Mulligan Stew Podcast

EP 299 | The Juno Couch Recap (Edmonton 2023)

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Juno Couch:  a luxurious seating area where artists may gather during Juno Weekend and exchange opinions, questions and minor insults. All for the entertainment of music fans everywhere. Music can also be played from the stage conveniently located right next to the Couches.

Just for the record, the Juno Couch only happens when the awards are hosted in Alberta. It’s been co-hosted by Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo – except for this year.

Year one was in the bar lobby of the Hotel MacDonald, Year two was in a restaurant at the base of the Calgary Tower and Year Three was on the streets of Calgary.

Just over a week ago, Edmonton hosted the Junos Awards. Right across the street from the Juno home base was CKUA Radio.

A perfect home for the Juno Couch because we already had two couches and a performance area.

Jim Cuddy was playing Juno Cup hockey to raise funds for Music Counts—Canada’s music education charity.

Jim made a guest appearance from the rink via The Net.

My co-hosts this year were Tom Wilson (Blackie and the Rodeo Kings) and Dan Mangan.

Guests include

  • Angelique Francis
  • Digging Roots
  • Shawn Hall (The Harp and Axe)
  • Jon Dore
  • Shakura S’Aida
  • The Weather Station
  • Marc Jordan and Amy Sky
  • CKUA Hosts
  • Holger Petersen
  • Cam Hayden
  • Kate Stevens
  • Marek Tyler
  • Grant Stovel
  • Kerry Clarke

This podcast is an edited combination of guest comments over the two-hour show. Best exchanges on the day!

Please enjoy!

And thank you all.

Guests, crew,  staff, volunteers, Vintage West, Rigoletto.

EP 298 | Shotgun Sandra Oldfield . Alberta-BC Wine War

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Sandra Oldfield is one of the leading voices for and in the Okanagan Wine Industry.

Was team leader and winemaking leader at Tinhorn Creek in the South Okanagan.

Now, she and her husband Kenn lead a popular consulting firm called Elysian Projects. Sandra is also one of the leaders in BC Tourism.

She’s a highly respected spokesperson for the wine community in BC.

No one hired her, she just is.

Sandra is also a world-class troublemaker and people love her for that.

She speaks her mind but does it from knowledge and passion for who and what she’s standing up for.

Several years ago the Liquor Control bureaucrats would not allow wine fans to buy BC wine in BC and drive it back home to Alberta.

I drove a case of wine across the BC/Alberta border but was not detained. https://bc.ctvnews.ca/no-wining-dj-flouts-prohibition-era-wine-law-1.643649

 

Sandra ordered a shotgun from the prairies to show that a gun could be sent across borders but not wine. We’ve been friends ever since.

Now the same Alberta Liquor agency is telling BC Wineries that they cannot send their wines to wine club members in Alberta and if they do, all their wines will be pulled from store shelves in that province.

This is all happening just as many of the small BC farmers who grow the grapes are staggered from the almost complete loss of vineyards and fruit in the Okanagan from two Winter cold snaps that killed many many vines.

I found Sandra in Victoria  and sat down for a focused talk about the state of her industry and possible solutions for all involved. Both sides.

She also has revealed a video she shot with her husband Kenn. Boxes arriving from Alberta were sent directly to her house in BC.

Sandra will explain what that says about the playing field here.

Delighted to welcome Shotgun Sandra Oldfield

EP 297 | Grant Lawrence-His tour is ‘Stories and Songs Live’

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Grant Lawrence (The Smugglers, CBC Podcast, multiple best-selling books) is on the road with his Stories and Song Live.

Grant and Joel Plaskett, Ashleigh Ball, played Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney by the Sea north of Victoria Thursday night.

Friday on Galiano Island and Saturday in Maple  Ridge with his love  Jill Barber added.

 

We met at The Five and Dime Diner across from the venue and talked for 20 or so minutes about EVERYTHING.

He told the story of two teens,  Grant and Nardwuar knocking on my front door Halloween night to ask questions about their favourite bands. I did the best I could and sent them along with extra promo records. Grant still has his.

