Barking Dog: May 7, 2026
Barbara Dane - It Hurts Me Too
She was a folk, jazz, and blues singer from Detroit who was invited to tour with the jazz guitarist Alvino Rey’s band as a teenager, but turned him down to instead sing at factory gates, in union halls, and at demonstrations for racial equality, and she remained an activist for the rest of her life
This is from her 1964 album Barbara Dane Sings the Blues
It’s a song by Chicago blues musician Tampa Red, who first recorded it in 1940
It’s based on earlier blues songs like “Things ‘Bout Comin’ My Way” and “You Got to Reap What You Sow”
Keith Richards - Hurricane
From his 2010 compilation album Vintage Vinos
It was likely recorded during a Rolling Stones recording session in France in 2002, and it was written in response to Hurricane Katrina
The Silver Sardines - Maureen
They’re an alt-folk band from Montreal
This is a single, recorded in 2025 at Sud-Ouest Recording Service in Montreal
Derroll Adams - Death of Mr. Garfield
He was a musician from Portland, Oregon who got his start busking on the West Coast of the US during the 1950s, where he met Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and the two began travelling and recording together
He moved to Europe in 1957 and never returned to the States, instead finding a solid fanbase and community among fellow musicians like Donovan, Bert Jansch, and Rod Stewart
This is a traditional song about the assassination of 20th president of the United States James Garfield in July of 1881
Ramblin’ Jack Elliott is credited with teaching the song to more artists during the folk revival of the 1960s, to the extent that he’s often credited as the writer of the song, though it was recorded by folk singer Bascom Lamar Lunsford in the 1950s, who learned it from Anderson Williams of North Carolina in 1903
Shorty Bob Parker - Death of Slim Green
He was a blues pianist who recorded several sides for Decca Records in South Carolina in the 1930s
This one was recorded in Charlotte, North Carolina in June of 1938, two months after Green’s death
Slim Green - I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter
He was a jazz musician and dancer who was active in the midwest United States and performed with the predecessor to the Ink Spots, the Four Riff Brothers, in the early 1930s
He made this recording for Decca Records in 1935
The song was written that same year and recorded by Fats Waller, who’s credited with popularizing the song
Willie Nelson - Over the Rainbow
This is the title track from his 1981 album Somewhere Over the Rainbow
The song was written by Yip Harburg and Harold Arlen for the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz
Rolando Alarcón - Cueca por Vietnam
He was a Chilean musician and teacher who was a key figure in the Nueva canción chilena movement of the 1960s, which incorporated political themes into traditional folk music styles
From his 1969 album For Cuba and Vietnam
The song is by Chilean composer and guitarist Fernando González, and cueca is a family of Chilean music and dance
Cathie O’Sullivan - Song of Artesian Water
She’s an Australian musician and poet who began her recording career in the 1980s while working as a pharmacist
This is the title track from her first album, Artesian Waters, from 1980
It’s a song by Australian bush poet and author Banjo Paterson, who’s best known for writing “Waltzing Matilda”
Roy Bailey - Palaces of Gold
Bailey was an English sociologist and musician, known as a member of the group Three City Four
This is from his 2013 album Sit Down & Sing
It’s a song by Bailey’s friend, Leon Rosselson
He wrote it after the Aberfan mine disaster of 1966, which killed 144 people, the majority of them children whose school was engulfed in coal waste
Chris Foster - Who Reaps the Profits? Who Pays the Price?
He’s a musician from England, now based in Iceland, who’s been performing for over 40 years
This is from the 2005 compilation album And They All Sang RosselSongs, a tribute to English singer and songwriter Leon Rosselson
Rosselson originally composed it for the 1981 album Nuclear Power: No Thanks!!?
