Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Dave Hodge: Toronto Mike'd #615

Episode Date: April 8, 2020

Mike catches up with Dave Hodge before he kicks out his ten favourite albums of 2020 (so far) and pays tribute to John Prine.

Welcome to episode 615 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times, and brewing amazing beer. Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh, homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. StickerU.com. Create custom stickers, labels, tattoos, and decals for your home and your business. And the Keitner Group.

They love helping buyers find their dream home. They love helping buyers find their dream home. Text TORONTOMIKE, one word, to 59559 if you have any GTA real estate questions or if you'd like the Zoom link to the Keitner Group's virtual open house on Saturday. I'm Mike from torontomike.com and joining me is the man, the myth, the legend, Dave Hodge.

Hi Dave, how are you holding up? Boy, I've heard that before. Trying my best. It is difficult for all of us. I am not one who wants to go back and watch old classic games as a substitute for the real thing. I've had my fill of the Donald Trump PR exercises every night. So I'm kind of avoiding sports and kind of avoiding news, which I've never done in my life. But I find it best, even though there's not much to fill those holes. So patience and optimism and the love of a good wife and family, though they're separated from us. The social distancing must exist throughout families and does in ours. Let's hope it doesn't last as long as it might, but I will say, and it's fitting to say it here, that music is probably the most important thing that gets me from morning to noon to night.

I'm listening to more music than ever, and unfortunately not seeing or hearing any of it live. But the power and the love of music has never been more apparent and more important to me. Now, how badly are you missing live music? As badly as you can imagine. It's something that I long to see again. I feel sorry for the artists who can't perform and for all of the fans who can't do what they and I like to do so much, and that's see all these people

and not just, for me, not just hear their songs and in some cases celebrate new albums, but I have no direct contact with all of these people that I would consider friends. The, you know, the Basha Bulatz and Joel Plaskett and Gordon Lightfoot, for goodness sake, has a new record, sort of a new old record. But yeah, I miss the people as much as I miss the music. Do you miss live sports?

I take it you miss live music more than you miss live sports, but how much are you missing sports these days? Well, a lot. I want to be at Blue Jays games. I want to see how the NHL season finishes up and the NBA season. I would not be at the Masters, but I'd be watching the Masters on television. And without sports, there's a lot in the day that is empty, and through the evenings maybe especially. So I'm like everybody else.

I'm finding what there is to watch on television, a lot of Netflix, a lot of new Netflix if it appeals to me, and I'm going back and re-watching, not re-watching, but finding old Netflix. I'm into Fargo now, which I never watched in the beginning, and thought, well, it's old, but it's new to me. So there's that. And there's exercise as much as I can do. I have a swimming pool that isn't yet open, but it has a deck. And that's where I do my walking. deck and I that's where I do my walking it's private and it's 40 seconds per lap I can I can time myself and get as much as much walking in as as I need and

I do that two or three times a day again depending on the weather. So, Mike, I'm like everybody else, just, you know, making 24 hours work as best they can. And if that includes more sleep than usual, that's fine. For me, it's probably less sleep than usual because I have trouble with that side of life. But, you know, whatever gets you through the day. We got some very sad news yesterday. John Prine passed away. Well, before we get into the list of songs that we're going to hear from albums that I've picked as some of my favorite in the first three months or so of this year.

I will say that a lot of the music that we're going to hear is folk-based. And so, ironically, talking about John Prine sort of fits. and yes, we will play a John Prine song at the end of all of this. Dominican Republic to see something that was called All the Best Festival, All the Best Fest, featuring John Prine. It was his festival created by him. And each of four nights in the beautiful Dominican weather featured a concert, a set by John Prine, and he collaborated with other artists, an all-star lineup of people like Brandi Carlile and Lucinda Williams and Steve Earle.

