OTBT mix 7 July 2025

Next week's Off The Beaten Tracks mix is now available to listen to on Mixcloud and on Ginger Feather FM at 1pm or 8pm from Monday.

Oysterband - Angels of the River 

Kate Rusby - Let Your Light Shine 

Eilidh Shaw & Ross Martin - Swimmy Tunes 

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Looking Forward 

Joni Mitchell - I Don't Know Where I Stand 

Sarah McQuaid - Walking Into White (Live in Rapid City) 

Fotheringay - John The Gun (Live - BBC Sounds Of The 70's)  

Kami Thompson - Never Again 

Steeleye Span - Thornaby Woods 

Seth Lakeman - Poor Man's Heaven (live) 

Eilidh Shaw & Ross Martin - Stoned Again 

Gordon Lightfoot - Sundown 

Steve Earle - Nebraska (live) 

The Jayhawks - Nevada, California 

Melissa Greener - Bullets to Bite 

Best New Releases 2025 (so far)

As we are at the mid-way point in the year I thought I'd look through my list of new releases which I've either been sent or have bought on Bandcamp or direct from the artist. Of these ten I have only seen one in concert this year, namely Flook, though I did see Miranda Sykes recently who is a member of Daphne's Flight and I watched a live stream of one of their gigs on Folkscape.

So in alphabetical order here is my Top Ten Jan-Jun 2025

Daphne's Flight - Favourable Light
Piers Faccini & Ballaké Sissoko - Our Calling
Flook - Sanju
I’m With Her - Wild and Clear and Blue
Jaywalkers - Move On
Iona Lane - Swilkie*
Merry Hell - Rising of the Bold
Reg Meuross - Fire & Dust : A Woody Guthrie Story
Eilidh Shaw and Ross Martin - Stay Here All Night
Natalie Wildgoose - Come Into The Garden 

*I contributed to Iona's Kickstarter and along with the cd I have received a very nice songbook which includes lovely illustrations and photos connected to the Western Isles and Orkney which provided her with inspiration to write the songs on the album.

Tune in to Off The Beaten Tracks every day at 1pm or 8pm
On Ginger Feather FM which broadcasts 24/7 online

Off The Beaten Tracks 30 June 2025

This show features Miranda Sykes on three songs - two by SykesMartin and one by Daphne's Flight. Also two tracks by musicians who apparently decided not to continue trying to make a living playing music in the aftermath of the Covid lockdown of 2020, namely Ewan McLennan and Ciaran Algar. If anyone knows what they're up to now, do let us know in the comments below.

Listen to the show now on Mixcloud or from Monday on Ginger Feather FM.

Cara Dillon - Black is the Colour 

SykesMartin - Blow out the Candle 

King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Bats in the Attic 

Saso - Little Red Corvette 

Richard Thompson - Easy There, Steady Now 

Iona Lane - Boat Song 

Daphne's Flight - Home Before You Know It

SykesMartin - Standing Stones 

Fairport Convention - Matty Groves 

Reg Meuross - Woody Guthrie's Chains 

Ewan McLennan - Wild Mountain Thyme 

Greg Russell & Ciaran Algar - We Are Leaving 

Alice Allen & Patsy Reid - The Banks of Spey/Cullen House/The Fiddich-side Lasses

Blues mix for Max Haymes

I first met Max when I got involved with the community radio station Diversity FM. Max did his show on a Monday afternoon and occasionally I would cover for a guy called Reza whose show preceded Max's. I would normally end my hour with a blues track knowing that Max would be in the other studio waiting to take to the airwaves and I would listen to see what comment he would make. But while Max's expertise and love of the blues was the music of the early 20th century, I was more into guitarists who I had discovered in the 1980s like Robert Cray and those who to me were the older generation like BB King and Buddy Guy.

This mix features old blues which hopefully Max would have approved of from the likes of Big Bill Broonzy and Oscar Woods up to the new generation of blues musicians like Jackie Venson and Errol Brown. Listen on Mixcloud to my Blues Mix for Max.

Thanks Max, for giving me a window into a world of early blues which I may not have got round to checking out. Rest in Peace.

John Lee Hooker - Boom Boom
Big Bill Broonzy - Mindin' My Own Business
Sonny Boy Williamson - Sugar Mama
Jackie Venson - Down By The Riverside / Up Above My Head
Little Whitt & Big Bo - I Got A Woman
Odetta - Midnight Special
Little Willie John - Fever
Eric Bibb - Six O'Clock Blues 
Grainne Duffy - Dirt Woman Blues
Errol Linton - Love Gone Cold
Blues N' Trouble - Honey Pot
Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee - Change The Lock On My Door
Keb' Mo' - Kindhearted Woman Blues
Sunjay - Train Home
Blind Boys of Alabama - Just Wanna See His Face
Ted Hawkins - Peace & Happiness
Oscar Woods - Lone Wolf Blues
Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee - I Love You Baby 

Off The Beaten Tracks 16 June 2025

Back to doing my radio show after a few week's off due to a family bereavement. I've got two numbers from Jaywalkers' new album titled Move On including one about never being played on the radio. Also two songs from the latest Songlines magazine download by Joshua Burnside and Natalie Wildgoose. 

Listen now on Mixcloud or from Monday on Ginger Feather FM.

Bert Jansch - Strolling Down The Highway
Jaywalkers - The Radio
Flook - The Farther Shore \ Winter Flower
The Jayhawks - Save It For A Rainy Day
Merry Hell - Singing In The Morning
Neil Young - Harvest
King Creosote - Jump At The Cats
Kathryn Priddy - A Boat On The River
Jaywalkers - Leaving Lerwick
I'm With Her - Ancient Light
Aly Bain & Phil Cunningham - The Queensferry Cooper \ Derry Cunningham's Jig
Joshua Burnside - Marching Round The Ladies
Natalie Wildgoose - I Lingered
Steve Knightley - Polly On The Shore
April Maybe May - Home
Chris Newman - Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007- VII. Gigue (Arr. for Guitar)

One More Card

No more birthday cards to buy, no more Mother's Days to remember
One less Christmas card to send, no going shopping for presents 

She liked her long hot baths so bubble bath or bath salts
Were guaranteed to bring a smile to her face 

One time I bought her a cd of a singer from long ago
My aunt told me that mum had been a fan way back when

But when she unwrapped the disc there was a look
Of puzzlement, of disappointment.

I said, "your sister told me you'd really liked his music"
"Oh did she", replied mum. The cd was gone the next time I was home.

The care home had kept all the cards I'd sent her over the years
They gave me them back. Odd to see them again.

Birthdays, Xmas, Easter, Mothering Sunday, a postcard from Shetland
And a few cards just sent to say hello, I'm thinking of you.

She's gone now. End of life care led to the inevitable end of her life.
Will I see you in heaven? sing the Jayhawks. I don't know.

I miss her. Can I buy her just one more card? Please?
But others buy With Sympathy cards and send them to me.

CMB
08/16/2025

A Mournful Ditty

A poem written by my grandfather William "Jock" Kay and included in his book Kay-otic Rhymes which was published in 1938. He lived in Hong Kong from 1913 until 1939, working as a school teacher and then Headmaster at Ellis Kadoorie School for Chinese Boys before moving on to be Headmaster at King's College. 

It was said of him, "Jock Kay had a lively wit and a prolific pen: he may not have been a great poet, but he excelled as a parodist and in humorous, though friendly, satire." 

I read this poem at my mother's funeral in Edinburgh on Tuesday the 3rd June 2025.