Berner – Phoney Drawl – Canadiana Grotesquica – CDN
James Taylor – Mexico – Gorilla
Mia Sheard – Mexico Texaco – Reptilian – CDN
Gob Iron – Hills of Mexico – Death Songs for the Living
The Grapes of Wrath – Mexico – High Road – CDN

The Lowest of the Low – Letter from Bilbao – live recording – CDN
Skydiggers – Radio Waves – Road Radio – CDN
Junkhouse – Gimme the Love – Strays – CDN
Jim Bryson – Impaler – The Occasionals – CDN
Matthew Ryan – Heartache Weather – East Autumn Grin
Three O’Clock Train – It’s Not Worth It – Cuatro de Los Ángeles – CDN

If great new music is on your wish list this year, we’ve got you covered with some great new releases and even some new Christmas music that doesn’t suck! We also curl up on the couch for some Netflix time and pay tribute to the late, great Ron Hynes.

Artist – Song Title – Album Title – CDN=Canadian – MB=Manitoba Artist – WPG=Winnipeg artist

Gordon Lightfoot – Song for a Winter’s Night – The Way I Feel – CDN
The Mavericks – Christmas Time Is (Coming Once Again) – Hey! Merry Christmas!
JD McPherson – Hey Skinny Santa! – SOCKS
Old 97’s – Love The Holidays – Love The Holidays
Christina Martin – This Christmas – single – CDN
Nathan – Favorite Things – Maybe This Christmas, Vol .8 – CDN – WPG
Malcolm Holcombe – Merry Christmas – Come Hell or High Water
Rodney Crowell – Let’s Skip Christmas This Year – Christmas Everywhere

John K. Samson – Saturday Night On Utopia Parkway – single – CDN – WPG
Kelly Willis – If I Had a Rose (Bruce Robison) – single
Liv Wade – Be the Belly – single
Sarah MacDougall – Animal – All the Hours I Have Left to Tell You Anything – CDN
The Dill – Divorce in Open D – Greetings from the Dill – CDN
Candi Staton with Jason Isbell & John Paul White – I Ain’t Easy to Love – Muscle Shoals: Small Town, Big Sound
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Hope the High Road – Live from the Ryman
Hayes Carll – None’ya – What It Is

The Deep Dark Woods – All the Money I Had Is Gone – Winter Hours – CDN
Gillian Welch – Carefree Drifter – The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Tim Blake Nelson – Little Joe the Wrangler (Surly Joe) – The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Midland – East Bound And Down – single
Gregory Alan Isakov – If I Go, I’m Goin’ – This Empty Northern Hemisphere

Ken Tizzard – My Father’s Ghost – A Good Dog Is Lost: A Collection of Ron Hynes Songs – CDN
Terry Kelly – How Far Can a Little Girl Fall – Face To Face – CDN
Murray McLauchlan – No Change in Me – Gulliver’s Taxi – CDN
Del Barber & The No Regretzkys – Sawchuk – The Puck Drops Here – CDN – WPG
Ron Hynes – Sonny’s Dream – Face to the Gale – CDN
Ron Hynes – No Kathleen – Cryer’s Paradise – CDN
Ron Hynes – A Good Dog Is Lost – Get Back Change – CDN
Lennie Gallant – Saying Goodbye to Ron – Time Travel – CDN

Songs of remembrance, an extended, unofficial contribution to InternatioNeil Young Day/Neilfest, exciting upcoming reunion shows, and more!

Artist – Song Title – Album Title – CDN=Canadian – MB=Manitoba Artist – WPG=Winnipeg artist

Mike Plume – On Remembrance Day – single – CDN
Neil Young – Downtown – Mirror Ball – CDN
Neil Young – Freedom – Crime in the City (Sixty to Zero, Pt. 1) – CDN
Stephen Fearing – Thrasher – Borrowed Tunes: A Tribute to Neil Young – CDN

Skydiggers – Mr. Soul – Borrowed Tunes: A Tribute to Neil Young – CDN
Rheostatics/Bourbon Tabernacle Choir – Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere – Borrowed Tunes: A Tribute to Neil Young – CDN
Lori McKenna – The Needle and the Damage Done – Cinnamon Girl: Women Artists Cover Neil Young for Charity
Neko Case – Dreaming Man – Canadian Amp
Gillian Welch – Pocahantas – Music From The Revelator Collection (Live)
The Wailin’ Jennys – Old Man – 40 Days – CDN – WPG
Kathleen Edwards – Only Love – Live Session (iTunes Exclusive) – EP – CDN
Joey Gregorash – Down by the River – Tell the People – CDN – WPG

John Blek & The Rats – Ohio – live recording
John Blek & The Rats – Don’t Let It Bring You Down – live recording
Cordovas – Down by the River (w/Anthony da Costa & Charlie Whitten) – live recording
The Wheat Pool – Neil Young – Township – CDN
Will + The Bushmen – Neil Young – Gawk
Trent Dabbs – Neil Young – Southerner

NQ Arbuckle – Part of a Poem by Alden Knowlan Called Ypes: 1915 – XOK – CDN
Jon Brooks – Sgt. Tommy Prince – Ours and the Shepherds – CDN
Jon Brooks – War Resister – Moth nor Rust – CDN
Mary Gauthier – The War After the War – Rifles and Rosary Beads
Off the Wagon – 74 Backdoor – Off the Wagon – CDN – WPG
Off the Wagon – Gimme a Squirt of That (Root Beer Lake) – Off the Wagon – CDN – WPG
The Details – Always, Always, Always, Never – Draw a Distance, Draw a Border – CDN – WPG

This week, we’ve got plenty of new music, including two long-awaited projects from our old friend Dave McEathron, formerly of the mighty Warped 45s, who joins us on the phone to tell us all about what he’s been up to!