 We’ve been friends for 36 years. That’s the kind of podcast this will be.  Corey Woods (Associate Producer) shot it on video as well..so it’s also on terrydavidmulligan YouTube channel.

 

EP 296 | Remembering Jeff Healey and Celebrating Wine with Harry Hertscheg!

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Every once in a while there’s a week that goes by that is blessed with great conversations.
Somewhere down that road, I decided that instead of choosing one interview over the other, why not have them both share the podcast.
March 2, 2008, was the day gifted singer/songwriter and truly remarkable man Jeff Healey lost his battle with cancer.


We had a great long-distance friendship. Every time we reconnected, we fell into an easy chatter that always ended up in laughter. Good man.
His loss gutted me. Still am.
Roger Costa is the co-administrator/archivist of The Estate of Jeff Healey.
He’s currently  leading the production team shooting the documentary
See the Light: The Jeff Healey Story.

That film and my interview with Roger will come later this year or early 2025.
In the meantime, I wanted to remember Jeff on March 2 with someone who knows him well. Roger Costa.


Harry Hertscheg

Harry Hertscheg is a regular listener to this Podcast. He listens to it while biking through busy Vancouver traffic to and from work.
Work is being executive director of the hugely successful VanWineFest which is just wrapping up.
Almost 20,000 wine fans have attended seminars, winemakers dinners and large and small tastings.
The feature region is Italy. 71 Italian wineries sent their best.
Next year the feature region is the USA.
Here’s a conversation with the completely engaging and informative Harry Hertscheg.

Enjoy the ride Harry.

EP 295 | Corb Lund Interview, New Album ‘ EL VIEJO’

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Corby brings new, acoustic, live off off-the-floor music in his new album El Viejo (The Old One) in memory and tribute to his pal Ian Tyson.

Corby says that this album may be his best yet.

He brings memories of Ian and also how his audiences are different depending on where he’s playing,

For El Viejo Corb and the Hurtin’ Albertans played live, letting the songs reveal themselves. It was all captured by CKUA Alumni Scott Franchuck.

Corby describes it as “organic”.

We talked about his name “is that the name of the band?”

Touched on  his time with The Smalls and how this music connects to those days. “half urban/indy and half cowboys/ranchers”

We touched on Hearts on Fire Michael Barclay’s book on “6 Years That Changed Canadian Music” which in its promo mentioned cowboys who used to play speed metal. 

“the alt-country music in the late ’90s and 2000s was littered with x-punks who suddenly discovered acoustic guitar.”

That’s Corb. The Poet Laureate of the Albertan people.

March 5 Corb is in Vancouver at The Orpheum

March 7 Grey Eagle Calgary

March 9 Midway Edmonton

March 22 Zankel Hall / Carnegie Hall NYC

May 28 Amsterdam

And multiple dates in Europe with The Dead South.

EP 294 | Dominique Fils-Aime New Album ‘Our Roots Run Deep’

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Dominique Fils-Aimé presents her fourth album Our Roots Run Deep.

Dominique Fils-Aimé is a JUNO Award-winning singer-songwriter from Montreal. Her new album invites us to deep dive into the roots of her soul with a strong desire to connect with one’s higher self and the desire to surround you in a soothing aural embrace.

On stage, whether in Canada, in Europe or the USA,  Dominique Fils-Aimé’s magnetic presence on stage leads the audience on a transcendent journey.

 

The Montreal-based JUNO award-winning singer-songwriter put the history of African-American musical culture into the heart of her work, reflecting on the social realities that influenced the genres of blues, jazz and soul. Her previous trilogy shed light on the history of Afro-American music, inspired by soul icons such as Billie Holiday, Nina Simone and Etta James.

2018’s Nameless, was about confronting historical silences and sorrows. This blues-tinged album led to two sold-out shows at the Montreal International Jazz Festival in 2018.

Her second album, Stay Tuned! was a call for revolution. This album won the 2020 JUNO Award for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year.

