Routes & Branches & Beyond, show # 240, 1 Sept 2022 by Ivan Emke

The willow is a tree of great symbolic value to songwriters. It appears as a marker of mourning (or weeping), its ability to bend without breaking reminds us of resilience during tribulation, its capacity for regrowth is encouraging, and its sometimes scattered and rambling appearance in all manner of contexts provides a fitting metaphor for humans. So this week on "Routes & Branches & Beyond" we start a 2-part series on the willow tree. We are aided by fluid Cape Breton fiddle, melodious Irish larks, rowdy folk, bluegrass songs of Shakespearean themes, flutes from tree branches, nouveau old-time songs, sea shanties from the forest, heart-string-tugging waltzes, Appalachian songs from just north of Toronto and the dark side of willow gardens. With musicians like Cassie & Maggie MacDonald, Danú, the BelleRegards, Ricky Skaggs & Tony Rice, the Carter Family, Hans Fredrik, Marie Burns & the Woodshed All-Stars, Ian Bell, Roy Johnstone, Rayna Gellert & Susie Goehring, Hannah Shira Naiman and the Hotpoint Stringband. Join us in the shade.