Artist – Song Title – Album Title – CDN=Canadian – MB=Manitoba Artist – WPG=Winnipeg artist

Christina Martin – Always Reminding – Impossible to Hold – CDN
Jim Bryson – Cut Bait – Tired of Waiting – CDN
The Warped 45s – Live Bait – Matador Sunset – CDN
Blue Rodeo – Never Look Back – The Things We Left Behind – CDN
The Pursuit of Happiness – Let My People Go – Love Junk (Deluxe) – CDN

Whitehorse – 2000 Miles – A Whitehorse Winter Classic – CDN
Whitehorse – Baby, Scratch My Back – The Northern South Vol. 2 – CDN
T. Buckley – Long Highway – Miles We Put Behind – CDN
Doug Paisley – Drinking with a Friend – Starter Home – CDN
Lennie Gallant – Saying Goodbye to Ron – Time Travel – CDN

Dave McEathron – Curse on All Your Names – The Abandoned Companions Companion Piece – CDN
Dave McEathron – The Tears that I Gave Her – Abandoned Companions – CDN

Dave McEathron interview

Dave McEathron – Twist – The Abandoned Companions Companion Piece – CDN
Dave McEathron – Hell to the Heavens – Abandoned Companions – CDN
The Warped 45s – Hurdle River Crossing – Matador Sunset – CDN
Darlingside – Extralife – Extralife
Gold Star – Come with Me – Big Blue
Alana Levandoski – Don’t Be Denied – Borrowed Tunes II: A Tribute to Neil Young – CDN – MB

Today we’ve got a probable candidate for Best Album of 2018 honours, some great new singles, German requests, a conversation with our good buddy Joe Nolan, and much more!

Artist – Song Title – Album Title – CDN=Canadian – MB=Manitoba Artist – WPG=Winnipeg artist

Joe Nolan – Did Somebody Call the Cops – Tornado – CDN – CDN
Jonathan Byrd & the Pickup Cowboys – Lakota Sioux – Pickup Cowboy
Jonathan Byrd & the Pickup Cowboys – Fish Out of Water – Pickup Cowboy
Jonathan Byrd & the Pickup Cowboys – Do You Dream – Pickup Cowboy

Mark Erelli – By Degrees (w/Rosanne Cash, Sheryl Crow, Lori McKenna, Anais Mitchell, and Josh Ritter) – https://www.bydegreessong.com/
Anna Tivel – Fenceline – single
Jess Klein – Mammal – single
Bob Schneider – Lost – single

Joe Nolan interview

Joe Nolan – Another Dead Poet – Cry Baby – CDN

Mipso – People Change – Edges Run
Laura Veirs – Ether Sings – Carbon Glacier
Herman Dune – I Wish that I Could See You Soon – Giant
Lydia Loveless – Longer – Real
Joe Nolan – Music in the Streets – Cry Baby – CDN

D.B. Rielly – Your Stupid Face – Live from Chester
D.B. Rielly – Tito Puente – Live from Chester
D.B. Rielly – Don’t Think So Much – Live from Chester
Corin Raymond – Morning Glories – Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams – CDN
The Bottle Rockets – Doomsday Letter – Bit Logic
Deer Tick – Hey! Yeah! – Mayonnaise
The Pursuit of Happiness – Consciousness Raising as a Social Tool – Love Junk
The Pursuit of Happiness – When the Sky Comes Falling Down – Love Junk

Pledge-O-Rama is over and was a huge success once again, thanks to our kind and generous listeners! This week, we’re back doing what we always do, playing new music and chatting about concerts, past and future, including a special show coming up this week with two local talents who joined us in-studio for some conversation, song, and German breakfast, Kerji Stephens and Justin Lacroix!

Artist – Song Title – Album Title – CDN=Canadian – MB=Manitoba Artist – WPG=Winnipeg artist

Blackie & The Rodeo Kings – Down by the Henry Moore – Let’s Frolic Again – CDN
Murray McLauchlan – Burned Out Car – Gulliver’s Taxi – CDN
Ron Hynes – No Change In Me – Get Back Change – CDN
Emily Burgess – Are We In Love? – Are We In Love? – CDN
Mayhemingways – Haybales – Skip Land – CDN
Adam Holmes & The Embers – Oh My God – The Mark Radcliffe Folk Sessions: Adam Holmes & The Embers

The Brandos – Gettysburg – Town to Town, Sun to Sun (Live in Germany, October 2007)
Amelia Curran – Years – Spectators – CDN
Jann Arden – Unloved – Living Under June – CDN
Matt Epp – Stop Dragging My Heart Around (w/Christina Martin) – single – CDN
Sweet Alibi – Crawling Back to You – single – CDN – WPG
Matt Mays & Terra Lightfoot – Learning to Fly – single – CDN

Kerji Stephens & Justin Lacroix – Put On Another Record – live performance – CDN – WPG
Kerji Stephens & Justin Lacroix – Out in the Streets – live performance – CDN – WPG
Kerji Stephens & Justin Lacroix – Amsterdam – live performance – CDN – WPG
Kerji Stephens & Justin Lacroix – The Visitor – live performance – CDN – WPG

Kerji Stephens – Incomplete Masterpiece – Hunted & Hunter – CDN – WPG
Justin Lacroix – Lovers Weep – Sweet Time of Mine – CDN – WPG
Dave Quanbury – Ghost Daughters – Still Life with Canadian – CDN – WPG
Joe Nolan – Autumn Sky – Tornado – CDN
Joe Nolan – Dead Ends & Damaged Hearts – Cry Baby – CDN