 Dominique Fils-Aimé [FEES-em-AY]  closed the final chapter of the trilogy with Three Little Words, a call for reconciliation. The record received rave reviews in prestigious publications all around the world. It made the Polaris Short List and claimed the #1 spot for best-selling album in Quebec and #2 in Canada.

In her fourth album entitled Our Roots Run Deep, Dominique crafts her latest album with a loose, dreamlike narrative structure that tells a story of growth. For Dominique, nature acts as an anchor and creates the unique but interconnected journey of a human being.

“Just as we cannot see the mycorrhizal network that allows trees in a forest to communicate with each other underground,” says Dominique. “I believe our souls do the same and that music can be a fertilizer for this invisible communication network.”

Dominique!

 

Saturday night  Feb 17 Dominique is appearing at Calgary’s Block Heater festival at Central United Church. When she takes the stage at 8:55 Dominique will not only charm the audience in the Church but will be streamed live on the CKUA Radio Network. Province-wide in Alberta and heard on the CKUA App.

www.mulliganstew.ca

 

EP 292 | Alan Doyle Interview and New Album ‘Welcome Home’

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Feb 9th Alan Doyle releases his next album Welcome Home

Feb 10 he guests on Mulligan Stew

“I have always struggled with the middle ground. I love playing live so much and I have rightly been accused of writing songs more for concerts than albums. Most people who come to my shows want that kind of night out. So, I have overlooked the lower and slower: The lower part of my vocal range and the slower songs. I’m letting myself do that for the first time on this record.”

Alan’s 6th solo album and 20th of his career. Alan is celebrating 30 years in music.

He’s been co-writinbg songs for Welcome Home with Donovan Woods, Jimmy Rankin and actor Oscar Isaac.

Alan starts a 45-night North American tour Feb 20 with 2 nights in Kelowna.

Feb 29 – Edmonton  N Jube

March 1  Calgary  S Jube

March 9 Massey Hall

Alan Doyle is a first-class storyteller who takes us through the songs and stories.

We talk about Tell Tale Harbour the play he produced.

Also was totally involved in The Tribute to Ron Hynes Album

And he has yet another best-selling book coming.

The beautiful Alan Doyle and his beautiful,  beautiful band charging into 2024. At CKUA

EP 291 | Paradigm 2022 Heritage Collection – Canadian Whisky of the Year

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Making great whisky is serious business.

Whisky takes time. You can create it and leave it in barrel “while your kids grow up and head off to college” kind of time.

For example, Paradigm Spirits -The Heritage Collection –  Whisky of the Year in Canada spent 19  years in barrels. Then along came friends and partners Michelle deBus and Irma Joeveer who were just beginning their whisky journey. They purchased the filled barrels to start Paradigm.

Then blended in some Oloroso Sherry and found a stunning balance between the corn whisky and sherry.

Davin de Kergommeaux Canada’s Whisky authority and founder of the Canadian Whisky Awards describes The Heritage as having

“sublime complexity and elegance with fresh fruity top notes”

This is a really nice story of people who dreamt a dream of making whisky and how it all led to being named Whiskey of the Year in Canada. Besting 200 other whiskeys.

Our guests are Irma Joeveer and Michelle Debus

 

EP 290 | The 18th Annual Victoria Whisky Fest & Canadian Whisky Awards – Part 1

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“Friendship is like Whisky – the older the better”

 

Yes, my friends, it’s our annual trek to Victoria’s inner harbour for the 18th annual Victoria Whisky Festival and the Canadian Whisky Awards.

It was the founder of the awards Davin de Kergomeaux who whispered in my ear wondering why I wasn’t attending or tasting or writing about his Whisky Awards.  On second thought I think the voice in my ear was me saying

“How could you possibly miss this?” just after I had missed the events about 6-7  years ago.

I knew almost nothing about Whisky but my thinking was the same as wine – 17 years ago – every interview is going to be a master class. Pay attention and you could learn all about wine and pass it on to the listeners.