All of these and more were there, basically as friends and fans of John Prine. So I think I witnessed one of, if not the last major event of his life. And that came back and hit me squarely last night when I learned of his death. I think he played a New Year's Eve show at the Grand Ole Opry. And there were some European dates in February. But as I say, his own festival with a residency of four nights in the sun and glorious evening breeze of the ocean side at Punta Cana was an experience that I'll never forget

and now means more to me because of the fact that it was John Prine and company. And in four nights, I don't say you can hear him sing every song he ever wrote because that might be four weeks or months but um i heard most of what you would want to hear from from john prine himself now people should come for the uh the 10 jams because you're going to be kicking out a jam from your top 10 albums of 2020 thus far, but they should stay for the end of this episode when you're going to kick out a John Prine song. Yes. And it won't be,

it won't be the one that you might expect or, or any of the the biggest hits let's say, because that fits what else we're doing here. And I'll explain that in a minute. But there is a John Prine song that I don't know if any would be called really obscure. And this wouldn't be, but it has always been one of my favorite John Prine songs. And I think I should play it rather than Angel from Montgomery and Hello in There and all of the things that you're going to be hearing for the next little while. without offending anybody, but I'm calling the Relative Obscurities Edition Top 10 of 2020. I must apologize to any of these artists or their fans who might be offended by the obscure label. They're not to me, but I haven't included the likes of Pearl Jam and Drive-By Truckers,

I haven't included the likes of Pearl Jam and Drive-By Truckers, Ryan Fallon, for a reason. I like to go a little deeper from time to time, and this is the result of that. And also, though there is a little bit of Canadian flavor to these albums, I have similarly gone beyond the Sarah Harmers and Basha Bulatz, Gordon Lightfoot, for goodness sake, I propose, if you'll allow me, Mike, a top 10 exclusively from Canada in July, shall we say. If you're up for that, we could include all of those. And by then, we're going to have new stuff from Joel Plaskett and Ron Sexsmith to name a couple more. But for now, 10 albums that I think are really good that you might not know about and will hopefully make this a worthwhile experience beyond listening to enjoyable stuff by people that you already know and like. listening to enjoyable stuff by people that you already know and like. I always get a chuckle when you mention Pearl Jam because we're both big Pearl Jam fans,

but we share the same favorite Pearl Jam song and it happens to be a cover. And I think that's kind of remarkable. Well, I found it remarkable when I listed Crazy Mary and you said, me too. And I thought I wouldn't have guessed odds on that. Incredible. And also, in terms of the July jam kicking with you, if you said, if I'm up for it, I want you to know if I'm ever not up for Dave Hodge kicking out jams with me,

I want you to know it's the end of times for me. I'm done. Put a fork in me because I want you to know it's the end of times for me. I'm done. Put a fork in me because I'm going to count the days. That's going to be absolutely amazing. Well, we'll have 10, whether they be albums or songs, I go back and forth. Really, if I find albums that are really strong and I have trouble picking one song from them.

That's been the case in this exercise. I like to talk about the album more than the song, though we play one song from each album. If, on the other hand, we're talking about songs, I may be picking songs out of albums that I otherwise wouldn't recommend. So these are the top 10 albums that I've uncovered for you thus far in 2020. And we're only basically three months in, and there's still lots to like. So it looks like a good year all around for music,

except for the fact that it looks like a bad year in a lot of other ways. Uh, on the personal front, I need to know, uh, and I hate to put you on the spot here, but did you listen to the Justin Rutledge episode of Toronto Mic'd? Well, of course. Uh, he's, uh, I consider Justin, uh, my best musical friend and uh i have um i've i've seen him uh perform uh in 2020 um in uh my town of grimsby ontario in fact so so that was as close as it could get. A couple of minutes from my house was Justin,

and I love the album Passages, which brought my number one song of 2019 called Good Man, and that was on a Toronto Mic 100, 2019 list. And so, yes, I did hear Justin and Toronto Mike do all their talking and all their singing. And, you know, why would I miss you, Mike? I got to check, Dave. I'm a regular, whether I'm on or not. I got to check. And I'm going a regular, whether I'm on or not. I got to check.

And I'm going to read a question for a big fan of yours who heard you were going to do this. And he goes by the handle AnonAnon, nice and anonymous. And he says, my pick for twin songs of different mothers. I guess during a previous Kick Out of the Jams, songs that remind us of other songs. I guess during a previous kick of the jams, songs that remind us of other songs. But he says, She's So Cold by Willie Nile and Rolling Stones, both released in 1980.

Willie released first on his excellent debut LP in February. Stones in September on Emotional Rescue, but Stone's recorded theirs before Willie. The question from AnonAnon for you, Dave, is he wants to know, have you ever heard Willie talk about this? No, I haven't heard Mick Jagger talk about it either. But I'm in contact with Willie, or can be. So I'll get you an answer. And on and on. You'll have to come back in July. We'll consider Willie Nile an honorary Canadian. And that'll allow us to talk about this and try to get to the answer.

