Barking Dog: March 12, 2026
Ellen Froese - Bellflower Blue
Contemporary artist who grew up on a dairy farm in Saskatchewan
This is a new single, released in advance of her album Solitary Songs, out on May 6th
Zachary Lucky - Mole in the Ground
He’s a musician from Saskatchewan, and this is from his new album The Lost River Sessions, which came out on February 27th
It’s a traditional American folk song that’s been widely commercially recorded
Lassana Diabaté - The Farmer’s Tune
Diabaté is a musician, composer, researcher, and balafón maker who comes from a well-known family of Guinean balafón masters
He began performing with his father at the age of 10, and has since performed with artists including the famous Malian singer Ami Koita, kora virtuoso Toumani Diabaté, Taj Mahal, and Kronos Quartet
This comes from his album Bala, which is part of an ongoing collaboration between Diabaté and ethnomusicologist Marcia Ostashewski, the director of the Centre for Sound Communities at Cape Breton University in Nova Scotia
Bala is the first full-length balafón-only album to be recorded
This is his arrangement of a tune called “Jawura,” which was traditionally played as a work song for farmers as they tilled the land
It honours the descendants of a warrior named Tiramakan, who fought alongside the emperor of Mali in the 13th century
Brìghde Chaimbeul - Bog an Lochan
She’s a Scottish smallpipes player who works in the Celtic experimental genre
She’ll be appearing at this year’s Folk Fest, and this one is off her album Sunwise, which came out in June of 2025
The title translates to “The Bog of the Small Loch,” and the melody is from a traditional Scottish reel that’s associated with gaelic folk dance
Enoch Kent - The Murder of Ginger Goodwin
A Scottish-born folksinger now based in Canada, who began playing professionally in the 1950s
That one is from his 2010 album Take a Trip With Me
Ginger Goodwin was a coal miner from England who advocated for unions and worker’s rights in British Columbia in the early 20th century
He was murdered by a member of the British Columbia Provincial Police in 1918, and his death led to the very first general strike held in Canada, which lasted for one day but was a precursor to the Winnipeg general strike of 1919, as well as several other labour actions in the country
Pete Seeger - From Way up Here
Seeger was a folk singer and an activist from New York who advocated for countless social causes through his music for 75 years
He wrote the music for this song, and the lyrics are by Malvina Reynolds
This version is from his 1982 album God Bless the Grass
Dave Van Ronk - Buckets of Rain
This is a song by Bob Dylan, off his 1975 album Blood on the Tracks
Van Ronk recorded it in 2001
Thomas Fraser - Tis’ Sweet to Be Remembered
He was a Scottish fisherman and farmer who left behind thousands of home recordings when he died in 1978, the majority of which were country and blues songs
His grandson rediscovered the tapes and released the first album of his music in 2002, followed shortly after by two more albums
This is from the 2003 album You and My Old Guitar
The song is by American bluegrass artist Mac Wiseman, who wrote it in 1946
Karen Dalton - Shuckin’ Sugar Blues
American singer, guitarist, and banjo player known for her association with the 60s Greenwich Village folk music scene—including with artists Fred Neil and Bob Dylan
She was largely unrecognised for her contributions to the folk genre during her life, but has become an important influence for artists like Nick Cave, Devendra Banhart, and Joanna Newsom
Blind Lemon Jefferson first recorded the song in 1927
Norman Blake, Nancy Blake - Look Away, So Far Away
They’re a Grammy-nominated duo who have been married for 50 years and toured and recorded together throughout that time, though they’ve now retired from touring and spend much of their time at home in Georgia
This is from their 2017 album Brushwood (Songs and Stories)
The tune is the same as “Lonesome Valley,” a traditional American gospel song
Bull City Red - Everybody Wants to Know How I Die
American Piedmont blues artist, closely associated with Blind Boy Fuller and Reverend Gary Davis
Recorded this under the name Brother George and His Sanctified Singers in Memphis, Tennessee in July of 1939
Uncle Sinner - Everybody Wants to Know How I Die
Winnipeg
This is the title track from his latest album, which came out in December
Liam Clancy - The Mary Ellen Carter
He was an Irish singer best known as a member of the Clancy Brothers, which he formed with his older brothers and Tommy Makem, with whom he later performed as a duo
This is off his 2000 album The Wild and Wasteful Ocean
It’s a song by Stan Rogers, written and first recorded in 1979
Makem and Clancy first began performing the song in the 1980s
Taj Mahal, Ry Cooder - I Shall Not Be Moved
Both Grammy-award-winning musicians with careers spanning over 50 years
This one is from their 2022 album Get on Board: The Songs of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee
“I Shall Not Be Moved” is a spiritual that became popular as a protest song during the Civil Rights Movement and as a union song
Tracy Chapman - All That You Have Is Your Soul
Chapman is a well-known musician from Ohio who’s been writing music since she was around 8 years old
This recording is from the 1997 album The Bridge School Concerts, Vol. 1, organized by Neil Young to raise funds for children with physical disabilities in California
Chapman first released the song on her 1989 album Crossroads
Gerard Quintana, Jordi Batiste - Un Canvi de la Sort (En Directe)
Quintana is a Catalan musician, writer, and actor who became well known as the lead singer of the rock band Sopa de Cabra in the 1980s
Batiste is a popular Catalan musician from an older generation than Quintana, though they’ve collaborated on three albums together
