By Shari Kasman

The weather is lovely and it’s probably best for you to be spending your time walking or biking or sipping coffee outdoors. If you have a portable radio machine, bring it along on today’s adventures so that you can tune into CIUT 89.5FM at 6:00pm. Alternately, tune in to the radio station at home or in your vehicle (although we imagine that you opt for a car-free lifestyle). If you listen to CIUT on Thursday evenings as the big hand reaches the twelve and the little hand reaches the six, you will hear birds chirping and a dog barking as the ladies say their hellos and a man’s voice says, “you’re just in time for pie”. This introduction to Steve Fuitman’s Back to the Sugar Camp show sets the atmosphere for a hour of listening that makes us feel like we’ve been transported out of Toronto and into a small town in Northern Ontario.
For an entire hour, Mister Fruitman plays bluegrass, folk, blues, and country music with a focus on local and Canadian content. Last week’s show began with Hayseed Dixie doing a bluegrass cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog”, which we found to be highly amusing. Steve often brings guests onto his show to play music and discuss upcoming events. Regardless of what’s happening in the studio, everything stops at 6:30pm when a booming voice announces “It’s Stompin’ Tom Time” to segue into a tune from Dr. Stompin’ Tom Connors, Canada’s favourite bud the spud. Steve Fruitman’s webpage is highly informative, containing links to previous episodes of his radio program (in case you miss out on tonight’s live program), a detailed biography of Stevedore Steve (Stompin’ Tom’s buddy), and a slew of hilarious photos.