Now, without further ado, Dave Hodge, the floor is yours. Talk to us about your... And I'm going to play the songs. You're going to introduce them. I'm going to play the songs. You're going to introduce them. I'm going to play them. And then we have, again, the bonus John Prine at the end of this episode.

Stay tuned. But The Floor is Yours, top 10 albums of 2020 so far. Relatively obscure. Just so you don't accuse me of leaving out some obvious stuff. I've done that for a reason. Number 10 is by an artist named Katie Pruitt, who was born in Atlanta, resides in Nashville, doesn't everybody.

And this fits because it's her debut album. She says she is inspired by Brandi Carlile, which is a good enough reason for me to pick it. The name of the album is called Expectations, and we are going to hear the title track, Expectations, and the artist is Katie Pruitt. Thank you. Some days I can't get out of my own head Could start by getting out of bed She said, one day in all we'll both be dead So why don't we do some living? Some days I don't know who to trust In the rain my spirit starts to rush You said you're being way too generous

With all the fucks you're giving together Wasn't getting much out of life at all I was scared to jump so I was scared to fall I used to think the world was pretty small From the comfort of my room Let me up in hard to reach Standing on this mountain peak I learned that fear is just a false belief That there is nothing you can do guitar solo All those years of bad test scores

Still trying to figure out what I was studying for But once you walk out that classroom door Nobody tells you where you're going Seems like everyone I know is just an actor Putting on a show I hope one day I'm wise enough to know There's no way, no way We're the things that we hate The time we're spitting away There's no way, no way When in doubt, I'm fed

Won't let the pain Expect any chance When in doubt, I'm fed So frustrated, waiting Expectations When in doubt, I'm fed So frustrated, waiting, expectations bringing me down I'm fed up, I'm wounded, waiting, expectations bringing me down So there, now you have heard and you know Katie Pruitt if you didn't before. That's number 10, Expectations, the name of the album and the song that we just heard. Number nine on my list is by an artist called Swamp Dog.

And I should know Swamp Dog, I guess, because he has been recording since 1954, which happens to be the year before I bought my first ever record. And Swamp Dog has been recording ever since under some different names. and Swamp Dog has been recording ever since under some different names. We'll call it Soul Tinged with a Bit of Country. There happens to be a couple of songs that feature John Prine on this album by Swamp Dog, which is called Sorry You Couldn't Make It, and that is just painfully ironic

when I just mentioned the John Prine. Now, why didn't I pick one of the John Prine songs? Because we're going to hear one later. But anyway, Swamp Dog is great. And the name of the album is Sorry You Couldn't Make It. And the song we're going to hear by this, I guess, legendary, certainly longtime performer. The song is called Sleeping Without You is a Drag. playing in bright rhythm Laying here on my pillow Crying all night long Stereo is playing

Some sad, sad songs It's a natural fact. I can't live like that. Sleeping without you kills the brain. I ain't going out with the guys Cause all they do is talk about their women Everybody goes home to somebody That's how I know I'm not winning

I don't know whether I'm sad or mad Sleeping without you is a drag I wish I could be like some other man Close my eyes and pretend someone else is you But my conscience wouldn't let me live down If I were guilty

of being untrue I'll just make myself content In tears and sweet dreams of you Until you come back home And get what's waiting for you My nerves upset My head's in a bag Sleeping without you is a drag Thank you. That was Swamp Dog.

Again, I apologize for not knowing a guy that's been recording since 1954. Number eight on this list is by a group called Beach Bunny. We can only wish. Beach Bunny, We Can Only Wish. The name of the album is Honeymoon from a group, Beach Bunny, hailing from Chicago or at least based in Chicago. And this is track one from the album called Honeymoon, and the song is called Promises. Promises and problems were all left inside buried away at the back of my bed

close my eyes but every time i try to rise it's hard to think clearly, you live inside my head Many fail, many care, now you're gone It's so unfair, keeping me from moving on Part of me still wants you Part of me wants to fall asleep I'm alone in your bedroom, you paint my recurring dreams Part of me still wants you, how could you love someone and me? When you're all alone in your bedroom, do you ever think of me?

