On the Playlist 31MAY2019…

Been a while since I have posted a playlist post and I can't believe that I haven't posted this artist yet. James Keelaghan and, in particular, his second album "Small Rebellions" which I originally had on tape and played a lot on road trips in my Honda Civic when I was in graduate school. James Keelaghan is originally from Calgary and studied at University of Calgary which is where I did my master's degree. I don't recall where I acquired the tape but once I had it, I played it a lot and was one of the tapes that was on a heavy rotation in the car. When I was in graduate school I bought a new Honda Civic hatchback. I loved that car and did a lot of camping in it. I would often just take off for a weekend and drive around Southern Alberta and British Columbia. I remember one particular trip down through Southern British Columbia driving through snow and listening to this album on the tape deck in between getting local CBC stations on the radio. Years later I was watching TV and there was a show about those roads called "Highway to Hell" and it brought back some memories of road trips back in the day. I love all the songs on this album but my favorite has to be Departure Bay. This is a song about taking the BC Ferry from Vancouver to Nanaimo. The harbor where the ferry leaves from is amazing and this song captures it perfectly. If you are ever in Vancouver you need to go out there just to see the ferry terminal and small town of Horseshoe bay. Keelaghan was a history major and his songs all relate to Canadian history or social concerns. Great stuff and the memories are flooding back of good times in Western Canada.

James Keelaghan - Small Rebellions

On the Playlist 23APR2019…

Went for a long walk during my daughter’s tennis lesson at the Great Park and put on some music that was recommended in the comments after one of my previous posts. I was listening to Heilung and their album Ofnir. As I was walking around the less developed areas of the Great Park and around the old buildings of the old El Toro Marine Air Base this music was perfect for that. So, Heilung is a very interesting band playing "folk" music from the early iron age in Northern Europe. To call their music "folk" is stretching the traditional meaning of that word a bit as it is a very interesting sound that you would be hard pressed to call folk if you listened to it. They use instruments that are made from things that would have been available to early iron age people so a lot of drums and things clanging together. What got me interested in them is their use of a Mongolian and Inuit singing technique called throat singing which loosely sounds like someone droning. This band is quite a trip. Their videos are something else as well with quite the performance and costumes. Thanks to Chris for the suggestion to check them out.

Heilung _ Ofnir

On the Playlist 27JUL2018…

Heading out for vacation this evening so what else would be on the playlist than "Leaving On a Jet Plane" by Peter, Paul and Mary. Corny I know but appropriate and I really am playing it right now as I am packing. Orignally written by John Denver the version by Peter, Paul and Mary is the most famous. This was their last hit and only one to reach no. 1. It was also used in commercials for United Airlines how appropriate.

Peter, Paul & Mary - Leaving On A Jet Plane

So as I will be off on vacation not sure if I will be doing many posts. I will definitely be listening to tunes on a playlist as I am head out with the kids for a road trip to Northern Canada. I am looking forward to listening to some CBC radio on the trip. Just thinking about some classic roadtrips I have done and some great shows on CBC radio - Royal Canadian Air Farce, Quirks and Quarks and others I can't recall.