Time was, a city wasn't really a City until it had a good used CD store. I think it was a municipal regulation of some sort. The country was dotted with such stores. They were generally independents, set up by entrepreneurial types who cared more passionately for the music than for the strict clang of the cash register. They were little communities. Gathering places for both true believers and doubting searchers.

Alas, with the advance of late capitalism, most of these are gone. A few have survived as used book stores, some are back selling vinyl again. And a few remain. This week on "Routes & Branches & Beyond," I have another crop of music from such holdout stores. There's blistering bluegrass families, darkly hypnotic pre-radio sounds, Atlantic songwriter angst, american primitive guitar, modest Gaelic funk fusion, octave-spanning gymnastics, fanciful harps, Australian protest sentiments, neo-medieval branles, modal Irish guitar, gospel aeroplanes and the foreboding fiddles of post-Brexit times.

All featuring groups like the O’Connor Band, the Crooked Jades, Dave Gunning, John Fahey, Capercaillie, Yodelling Slim Clark, Maeve, Eric Bogle, Skarazula, Bob MacLean, Old Crow Medicine Show, the Watersons and Lankum. There's room for all - c'mon along.



Routes  & Branches & Beyond 2025 10 16

Given the time of the year at the moment in the land where I live, I am focussing on "Honouring the Spirits." I play songs and tunes that refer to that ethereal dimension. I have piano-driven Irish soul, exhibitionist celtic pagan spirituality, Hebridean progressive trad, Oxfordian dance abandonment, a classic from the days when gospel met psychadelic rock and had a child, stewed tomatoes in a love march, an ode to the NL Ghost Rider (Joey Smallwood), high-octane bagpipe punk, exuberant blues positivity, and a remake of a grunge classic that smells like ... nap time.  All from musicians such as Oliver Schroer & The Stewed Tomatoes, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Hothouse Flowers, The Waterboys, Seelyhoo, Magpie Lane, Mike Ford, Tim O’Brien, Dropkick Murphys, Taj Mahal, Eric Bibb, and Rockabye Baby. Curious? Better listen then!

Routes & Branches & Beyond for 2025 10 23

Autumn is a grand time to ramble.  After all, you are much less likely to sweat, the bugs are fewer, there is the calming sound of walking through fallen leaves, there is the poignant sky that just makes you want to devote your life to do oil painting en plein aire, and it is a chance to walk off the excesses of the summer before the excesses of the solstice season begins.  So today on Routes & Branches & Beyond we start a series of Mid-Autumn Rambles.  I'll play iconic Irish, incomprehensible Gaelic, Calgary celtic, Australian convict heroes, Haligonian indie folk rock gets mellow, trans-Atlantic chamber folk, stormy Canadian pioneer odes, Quebec jazz d'hiver, tickles & kissing, and old greasy stringbands.  All from musicians such as Planxty, Annmarie O’Riordan, Fraid Knot,Nancy Kerr & James Fagan, Black Pool, Skye Consort & Emma Björling, Red Moon Road, Christine Tassan & Les Imposteures, Greg T. Brown & Jeremy Keddy, and Red Hen.  Set aside your doubts and join me.


Routes & Branches & Beyond show #385 2025 10 30

Indeed, we are now in the time of year here in Canada when our bodies start to crave root crops.  I'm not quite sure about the science of it all, but we seem to have evolved to yearn for the earthy goodness of beets and turnips and potatoes and parsnips and their ilk as the weather turns cold. 
And the sooner you give up resisting these cravings, the happier you will be as you stir your soup stocks.  And to assist you with that, here is another episode of Routes & Branches & Beyond (#386) with a set of mid-autumn rambles.  You'll hear songs and tunes about cold haily windy nights, ten penny bits, ladies & captains, sorrows away, Irish banks (the fishy kind), religious persuasion, shared beds, blarney pilgrims, and fair & faithful love.  From musicians such as Tüna, Eleanor Shanley, Clannad, Andy White, Cathie Ryan, The Poozies, Scott Macmillan & Colin Grant, Prairie Oyster, Brother, Steeleye Span,Tempest, Shirley Eikhard, and Paul Winter & Friends.  Turn the soup on low and join us.


Routes & Branches & Beyond show # 386 2025 11 06

How boring it must be to live in a land where the weather is the same almost every day.  Sun up and down at the same time, predictable rains (or droughts), and a mostly constant temperature throughout the year.  Those of us in what are called "temperate" regions may go to such predictable lands with constant climates for a brief time, but there is always relief in returning to a land that changes over the year, and even from day to day.  Leaves on the trees one day, the ground the next, and covered with snow the next, and so on...  Thus, today on Routes & Branches & Beyond we have a set of mid-autumn rambles.  You'll hear happy session tunes, intense ballads, languid hornpipes, quirky songs about frogs and mice, laments on the passing of time, foggy politics, rocking stars, fathers & sons, smooth jazz liberties, old school ties, North African blues, and Celtic harps.  

From musicians such as Sean Nua, Touchwood (Christine Crawley & Kerstein Blodig), Eileen Ivers, Miaghread & Triona ni Dhomhnaill & Donal Lunny, Nanci Griffith, Chieftains & Sinéad O’Connor, MacKeel, Cat Stevens, Strung-out Troubadours, Billy Bragg, Djélimady Tounkara, and Alan Stivell.  Let those leaves rake themselves and join me.