In your lonely bedroom, do you ever think of me? The wasted words you tried to breathe were poetry Living in a memory, walking through a daydream sister said be patient things aren't what they seem but it's hard to think clearly and never say what you mean the more you've been

the more you care now you're gone so I'm back, keeping me from moving on Part of me still wants to, part of me wants to fall asleep But we're all alone and you've been true You came as a re-coming dream Part of me still hates you How could you love someone and me?

When you're all alone in your bedroom Do you ever think of me? Think of me Think of me Think of me Think of me Me, me Think of me Think of me

Think of me Me, me Part of me still wants you Part of me wants to fall asleep When we're all alone in your bedroom You came like a reoccurring dream But me still hates you How could you love so more than me When you're all alone in your bedroom

Do you ever think of me? Thank you. That was Promises. It was sung by Beach Bunny, and we go to number seven on my list of top ten relatively obscure albums. This one is called Red Tail, and the artist is Dave Simonet. If that doesn't mean anything to you, perhaps the name of his group will, and the name of his group is one of the great band names of all time, Trampled by Turtles.

But this is Dave Simonet's solo album. He also has a side project that's also great. It's called Dead Man Winter. But this is Dave Simonet by himself from the album Red Tail with the song By the Light of the Moon. Might be enough You were gone too soon Now the game is done Looking down at the bright lights And the ones we love And the warming windows

And the ghosts of home Well there's a hole in the night sky Where the dreams crawl in And I dreamed we were running As the walls caved in And the space all around us Moved like the water And it was a good dream

As dreaming goes by the light of the window by the light of the moon by the waves of the water and it's all brand new It's cold where I come from, but I don't mind There's not much feeling, or wasted time And the songs of the night birds, they remind me of you. And the warming windows, and the painted room.

By the light of the window, by the light of the moon. By the waves of the water, and the ghosts in the room. By the light of the window, by the light of the moon, by the waves of the water, it's all gone too soon Dave Simonet of Trampled by Turtles fame with a song from the album Red Tail. Now we need to, I think we need some rock, don't we? I'm guessing we do.

And in the absence of the new album by Jason Isbell, which is due out on May the 15th, I'm able to provide you a song from an album by his lead guitarist, or I guess you're the co-lead guitarist if you're in Jason Isbell's band. This is Sadler Vaden. Anybody who has seen Jason Isbell perform live knows that Sadler Vaden is part of the attraction. There are a couple of other 400-unit bandmates on this album by Sadler Vaden. The album is called Anybody Out There? and the name of the song is Next To You. The days are so lonely, the nights are so long I just can't wait to be by your side

You were an angel when I was on my own A bright-eyed kid with no place to call home You showed me love that I could not deny And I knew it true by the look in your eyes You'll forever be mine. Now cross my heart, hope to stay alive. Know that I'll always be by your side. Hell, how odd of misfortune at times.

All this I will go through just to be next to you Made it out of a cold grey winter One of us nearly changed Well I kept my cool, never lost my faith You were an anchor when I was out of control Chasing a dream destination unknown You showed me love that I could not deny And I knew it through by the look in your eyes

You'll forever be mine Now cross my heart Hope to stay alive Know that I'll always be by your side Hell, how odd of misfortunate times All this I will go through Just to be next to you Just to be next to you

Just to be next to you Just to be next to you Just to be next to you Oh! Riding this road like a burned out song The days are so lonely, the nights are so long I just can't wait to be by your side This ain't the last time that I say goodbye Now cross my heart, hope to stay alive Know that I'll always be by your side

Hell, how what a misfortunate time All this I will go through Just to be next to you Just to be next to you All this I'll go through Just to be next to you Just to be next to you Just to be next to you Just to be next to you

Just to be next to you Just to be next to you Just to be next to you Next to You by Sadler Vaden, better known as Jason Isbell's lead guitarist. That was number six on my list, and we go to number five now, and another artist that I did not know until I heard her for the first time early in this year of 2020, and that's what I'm looking for is stuff that's new to me and so hopefully uh and probably new to you this is a young lady from seattle her name is caitlyn sherman the name of the album is

death to the damsel and the song we're about to play by caitlyn sherman is called War For You. On to the nines with a bleeding heart I'm sore But you're leaning on the windowsill she built upon her chest Open up a picture window to peek inside her mess Just because, just you've got a hell of a name You've got a load of gong Say you're not a threat To the wives, daughters and sons But you're on and up for something That surely cannot come