The first was a collection of Catalan covers of Bob Dylan songs, which is where this one comes from
It’s a version of “Simple Twist of Fate,” from Dylan’s 1975 album Blood on the Tracks
Cynefin - Trecadwgan
A project by Welsh musician, researcher, and grain grower Owen Shiers, which began after he received a scholarship to research obscure and forgotten folk songs from his region and create a musical map of the area
This is off the 2021 collection Stand Up Now, an album of traditional and original music from the UK in support of the Landworkers’ Alliance, a union of farmers, growers, foresters, and land-based workers in the UK
It’s a song about a farm on St. Davids Peninsula in Wales that dates back to the 14th century and was sold at auction in 2020 after the community unsuccessfully tried to remove it from auction, purchase it, and turn it into a community farm
Ligue communiste (marxiste-léniniste) du Canada - Norman Bethune
This is from the 1973 album Forge Our Party, released by the Canadian Communist League
Dr. Norman Bethune was a thoracic surgeon from Gravenhurst, Ontario, who is known for his contributions to tuberculosis treatment and his innovation in the field of medical instrument design, as well as his advocacy for universal healthcare
He’s remembered for his extensive work in battlefield medicine, including during the Spanish Civil War, where he organized the first mobile blood transfusion service, and during the Second Sino-Japanese War, where he treated ailing soldiers and villagers
Fred Redden - The Days of Forty Nine
He was a farmer and traditional singer from Nova Scotia who came from a family of singers and musicians from Lindsay Lake in Halifax County, and learned many of his songs from his father
This California Gold Rush song has been recorded by several well-known artists, including Bob Dylan, though this version closely resembles the earliest printed version, published in a songbook by entertainer John A Stone, who went by “Old Put” and wrote more than 50 songs about goldmining in the span of about five years in the 1850s
It seems to have been popular in work camps, and likely travelled east through a network of labourers
Sol Sigurdson - Sinking of the Suzanne E
He’s a musician from Riverton, Manitoba who recorded an album of Manitoba songs in 1970 called The Lake Winnipeg Fisherman, which is where this one comes from
The Suzanne E was a Lake Winnipeg freighter that sank in September of 1965 during a sudden storm
Margaret Avison - Rising Dust
Avison was a poet from Ontario who worked day jobs including as a librarian, editor, and social worker, choosing jobs that left her free time to write
During her career, she received a Guggenheim fellowship, won two Governor General’s Awards, and became an Officer of the Order of Canada for her contributions to Canadian literature
This is a reading of her Poem “Rising Dust,” from her book Concrete and Wild Carrot
It was recorded in Toronto in June of 2003
Roberto Mondragón - Mi carrito paseado
He was a musician, activist, and politician who served as lieutenant governor of New Mexico in the 1970s, and as a state representative
This comes from the 1992 album Music of New Mexico: Hispanic Traditions
It’s a humorous song that Mondragón learned from his father
Woody Guthrie, Cisco Houston - Rocky Mountain Slim and Desert Rat Shorty
This recording was made for Folkways Records in the 1940s
It’s a parody of the border radio stations that were so popular during the first half of the 20th century, and on which Woody Guthrie performed while living in California in the 1930s
The Passionate & Objective Jokerfan - Wood Guthrie. America Folk Music Always!
One of many names that musician, filmmaker, and author Matt Farley records music under
In the early 2000s, he learned that the only songs by his band that were downloaded in large numbers were those with funny titles, and began releasing songs about things he thought might be common search queries
Farley is also known for cult-classic films including Freaky Farley, Don’t Let the Riverbeast Get You!, and Magic Spot, all of which we at Barking Dog heartily recommend
This is from his 2015 90-song album Stupid People Hate These Songs Because They’re Dumb
Blind Boy Fuller - Funny Feeling Blues
He was a popular Piedmont blues musician from North Carolina who performed between 1928 and 1940
He recorded this one for Brunswick Records in 1938
Gail Ceasar - Rocky Top
She’s a bluegrass and blues musician from Pittsylvania County, Virginia who grew up in a musical family and began playing guitar when she was 10 years old
This is off her 2023 album Guitar Woman Blues
It’s a bluegrass song written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant in 1967
Owe Sigvardsson - It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
He’s a Swedish musician who began performing as a teenager in the 1960s, when he toured small clubs with covers of songs by Donovan and Bob Dylan
This is off his 2012 album of Bob Dylan covers called It Hurts Me Too
Dylan released the song on his 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home
Jim Page - Where Has All the Money Gone?
He’s a folksinger and activist based in Seattle, and this is off his 1997 album Heroes and Survivors
Leon Rosselson - Why Workers Must
Rosselson is a musician and children’s book writer from England who first became widely known in the 1960s
This is from his 1981 album For the Good of the Nation
CA & Sonny - Cherry River Rag
They’re an Ottawa-based duo, and this is from the forthcoming compilation album Big Turnips Vol. 3, a collection of recordings made by Dylan Jewers of Big Turnip Records of roots music from across Canada and one group from Louisiana, which is set to be released in the next few months
Pharis & Jason Romero - Cold Creek Shout
