Old Smokie Sweater   (RRCD-14) - 2 hr 5 min. - released 2008
Double CD Audio   lots of fun, stories & songs with the 1961 Trail Smoke Eaters
 
Contents   (1)Introductions (2)Airplanes (3)Down On The Farm (4)1961 Trail Smoke Eaters (5)The Band Played On (6)The Swedish Fan (7)Maggie (8)Kevin Barry (9)If You Knew Susie (10)Down Where The Dark Waters Flow (11)Dave's First Song (12)Lili Marlene (13)Let's Take A Break (14)Pinoke Leaves (15)The Last Thing On My Mind (16)Early Rinks (17)I Can't Help But Wonder (18)The Smokies Song (19)Med Michaely (20)It's A Crazy World (21)Thanks From Dave (22)Alex Stewart (23)The Jug In The Sun (24)So Long (25)Dave's Noodles  
 
Click here to listen to    The Swedish Fan        Maggie        Kevin Barry         

This concert was recorded on the 11th of February 2006 at the Miners Hall in Rossland, BC. It was supposed to be Alfie & Seth & I, but Alfie went in the hospital just before the concert and couldn't make it. We had been talking about doing something with the 1961 Smoke Eaters and thought this would be a good time. So Seth called them up and those that could make it came. Joining Seth & I were George Ferguson, Cal Hockley, Pinoke McIntyre and Dave Rusnell. It was a hell of a lot of fun. There were great stories about the World Cup tournament. They left Canada on the 26th of January and by the 10th of March they had played 27 games (some of them in bitterly cold outdoor rinks) and won the World Championship. These guys played hockey in an era when they played for the fun of it. Listening to them tell of planes catching on fire, wild bus rides through the Alps, people they met and places they saw - it was the adventure of a lifetime! - we had so much fun that we're talking about doing it again next winter in Trail. Tales From Turtle Island   (RRDVD-13) - 1 hr 58 min. - released 2008
DVD Video   some great stories by Barry Gray
 
Contents   (1)Turtle Island (2)The Liars Contest (3)Anansi & The Box Of Stories (4)The Man Who Sat On The Tides (5)Raven & Crow's Potlatch (6)Buffalo Woman (7)Timmo & The Devil (8)Bekka & The Magic Cap  
 
Click here to watch   Raven & Crow's Potlatch
 
You will need the Quicktime player to play the movie. If you don't already have it, it's a free download for Windows (if you have a Mac you'll already have it) at:   www.apple.com/quicktime/download/  
 
Barry Gray is a storyteller from Harrop, BC. He grew up in Rossland and then lived in Switzerland for a number of years where he trained as a Waldorf teacher. When he and his wife Ursula decided they wanted to raise their kids in the Kootenays they came back to Canada and settled in Harrop. Barry taught in the Waldorf School in Nelson for 10 years and in other schools around the Kootenays. He is the driving force behind the Procter Storytelling Fair, which will not be held this year (2008) since Barry & Ursula will be taking an extended trip across Canada. He is an absolutely riveting storyteller and although he calls these childrens stories I have yet to see anyone of any age who doesn't thoroughly enjoy them. god speaking   (RRDVD-12) - 47 min. - released 2008
DVD Video   Wayne Krewski & Booty Griffiths in concert
 
Contents   (1)The Jeldness Tea Party (2)Conned By A Friend (3)Pioneers On Gray Mountain (4)Rescues On Old Glory  
 
Click here to watch    The Jeldness Tea Party    It features Booty dressed up in his Olaus Jeldness costume telling the story and then I play the song.  
 
You will need the Quicktime player to play the movie. If you don't already have it, it's a free download for Windows (if you have a Mac you'll already have it) at:   www.apple.com/quicktime/download/  
 
Most of this was filmed at the Miners Hall in Rossland on 3 January 2004. If you scroll down to "Through Your Eyes" there are some stories about that concert as well as more film. The title comes from Booty's habit of always answering the phone with "god speaking !" The cover photo is Booty ski jumping at Grouse Mountain. 
 
Through Your Eyes   (RRDVD-11) - 1 hr 54 min. - released 2007
DVD Video   some of my favorite times with Alfie - in concert, in the studio & in his basement
 
Contents   (1)Introduction (2)The Jug In The Sun (3)Pistol Shot (4)Violins In The Mine (5)Med Michaely (6)Through Your Eyes (7)Mrs Petersen's Radio (8)Ass Full Of Glass (9)Alfie's Last Moose (10)The Oldest Eagle (11)Old Rinks & Roadtrips (12)The Stony Creek Bridge (13)Fanny's Gift (14)I Would Have Said  
 
Click here to watch    Pistol Shot    It brings to life the magic of spending time with Alfie in his basement.  
 