And if you had to stand up you wouldn't be the one As you shrug, just because, just because So what makes you think she'll wage a war for you, a war for you? What makes you think she'll wage a war for you, a all for you Boy, you're holding everything You've got the upper hand But when it comes time to play You take a ran and stay out

So she's basing all the mess You made your hand grenade, you're gone Open up that picture window as you turn and run Just because, just because, just because And what makes you think Should we do war for you? Or war for you? And war makes you think

Should we do war for you? Or war for you, love for you Mae'r ffordd y gwna i'w ddweud yn dda. A war for you War makes you play Showing your war for you A war for you You are not the one Not the second son Or the chosen one, no you're not. That is Seattle's Caitlin Sherman.

I hope you like her. The album is terrific throughout. The album called Death to the Damsel, and you just heard one cut from it. War for You. Now we go to number four on this list of ten. And this happens to be a Toronto band. And again, I apologize for not knowing either the band or the fact that they are from Toronto. In fact, transplanted from Prince Edward Island. The name of the band is Kiwi Junior.

And it features some people behind the scenes that I know very well and all of those in the Toronto and Canadian music scene should know. This album by Kiwi Junior was engineered by Aaron Goldstein and was mixed by Graham Walsh, both famous in their own right and contributing to a great album by Kiwi Junior. The album is called Football Money and we're going to play the title track. Here's Kiwi Junior. Here we go. Football money in a city of ants Dad's one distant wife is making plans for the future She rings like a bell

Dinner is done by the spring Digital lover, come back to me Where once I was blind Now I see all too clearly Isn't it always the case The child is the son of the uncle But they pay me to hit home runs They don't pay me to stand in the sun

Chained in the basement, job well done There'll be no whips today Football money, the high school bullies down When into town rides our hero on horseback. Oh, tattooed featherweight. Give us your gloves. Hang them on the offbeat. Nature will always seem to have left alone.

Things will move in circles. So sign the contract, kid. Sign the contract, Kiwi Oh, I wake up and go see Pa who tells me there's no work to do Milk in the icebox, egg in the pan There'll be no whips for you The keeper finds his groove

The outstretched hand's approved Everything has been smoothed over. Taney's on the beat, solid on his feet, everyone who speaks has spoken. Furball money. Furball money. Furball money. Furball money. Football Money Football Money Kiwi Jr. with Football Money, the song and the album, same name, from Prince Edward Island then and from Toronto now. That was number four. And number three is Jonathan Wilson, who is better known for all of the producing that he does, but has some albums of his own. This is one of them. This is as strong at the beginning as it

is at the end. These last three albums on this list, I really had trouble picking one song. But Jonathan Wilson, master of the studio and a great voice as well. This album is called Dixie Blur and the song we are going to hear is called Oh Girl. Oh Girl Oh girl didn't we ever didn't we have a, didn't we have a sometimes When you got out of that Broadway station Found me in the middle of conversation Tugging on the strings of my heart The sitars did play for us Didn't we have some times

Oh girl, didn't we have Didn't we have some times We got out of that rocky landscape The water was scarce and the mud was sunbaked We didn't know we were drifting apart Even Paris couldn't do it for us And missing someone is the kind of hurt Our heart should be grateful to feel

Know that I still love you, shine, old girl In tender lies Feel that I still love you shine all the time In tender light Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, Yeah, oh girl, they were such good times We sang our songs and we drank our wine All the riches and gold in the world I wouldn't take it Trail

And missing someone is the kind of hurt A heart should be grateful to feel Feel © transcript Emily Beynon I'm sorry. Thank you. I'm not afraid of the dark Missing someone's the kind of hurt A heart should be grateful to feel Feel Grateful to feel, feel There you are. That's Jonathan Wilson. If you like that, hear more of it on the album Dixie Blur. Two more songs to go before we get to the John Prine tribute.