 

I’m pleased to welcome  to Tasting Room Radio –

Davin de Kergommeaux – founder of the Canadian Whisky Awards.

The Canadian Whisky Awards, held annually with the Victoria Whisky Festival, is the first and only competition dedicated solely to Canadian Whisky.

The Awards have become the first stop for whisky producers, distributors, retailers and fans looking for the very best Canadian whiskies.

Davin is the world’s leading authority on Canadian Whisky. He also has three books available on Canadian Whisky with a fourth coming in March!

Davin assembled 10 judges and sent them nearly 200 competing whiskies to blind taste.  Davin announces the winner in his interview. We talk to the winners next week.

www.canadianwhiskyawards.com

www.canadianwhisky.org

Graeme Macaloney

Dr. Graeme Macaloney PEng, PhD. – Macaloney’s Island Distillery (Saanich)

 

Proud owner of 5 world whisky awards including World best Potstill – Kildara. They are a non-chilled, filtered, no colour-added distillery.

In our 8-10 minute interview, I think I asked 3 perhaps 4 questions – Dr. Graeme handled the rest.

It was like a masterclass. A charming man in a Cameron Kilt.

He won Gold for his 54ppm Peat Project.

www.macaloneydistillers.com

Tish Harcus –  Manager Canadian Club Whisky since 1988.  Canadian Club itself since 1858.

www.canadianclub.com

James Neil – Bowmore Distillery. The oldest distillery in Islay. On the shores of Lochindaal since 1779. Also home to one of the world’s oldest Scotch maturation warehouses – The No. 1 Vault.

James poured Bowmore 22 Aston Martin

www.bowmore.com

 

They took part in the Great Whisky Debate with

Micah Dew from Maker’s Mark.

Words flew, one-liners were exchanged and they still remain long-time friends. Micah was busy with a masterclass but we thank Tish and James for coming by.

www.makersmark.com

Chris Read –Shelter Point Distillery. Campbell River.

Distinctly Vancouver Island. Uniquely Shelter Point.

By the time Chris sat down we knew Shelter Point had won 2 Bronze medals for their Oak Cask Single Malt  (smoke, spices, honey, leather and a wiff of ocean)

and their flagship Evans Family Reserve.

(vanilla, tannins, dark chocolate, coconut, citrus, berries, cloves.)

Chris explained the unique influences in their island location. It was like poetry.

www.shelterpoint.ca

EP 289 | Double Feature: Russ Kunkel (The Immediate Family) And the 2024 Critics Choice Awards Round Table

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Let the names tell the story –

With Waddy Wachtel, Danny Kortchmar, Leland Sklar and drummer, producer, and writer  Russ Kunkel created and played music history.

Historic albums by Carole King, Jackson Brown, James Taylor, Warren Zevon, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Steven Stills,  Neil Young, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Jimmy Buffet, JJ Cale, Ringo, Lyle Lovett, George Harrison, Dolly, Linda and Emmylou  The Trio album, Stevie Nicks, Don Henley, Bob Seger, Bonnie Raitt, Tracey Chapman, Joe Walsh, BB King, Steve Winwood.

On and On and ON.

Now, along with seasoned guitarist and vocalist Steve Postell,  they’ve established the opportunity to be their band. The Immediate Family. Their new album Skin in the Game arrives Feb 16.

Skin in the Game references the fact that they aren’t sidemen here. It’s not a play-and-walk-away kind of thing. They’re taking the music they wrote and played,  out on the road for themselves. No one else.

For the rest of the story, check out the documentary The Immediate Family. Screening now.


The annual Critics Choice Awards take place in LA on Sunday at 7 PM Eastern.

Hosted by Chelsea Handler.

I’ve gathered four opinionated critics (are there any other kind)

We met on Zoom and went at it.

Discussing the film year 2023 and who’s going to win what…

Shawn Edwards  Kansas City

Hillary Atkin LA

Teri Hart Toronto

Bonnie Laufer Toronto

It’s a wild ride friends..come along.