Show Notes
Last Oct 11, Mariel Buckley joined us from a motel room in New Mexico ( I think) as she was touring following the release of her latest album, Strange Trip Ahead. On Saturday night, Mariel and the album won a Juno Award for the 2026 Contemporary Roots Album of the Year. At 3 a.m., I was digging into the audio archives looking for this interview. And I've been following the Coffee Walks that Alan Doyle has been doing on Facebook as he toured Canada. Alan takes a camera and walks around the towns and cities he's playing in, looking for the best coffee, and through the walk finds the heart and soul of the city. When he got to Victoria and the end of the tour, it became apparent that we should repeat our Feb 10 interview covering the release of his latest EP, Already Dancing. Alan heads for the USA next week but returns June 27 to headline one of the FIFA Fan Festival concerts in Vancouver. His latest book is The Smiling Land, in which he reveals how little he knows about Newfoundland and Labrador. It's a wonderful read.
More from Mulligan Stew
Bruce Cockburn has spent more than five decades writing some of the most enduring songs in Canadian music, and on his new album, The Blood of Others, coming Oct. 16, he turns his attention to the songs that shaped him long before he wrote a single lyric of his own. The album gathers material written by others, tracing a musical lineage that stretches from the gospel and blues records he heard as a child in Ottawa to the folk clubs and coffeehouses where he first found his voice. "What began back in the 80s as a vague notion grew over time into a strong desire to put together a collection of material, written by others, that I found sticking to the edges of my musical landscape," Bruce explained. Few songs on the record carry the personal resonance of "I'll Be Seeing You." Bruce described hearing a version on the radio in the '90s, in the aftermath of what he called "a brief but heart-opening relationship," and mishearing a lyric that reshaped how he understood the song. "I thought that version ended with the line, I'll be looking at someone, but I'll be seeing you," he said. "That's not in the original lyrics. They only refer to the moon, but it hit me in a powerful way." That memory led him to give the song a rhythmic treatment inspired by "I Only Have Eyes for You." "The accumulation of these songs started in the 60s, before I'd even begun to try to create my own." He sings That's All Right, not Elvis' version but Arthur Crudup's. Yellow Dog Blues was the first song he ever sang on stage as himself. He tells us he was terrified" To honour Bruce and his legacy, we play covers of various Cockburn songs by Frazey Ford BN Ladies, k.d.lang Wonderful storytelling here, which is why I recommend the Mulligan Stew Podcast: The complete version of Bruce's Story
Amos Garrett. Guitarist, singer, trombonist, born in Detroit on 26 Nov 1941. Amos played lead guitar 1968-70 for Ian and Sylvia (appearing on their groundbreaking country-rock LP, Great Speckled Bird). Moving to Woodstock, NY, in 1970, Amos toured and/or recorded with Maria Muldaur, Paul Butterfield's Better Days, Todd Rundgren, Jesse Winchester, and others. His solo on Muldaur's 1974 hit 'Midnight at the Oasis' is considered a classic of its kind and is typical of the style that has been highly influential on other pop, rock and blues guitarists.
We have a total of 10 Guests. Nine of them come from the hot-rising Edmonton band Second Hand Dream Car. For the first time, all 9 members showed up to talk.
I lovingly think of Steve Dawson as the Swiss Army Knife of music. Player.Producer. Writer. Arranger. Mentor. Creator. Recording engineer. Specializes in guitar and pedal steel. Touring band member for Allison Russell's Birds of Chicago and Matt Anderson. First noticed Steve as half of Zubot and Dawson. Then long time producer / co-writer for Jim... The post EP 403 | Steve Dawson and the Volcano Brothers-New Album appeared first on Mulligan Stew.