You will need the Quicktime player to play the movie. If you don't already have it, it's a free download for Windows (if you have a Mac you'll already have it) at:   www.apple.com/quicktime/download/  
 
Alfie Albo, born in 1909, saw the first automobiles in town. As a young boy he took violin lessons 1400 feet underground in the mine. As a young man he played in the silent movies and at the age of 81 he shot his last moose. Alfie could put a picture in your mind of what life was like 100 years ago and he does in this film. Much of the film is footage of a 3 January 2004 concert at the Miners Hall in Rossland. That night Alfie returned for the first time to the same stage he had played on in the 1930s (the original stage lights are still there underneath the front of the stage, although they're not used any more). The day of the concert the temperature started dropping and by the time of the concert it was -25 degrees Celcius (very cold for Rossland) and had turned into the coldest day of the year. The furnace in the hall was set on a minimum temperature and then you turned a timer dial which would turn the furnace up for 30 minutes, so you had to keep turning the timer every 30 minutes. Once we got on stage we were very toasty under the powerful spotlights and I completely forgot about the furnace with everything else going on. At the back of the hall a big set of 4 doors opens onto the foyer and a staircase down to the washrooms. With the spotlights in our eyes I couldn't see that the doors had been left open by folks going to the washrooms, so that made it even colder for the audience. So while we were sweating on the stage there were some pretty cold folks in the audience.  
The Making Of A Goaltender   (RRCD-10) - 1 hr 18 min. - released 2005
CD Audio   stories & a song from legendary goaltender Seth Martin
 
Contents   (1)Credits (2)Long and Loud (3)Kids Games (4)Hockey (5)FBI (6)Bobsledding (7)Kevin Barry (8)Transistor Radios and Home Brew (9)Hockey Fans (10)Firemen (11)The Barber-Greene (12)Rancho Grande Boys  
 
On 19 April 2005 I sat down with Seth Martin and my dad Stan Krewski to share some stories of the old days in Rossland. There were, of course, some great hockey stories. I never knew until now the real reason the Smoke Eaters broke up after 1963. In all the years I've known Seth as a friend and co-worker of Dad's (and as a childhood hero), I never knew he had such a passion for music. After hearing his story of the song "Kevin Barry" we had to, in the end, just play it ourselves. It was a wondeful surprise when I first heard him sing (I wish I had that voice!).So have a listen to it and see what you think! The front cover is autographed by Seth and the inside cover is an autographed picture of Seth facing Frank Mahovlich, along with Seth's lifetime stats. The Miners Hall Concert   (RRCD-09) - 2 hr 12 min. - released 2004
Double CD Audio   Wayne Krewski, Alfie Albo & Booty Griffiths in concert
 
Contents   (1)In A Fishbowl (2)Toe Tappin' - No Rappin' (3)The Jug In The Sun (4)The Stony Creek Bridge (5)A Background of Blue (6)The Jeldness Tea Party (7)Med Michaely (8)Groomers Goddess (9)Conned By A Friend (10)A Gentle Soul (11)MacBeth (12)Mrs. Petersen's Radio (13)Letters From Irene (14)Rescues On Old Glory (15)Jimmy Fuller (16)Med Michaely Finale (17)Songs From The Basement  
 
All songs (words and music) by Wayne Krewski (SOCAN) with the following exceptions:
Med Michaely - lyrics by Alfie Albo
Songs From The Basement - these are a few popular songs from the early 1900s that Alfie cut loose on one day in his basement while we were practicing for the concert. I included them on the CD because it was such a priceless few moments.
 
All the stories were lived by Alfie or Booty, with the possible exception of Conned By A Friend - Alfie can't remember it and Booty won't take his tongue out of his cheek long enough to clear that up.
Live On KCR  (RRCD-08) - 60 min. - released 2003
CD Audio    Wayne Krewski & Alfie Albo in the studio with radio hosts Eva DeFoor & Mary Beth Bruce
 
All songs (words and music) by Wayne Krewski (SOCAN)
 
Contents   (1)Wayne's Rag (2)Violin Lessons In The Mine (3)A Gentle Soul (4)The Stony Creek Bridge (5)The Jug In The Sun (6)Songwriting and Recording (7)About Ivor Fosheim (8)Letters From Irene  
 
Alfie and I joined hosts Eva DeFoor and Mary Beth Bruce on the Folks' Music show on Kootenay Coop Radio for some songs and stories. This was recorded at the KCR studio in Nelson, BC on 24 Nov 03. All songs were written and performed by Wayne Krewski. All Alfie's stories are true stories that were lived by him. Thanks so much to Eva and Mary Beth for a lot of fun, and to them and the rest of the folks at KCR for letting me release the CD. Kootenay Coop Radio gets half the net proceeds from sales. You can tune in to KCR on the internet at www.kootenaycoopradio.com Check them out - they're a great station!
 
Tale Spinners  (RRCD-07) - 1 hr 13 min. - released 2003
CD Audio    a collection of stories from three fine tale spinners
 
Contents   Jim Douglas (1)The Wreck of the Mitchel Bomber   Alfie Albo (2)Earl Street (3)Quitting Tobacco (4)Jim Pogue (5)John Dunsmuir (6)Buckets of Beer for Dad (7)Alfie's World   Booty Griffiths (8)Teddy Glacier Mine (9)Old Lady Jess (10)Joe Grafton (11)Scotty Jamieson
 
 
 
 
 
I'm Not Done Yet  (RRCD-06) - 1 hr 07 min. - released 2003
CD Audio   stories from Booty's working life
 
Contents   (1)Skiing (2)Coming to Rossland (3)Cominco (4)North Burrard Shipyards (5)The Army (6)Fishing  
 
These stories are about Booty's working life, from when he first came to Rossland to work at Cominco, until he retired from fishing. Booty's father grew up in New Zealand, and the name Booty comes from a Mauri word meaning "little brother". Booty has skied for 81 consecutive years and he's still going. This was recorded at Ridge Records Studio in Rossland.  
 