And these two songs are going to reflect my love of folk music, particularly folk music of the 1960s. Yes, I started with Bob Dylan and Phil Oakes and Gordon Lightfoot and Joni Mitchell and all of those back then, and have continued to love that kind of music ever since, whether I'm hearing it from the 1960s or whether I'm hearing it from today. And in this case, it is the latter. Number two album is self-titled by a group, super group, I guess you would call it, known as The Third Mind. And it is led by Dave Alvin of Blaster's fame. And Dave Alvin has done all sorts of other things by himself, lately with Jimmy Dale Gilmore,

probably the best-selling record that Dave Alvin has ever had. And he's in a group that tries to take a lot of different kinds of music and see what guitars can do with it. And in this case, they sat down and did this album without any rehearsal, without anything written. And I guess musicians can somehow make magic. There were two songs that really gave me trouble which one I wanted to pick. One is, was Morning Dew, which was written by Toronto's own Bonnie Dobson way back when. I guess the Grateful Dead maybe made it most famous, their version. I always thought it was a Fred Neal song until I found out that Bonnie Dobson wrote it.

But we're not going to hear Morning Dew because it lasts too long. It's about a 10-minute cut. And so I'm going to cut that in half and play you the other song that I really wanted to play, which is a Fred Neal song by the Third Mind featuring the voice of Dave Albin. The song is called The Dolphins. This old world may never change The way it's been And all the ways of war Can't change it back again

I've been searching For the dolphins In the sea And sometimes I wonder, do you ever think of me? I'm not the one to come when all the hate is gone For the dolphins in the sea Sometimes I wonder, do you ever think of me? សូវាប់ពីបានប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្� Terima kasih telah menonton! You know sometimes I think about Saturday's Child And all about the times When we were running wild Now I'm searching

For the dolphins In the sea Sometimes I wonder didn't see sometimes I wonder do you ever think of me this old world may never change This old world may never change This old world may never change This old world may never change

This old world may never change Thank you. Treat yourself to more of the third mind if you like that. That's one of the great folk songs by Fred Neal and one of the great folk songs ever. And it's newly done in 2020. Now to number one. I have a little story to tell about this group. First of all, I'll tell you what the group is. It is called Bonnie Light Horseman, and Bonnie Light Horseman is a collaboration of three artists. One is Eric D. Johnson,

who is better known for his work with fruit bats. The female voice that you will hear on this and other tracks is that of anais mitchell whose album hadestown was turned into a tony award-winning broadway musical and there's also josh kaufman we'll call him a multi-instrumentalist who has collaborated with the likes of Old Steady, The National, Josh Ritter. So this is a super group as well. And they have taken old English folk songs and contemporary folk songs, newly written, and combined them. And this sounds like it's going to be a tough exercise, but if you listen to the results, it's amazing, especially if you like folk music from either then or now. This is all new to me, and I think it's marvelous.

It's the best album that I've heard so far and I think at the end of the year, it's going to be right up there too. Now, the story that I want to tell beyond that is that back on March, to check the date, 25th, I'm struggling to get through the day and I'm listening to Bonnie Light Horseman when I am informed of the birth of a baby named Bonnie.

What are the odds that I'm listening to Bonnie Light Horseman and I'm hearing that a baby has been born, Bonnie, and Bonnie Light Horseman is spelled, the Bonnie is spelled B-O-N-N-Y, and the baby is B-O-N-N-Y. Wow. Now, whose baby is it? Well, if you have listened to Toronto Mike in the past, you know that one of my favorite groups in the whole wide world is Skinny Lister from London in the UK. When they were through Toronto in late 2019, I was made to feel like a member of Skinny Lister before, during, and after the show. It goes down as probably one of the greatest musical times of my life. I loved all of these

people in the band, Skinny Lister. We play them all the time here with Toronto Mike. And the female vocalist in Skinny Lister, Lorna Thomas happened to be pregnant at the time, fairly obviously pregnant, and so maybe not quite as energetic on stage as she usually is. And I said thanks and goodbye to Skinny Lister and especially good luck to Lorna and the husband, dad, Dan, the other lead singer in Skinny Lister. Please let me know when the birth occurs.

Well, it was March 25th when the new Skinny Lister baby named Bonnie was born. And I was listening to a group called Bonnie Light Horseman. And I checked with Dan to see if he knew Bonnie Light Horseman. And if that perhaps had anything to do with the naming of the baby, there is a Skinny Lister song called Bonnie Away. But I think probably was the reason. But anyway, Dan said thanks. He would check out Bonnie Light Horseman the next day.