Routes & Branches & Beyond show # 387 2025 11 13

Here in my area we are in the midst of the race to change our tires to the snow-friendly variety before the roads get too icy.  The tire shops are busy and the lineups of last-minute motorists (such as myself) snake around the block.  Some of you ay scoff, saying "hey, I've got all-season tires, I'm fine!"  Fair enough, I'll be sure to watch out for you on the roads (and in the ditches).  As they say, an all-season tire is the same as a no-season tire.  But all of this puts me in the spirit of the season to have a few more mid-autumn rambles.  We'll listen to twisty tunes, soppy sentiments. brazen ballads, frank folkies, audacious Aussies, saucy sailors, fanciful fiddlers, quirky quebecois, peripatetic pickers and wrangly reels.  All from musicians such as Patrick Street, Cherish the Ladies, Reeltime, Mick Moloney, Gordie MacKeeman & His Rhythm Boys,  Redgum, Maggie Sansone & Sue Richards & Bonnie Rideout & Ensemble Galilei, Ray Legere, Labess, La ligue du Bonheur, Roy Forbes, and Steve Gilette & Cindy Mangsen.  You can change your snow tires later, join us.

Routes & Branches & Beyond show # 388 2025 11 20

Ah, the allure of the recent, the novel, the new combination of old sounds, the joy of human creativity here in these days of the ascension of the bland authoritarian straightjacket of AI...  Yes, this week on Routes & Branches & Beyond we start a little series of music that is "Relatively New and Itching to be Heard."  I'll play frosty Manitoba fiddling, crispy cello-violin duets, barnstorming ballads, infectious free-reed verve, variable geometry ensembles,  and brand new nostalgic songs.  All from musicians such as Jocelyn Pettit & Ellen Gira, Scott Duncan, Michael Darcy & the Atlantic Tramps, Jane Cory & Kyle Burghout, Oktoecho, Sussex, and La Déferlance.  Join me here in this AI-free space, at least for now...

Routes & Branches & Beyond show # 389 2025 11 27

You hear it every day down at the corner coffee shop.  A person comes in and is greeted by a couple of friends with "hey pussycat, what's new?"  Not "what's old and comfortable and well-worn?"  Or "what has been around for awhile, but you've just recently discovered it?"  No, they ask, "what is new?"  I'm as guilty as anyone to sometimes privilege the new over the old, even at my advanced age!  So on this episode of Routes & Branches & Beyond (#390), I have another set of music that is Relatively New and Itching to Be Heard.  If you've joined us before, you know the drill.  I'll have a bit of prog-trad, a touch of neo-cape-breton, a tad of quebecois acadian, a smattering of ottawa valley magic fiddles, a helping of haligonian harp, and a full dose of singer-songwriters.  From musicians like the Aerialists, Cassie and Maggie, Garçons à marier, The Fitzgeralds, Adrianna Ciccone & Ellen Gibling, Celtic Routes, The Southern Residents, and Scott Duncan.  Shine up those wireless ear buds and join me.


Routes & Branches & Beyond show # 390 2025 12 04

The thing I like about the celebrations at this time of year is that they are such a jumble of different origins and meanings and implications.  But somehow, a wide variety of people are able to get some meaning out of these times of celebration.  Here in the northern hemisphere, the rituals stretch back 4,000 years, give or take, with roots in various parts of the world - wherever humas were paying attention to the weather around them and the path of the sun and the earth.  Despite attempts by some to restrict or prohibit or outright condemn bits that they don't like, the modern celebrations of this time still bear the imprint of many cultures and worldviews.  Including yours, whatever it is.  Welcome to the world of humans and the ways that they make meaning out of their lives and experiences!  May it always be so.

So on this episode of Routes & Branches & Beyond (# 391), I have the first of a series called "The Season of Deep Winter Celebrations."  There are songs and tunes about wrens, colcannon, a million stars, solstice bells, joyous chimes, chimneys, rum, logging camps, and Christmas at the Ale House.  All from musicians such as Dordán, The Revels, The Irish Rovers, St. Agnes Fountain, A Winter Union, The Albion Christmas Band, Carollers from the Fountain in Ingbirchworth, Christine Tassan et les imposteurs, The Barra MacNeils, The Ennis Sisters, Kim Robertson & Virginia Kron, the Good Lovelies, Rum Ragged, and Tamarack.  Put down that holly and shortbread and join me.

Routes & Branches & Beyond show # 391 2025 12 11

One of the miracles of this time of year is that so many of the various traditions that continue to be celebrated all seem to arc toward radical hospitality, the sharing of one's goods, the overthrow of old and tired hierarchies of power, and the saving balm of community.  It is a tall order for a time of year when sunlight can be at a premium, at least where I experience life most years.  I trust that the miracles of this season of year continue to ring out and inspire and comfort.  So on this episode of Routes & Branches & Beyond, I have another set of music from deep winter celebrations.  There are frolics, bells, carols, wrens, merriment, burritos (not the fast food kind), winter wonders, and more wassailing than you can shake a snowshovel at.  All from musicians such as Horslips, Melrose Quartet, House of Doc, Lynn & Will Rowan, Kate Rusby, Jan Luna, Grupo Folklorico Navideño, Dan Crary, Brave Combo, Saffie, Maddy Prior & the Carnival Band, The O’Pears, The Clancy Brothers, The Once, Ricky Skaggs, and Simon Shaheen & friends.  Get yourself a hot drink and join me.

Routes & Branches & Beyond show # 388 2025 11 20

Ivan Emke

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