 
 
Alfie's Basement Uncensored   (RRCD-05) - 1 hr 07 min. - released 2003
CD Audio a visit to Alfie's basement
 
Contents   (1)Alfie's Drier (2)Gemstones and River Rock (3)Skoal (4)Sheep Creek (5)The Irvins (6)Mrs. Petersen's Radio (7)James Cullinine (8)Police (9)Politics (10)An Iron Lung For Joe (11)Ernie Mellor  
 
A visit to Alfie's basement is always "more fun than a picnic" and you're always guaranteed to hear some great stories, especially after the scotch comes out. We thought it was time for another CD, so we did it right in the basement. The phone rang once, and the furnace was turning on and off - it's all there. When I got there, Alfie was doing laundry with a drier that's older than I am, and that's where it starts. This is about as close as you can get to a visit to Alfie's basement, worts and all, without actually being there. It was the 23 April 2003 and Alfie had just turned 94 about three weeks before. Together Again  (RRCD-04) - 1 hr 09 min. - released 2003
CD Audio   from old recordings of Jack McDonald's
 
Contents   (1)Safest Gun in the West (2)Channel Master Tape Recorder (3)Pat Boone Tries to Act (4)MacBeth (5)Jack Interviews Berva (6)Berva Interviews Jack (7)Jack's Organ (8)Dear Diary Part 3 (9)Short Snappers (10)Capitol Theater Organ  
 
These recordings are all taken from Jack's collection. Berva passed away in 1979, and Jack passed away on 15 January 2003. Tracks 1 to 6 are Jack and Berva playing with their new Channel Master tape recorder in 1964 (we still have this machine and I used it to convert these recordings to digital files). "Jack's Organ" is a bit of Jack playing the first pipe organ he built. "Dear Diary" is the third part of a three part series they did during a 1964 holiday trip to Manitoba. "Capitol Theater Organ" is a recording of Jack playing the pipe organ in the Capitol Theater in Vancouver in 1948. It was originally recorded on paper tape by Don Hings (who incidentally held the patent on the Walkie Talkie which he gave to the federal government during the Second World War), and the recording includes some words from Don to Jack and Berva when he sent them a mylar tape copy in 1957. Proceeds from this CD go to the Rossland Museum in Jack's memory. Toe Tappin' - No Rappin'  (RRCD-03) - 47 min. - released 2003
CD Audio   songs of Wayne Krewski
 
All words, music, vocals and instruments by Wayne Krewski except guest appearances on Toe - Tappin' - No Rappin' by Mary Lynn Klit on clarinet and Michael Gifford on harmony vocals, coronet and mandolin.
 
Contents   (1)Toe Tappin' - No Rappin' (2)The Jug in the Sun (3)The Stony Creek Bridge (4)The Killing of Mah Lin (5)A Background of Blue (6)Groomer's Goddess (7)A Gentle Soul  
 
 
 
Alfie, Ray, and a Case of Beer   (RRCD-02) - 1 hr 14 min. - released 2002
CD Audio    in conversation with Alfie Albo & Ray Keane
 
Contents   (1)The Beginning (2)Alfie's Childhood (3)Alfie's Violins (4)Roy Stephens' Hudson (5)Death At The Stony Creek Bridge (6)Toots Chenoweth (7)Rescuing Strangers (8)Mike Butorac's Cadillac (9)Trains (10)Father Mac (11)The Eagles (12)Roy Stephens (13)Fishtown (14)Emil Anderson (15)The Mines (16)The End  
 
Alfie was born in Rossland in 1909 and lived here all his life except for 2 years in Seattle studying violin and auto mechanics. In "Alfie's Violins" he tells about taking violin lessons as a kid on Saturdays in the mine at the 1400 foot level. As a kid he played at chivarees. In the 1920s he played in the silent movies, and in the 1930s he played in a couple of different dance bands. Anyway Alfie's got a lot of stories, so one day in June 2002, I sat down and shared some beer and some stories with he and Ray Keane.
 
Stories From Rossland   (RRCD-01) - 48 min. - released 2001
CD Audio    songs of Wayne Krewski
 
All words, music, vocals, and instruments by Wayne Krewski
 
Contents   (1)Joe Moris (2)Wayne's Rag (3)Wolfsong...Nanuk in the Field of Dreams (4)Letters From Irene (5)The Flying Steamshovel (6)Jimmy Fuller (7)The Jeldness Tea Party (8)The Ghost Cat of Plewman Basin (9)Father Pat  
 
This CD is all songs - no stories. It was my first project and because the songs are all about stories from Rossland's past, I called it Stories From Rossland. Looking at the projects I've done since then, it is, perhaps, an unfortunate name and sometimes leads to some confusion. Oh well!