Royal City Rag, January 23 – Organic Food, Hillside Inside And Tributes To Kate And Paul

Royal City Rag on January 23 had everything – great music, informative interviews and lots of technical knob-twiddling to keep me on my toes… even if I was a little short of sleep after a late night attending Tannis Slimmon’s fabulous show at the River Run!

Kate McGarrigle

We started off the show with a short musical tribute to Kate McGarrigle who passed away this week.

Following up on the appreciation that appeared on the Royal City Rag blog we played two songs, “Heart Like A Wheel” from the album Kate and Anna McGarrigle followed by “Walking Song” from Dancer With Bruised Knees. A tremendous loss.

Check out both these albums if you don’t have them. I’m sure Ground Floor Music will order them in if required. You’ll not be disappointed.

Organic Conference Trade Show

Later in the hour we talked to Mike Driscoll, media co-ordinator with the 29th Organic Conference.

The conference takes place at the University of Guelph from  January 28-31.

With workshops for novices and producers, as well as a great trade show and food fair in the University Centre there is something for everyone.

Listen to Hour 1:

Paul Quarrington

We started off the second hour with a musical tribute to Toronto writer and musician Paul Quarrington, another sad loss this week.

Paul, a stalwart of the Eden Mills Writers Festival, is best known as the writer of “Whale Music” a novel about a burned-out rock star, brought to life, so memorably on screen, by Maury Chaykin.

An inspiration to us all, Paul continued working right up to the end, leaving behind a legacy of music and writings to be released posthumously.

In a fitting tribute to a man that lived life with such passion, we played the song “Bon Vivant” from Paul’s own blues boogie band, Porkbelly Futures. We followed that with an absolutely a gorgeous song by Buddy and Julie Miller, “Don’t Say Goodbye” (featuring Patti Griffin on backing vocals) from the album Written In Chalk. Paul Quarrington, another great Canadian who will be sorely missed.

Later in the hour we continued the organic food theme with Shannon Lee Stirling and Kristi Mahy.

Shannon (formerly with Backyard Bounty, and now at Foodshare) has a workshop about urban agriculture taking place on Sunday, January 31 from 9.30 – 11.30 a.m. Kristi has a workshop about growing your own fresh greens during the winter months on January 26 at the Guelph Youth Music Centre at 7.00 p.m.

British songer-songwriter and activist Martyn Joseph is a special favourite of Royal City Rag. We played another beautiful song from Martyn, “All This Time” from Don’t Talk About Love. Martin is currently on tour in Canada. Unfortunately he won’t be coming to Guelph though he does have three dates in southern Ontario:

• February 11, Hugh`s Room, 2261 Dundas St West, Toronto, 416-531-6604
• February 12, Grafton Town Hall, 10836 Hwy 2, Grafton, 905-349-3715
• February 13, Market Hall Theatre, 340 George St N, Peterborough, 705-743-3372

We’re hoping to have Martyn on Royal City Rag for an interview while he’s in Canada. Stay tuned for that.

Later in the show we talked to Paula Perri from the Hillside Festival about Hillside Inside, the archetypal summer festival’s younger cousin taking place on February 6 in the Sleeman Centre. We’ll be following up on this interview with a live appearance by Marie Zimmerman (Royal city Rag’s Culture Vulture Marie) on next weeks show (January 30). Marie is currently the executive director of the Hillside Festival, and, probably one of the busiest people on the planet at the moment. It will be great to have her back.

Another busy but fun show. I hope you enjoyed it.

Listen to Hour 2:

Music:
Kate And Anne McGarrigle, Heart Like A Wheel from Kate And Anne McGarrigle
Kate And Anne McGarrigle, Walking Song from Dancer With Bruised Knees
Martyn Joseph, All This Time from Don’t Talk About Love
Kris Kristofferson, Dear John from Closer To The Bone
Monsters Of Folk, The Right Place from Monsters Of Folk
Pork Belly Futures, Bon Vivant from Porkbelly Futures
Buddy And Judy Miller, Don’t Say Goodbye from Written In Chalk
Hawksley Workman, All The Trees Are Hers from Between The Beautifuls
Kate And Anne McGarrigle, Kiss And Say Goodbye from Kate And Anne McGarrigle

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Coming Up On Royal City Rag – Organic Food, Growing Your Own And Hillside Inside

We have another hectic Royal City Rag planned for January 23. This week we’ll be focusing on the 29th Organic Conference, and their theme, Our Canadian Identity. The conference takes place at the University of Guelph from  January 28-31.

We’ll be talking to Mike Driscoll from the organising committee about the conference and following that with an interview with Shannon Lee Stirling (formerly with Backyard Bounty, and now at Foodshare) about urban agriculture.

Kristi Mahy will also be popping by to talk about how you can grow your own fresh food during the winter months. Kristi has a workshop on January 26 at the Guelph Youth Music Centre at 7.00 p.m.

Later in the show we’ll be talking to Paula Perri from the Hillside Festival about Hillside Inside, the archetypal summer festival’s younger cousin taking place on February 6 in the Sleeman Centre.

As usual, we’ll be mixing it all up with some cool music and event listings.

Sounds like another fun show. Hope you can join us!

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