Jan Hammarlund - They’ve Got Everything
He’s a Swedish musician who began his career in the early 1970s
This is off his 2014 album Uncovered: Malvina Reynolds sung by Jan Hammarlund, a collection of previously unreleased songs by Reynolds, covered by Hammarlund
The song was originally published in Reynolds’ 1967 songbook The Muse of Parker Street
Sons of the Pioneers - Gentle Nettie Moore
One of the earliest western bands in the US
Formed in 1933, originally Roy Rogers, Bob Nolan, and Tim Spencer
The band still exists but there have been countless changes in membership
They seem to have recorded this song in the mid-1930s
It’s a song written by James Lord Pierpont and Marshall S Pike in 1857
It’s closely related to “Darling Nelly Gray,” an anti-slavery ballad written by Benjamin Hanby in 1856
Muscle and Bone - Nettie Moore
They’re a duo formed by American musicians Susan Weber and Walt Campbell
This is from their 2013 album Masterpieces of Bob Dylan
Dylan released the song on his 2006 album Modern Times, and it contains references to older songs including “Hellhound on My Trail” by Robert Johnson, “Lost John,” and the song we heard before it,
Alasdair Roberts - The Bonny Moorhen
He’s a Scottish folk musician who’s been recording since the mid-90s
This is off his 2023 album Grief in the Kitchen and Mirth in the Hall
It’s a traditional Jacobite song, and “moorhen” refers to Prince Charles Edward Stuart, who led the Jacobites in several battles in the 1740s before being defeated at Culloden in 1746
Bruce Cockburn - Pacing the Cage
Artist from Ottawa with a career spanning over 300 songs, 33 albums, and 40 years
This is a live recording from his 2009 album Slice O’ Life, recorded in May of 2008
The song is originally from his 1996 album The Charity of Night
Cara Luft - Black Water Side
From Winnipeg
Traditional folk song that likely originated near River Blackwater in Ulster, Ireland
This is a recording made in October of 2025
Ron Sexsmith - Jokerman
He’s a musician from St. Catharines, Ontario, who’s been recording since 1985
This is his cover of Bob Dylan’s 1983 song
Dave Van Ronk - Subterranean Homesick Blues
This is his cover of Bob Dylan’s 1965 song, which he recorded for his 1994 album To All My Friends in Far-Flung Places, on which he performed versions of songs written by people he knew
Uncle Sinner - Wolves A-Howling
Artist from Winnipeg
This is from his 2015 album Let the Devil In
It’s an old-time tune from the southwest United States
Doc Watson, Gaither Carlton - Old Ruben
Watson was a Grammy-winning musician from North Carolina who had a 60 year career, and often played with other skilled musicians like Jean Ritchie, Clarence Ashley, and his son, Merle Watson
Carlton was his father-in-law, a North Carolina fiddle and banjo player
This recording was made in Deep Gap, North Carolina in July of 1961
The song is a member of a family of railroad songs that includes “Reuben’s Train,” “500 Miles“ and “900 Miles”
Carlton learned the song from his brother
Sarah Hawkes - Little Sparrow
She was born in Virginia and was an elderly woman living in Pennsylvania when she was recorded for the album Ballads and Songs of the Blue Ridge Mountains: Persistence and Change in the late 1960s
It’s a traditional Appalachian ballad also known as “Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies”
The Halifax Three - Little Sparrow
They were a folk group that formed in Halifax in 1960, performed in Montreal and Toronto, then became part of the New York City folk scene
After they broke up in 1965, one member, Zal Yanovsky, joined the Lovin’ Spoonful, while Denny Doherty joined the Mamas & the Papas
This is from their 1963 album The San Francisco Blues
Almeda Riddle - Lonesome Dove
She was a folk singer from Arkansas known for collecting and singing traditional ballads
The folklorist Alan Lomax made this recording in Arkansas in October of 1959
She learned the song from her mother
Norfolk Jazz Quartet - What’s the Matter Now?
They were the most influential vocal quartet to emerge from their region of Virginia at the time
They formed around 1919, and appeared in vaudeville and variety shows and in musical revues throughout the 20s
Their final recording session took place in April 1940
They made this recording for Paramount Records in 1919, though it was released in 1929
Lonesome Ace Stringband - Honey Babe Blues
Contemporary stringband based in Toronto
Traditional American old-time song known variably as “Sugar Baby,” “Red Rocking Chair,” and “Red Apple Juice,” amongst other names
They first heard the song on a collection of recordings made at old-time musician Clarence Ashley’s house with artists like Doc Watson and Gaither Carlton
Willie Dunn - The Ballad of John MacLain
He was a Mi’kmaq musician, film director, and politician from Montreal
This is from his 1980 album The Pacific
Cindy Kallet - Landing
She’s a musician from New England
This is from her 2000 album This Way Home
Pharis & Jason Romero - Cumberland Gap
