Well, folks, we made it.  We are now past what some roving after-dinner speakers call "the Most Depressing Day Of The Year!" - the third Monday in January.  Apparently, this is supposed to be a result of a combination of post-celebration ennui, short days, snow shovelling injuries, credit card bills coming due, the cold weather, the backyard chickens laying fewer eggs, and who knows what else.  Of course, I always felt sorry for those who ended up with their birthday on The Most Depressing Day Of The Year.  What a drag.  Plus, the whole premise of this is so sadly geographically and economically limited.  For those of you in the Southern Hemisphere, you are enjoying some lovely long days at the moment.  And warm.  And the whole tiring discussion about how our mood is affected by interest rates and credit card spending limits is so... well... so much like yet another diatribe in the Globe and Mail Report on Business written by some fundamentalist economist.  (If you want to find examples of a belief in magical processes and supernatural forces, don't go to religion - hang around with economists and stock market analysts!)

So today on Routes & Branches & Beyond, we reject the silly narratives of our capitalist overlords and head out on some January rambles.  There will be flashy finger picking, Playford dancing delights, singing cowboys, uxorious highwaymen, Bluegrass from that yonder mountain, stringband anthems from the hollers of SW Ontario, and important signs on the freeway.  From musicians such as Wayne Henderson, Steve Kaufman, Robin Kessinger, Tethera, Phil Cerny, Michael Cavan, The Weber Brothers Band, The Blurry Pickers, Yonder Mountain String Band, Danny Michel, Nathan Williams, and a bunch of folks celebrating Rounder Records' 40th birthday.  Put down that newspaper and join me.

Routes & Branches & Beyond show # 310 2024 01 25

Ivan Emke