He said on his run, the second day of little Bonnie's life, Bonnie Light Horseman was in the headphones of Dan from Skinny Lister. So this group, that name, that baby, and obviously Skinny Lister will always stay with me. And next March 25th, I'll be sending happy birthday greetings to little Bonnie. Anyway, you have to hear Bonnie Light Horseman. The album is called that.

It's a self-titled album. And the song we're going to hear featuring the voices of Eric and Anais, whom I described. Long intro, and the song is called Deep in Love. down in the valley the first of May gathering flowers both fresh and gay

Gathering flowers, both red and blue A little thought of what, what love could do Don't you Break my heart Don't you break my heart I put my hand into the book Finding the sweetest, sweetest rose I put my finger deep into the light And live the sweetest room, sweetest room that I

Don't you Break my heart Don't shoot Break my heart guitar solo Saw a ship sailing On the big blue sea She sailed as deep as Deep as she could be But not so deep

In love as I am I care not whether I I sink or swim Don't you Break my heart Don't you Break my heart Don't shoot Break my heart Thousands and thousands

All on this earth There you go, Mike. I hope you like Bonnie Light Horseman as much as I do. And I hope you don't mind the story that goes with it from me. Quite the contrary. That was really a beautiful story. Well, now we have to revisit the death of John Prine, the musical catalog of John Prine.

You allowed me to play a John Prine song. Obviously, we would have to do that on this day, following the news of his death. And as I said earlier, there are some obvious hits that I could play and that a lot of other people will play, but there's a song that has always stuck with me. It came from an album called The Missing Years years i think it was released in 1991 and i happen to know that this song was an afterthought added to the album for no particular reason other than it it needed a home and it's a song that some you know a lot of John Prine fans will know. A lot of John Prine fans know all of John Prine songs, but it's not the, you know, the one, two, three, four, five best-known John Prine songs.

We're going to play what we'll call my favorite John Prine song, apart from those Angels of Montgomery and others. This song by John Prine is called The Sins of Memphis. Let's listen. From the bells of St. Mary To the Count of Monte Cristo Nothing can stop, nothing can stop Nothing can stop the sins

Of Memphis Sally used to play with her hula hoops Now she tells her problems to therapy groups Grandpa's on the front lawn staring at her aching Wondering if his marriage was a terrible mistake I'm sitting on the front steps drinking orange crush Wondering if it's possible for me to still blush uh-huh oh yeah

a boy on a bike with corduroy slacks sleeps in the river by the railroad tracks waits for the whistle on the train to scream so he could close his eyes and begin to dream Oh yeah From the bells of St. Mary To the Count of Monte Cristo Nothing can stop Nothing can stop Nothing can stop, nothing can stop, nothing can stop the sins of Memphis.

The hands on his watch spin slowly around With his mind on a bus that goes all over town Looking at the babies in the factories Listening to the music of Mr. Squeeze As if by magic or remote control He finds a piece of a puzzle that he missed in his soul Uh-huh Oh yeah of a puzzle that he missed in his soul, uh-huh.

Oh, yeah. From the bells of St. Mary to the Count of Monte Cristo, nothing can stop, nothing can stop, nothing can stop the sins of Memphis. Adam and Eve and Lucy and Ricky bit the big apple and got a little sticky. Esmeralda and the hunchback of Notre Dame, they humped each other like they had no shame. They paused as they posed for a Polaroid photo. She whispered in his ear, exactly Odo.

Quasimodo. From the bells of St. Mary To the Count of Monte Cristo Nothing can stop, nothing can stop Nothing can stop the sins Of Memphis, though Sally used to play with her hula hoops Now she tells her problems to therapy groups Oh yeah Well, it's nice to hear, but it's hard to hear, isn't it?

Dave, what a pleasure it is, not only hearing the 10 songs from your 10 favorite albums thus far in 2020, but just to hear your recollection and memories and thoughts of John Prine on this day. I really, really, really enjoyed this, and I thoroughly appreciate you taking some time to check in with us today. Anytime, Mike, and we already have our next scheduled visit. Maybe we can do it in person, let's hope, by July, but I think it may be faint hope. But I really am going to plan to be sitting

beside you at the end of the year. Let's hope we can make that date. Here's hoping. Stay safe. Stay healthy. Dave Hodge, can't wait to talk to you again. Thanks again. All the best, Mike. And that brings us to the end of our 615th show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Dave is at DaveHodge20.

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