Living well off the beaten path in hillbilly shack in the Ozark Mountains, Carolyn Carter has been singing for her supper as long as she can remember. With a voice that is soft and wild, 100% Arkansas, Carolyn plays the listener's heart strings while strumming those of her guitar. Inspired by church music and folks like Joan Baez and Emmylou Harris, Carolyn is gifted and passes on the gift through her wonderful songs.

Walter Craft has been spreading his message of Serve the Song for close to 50 years, on a trajectory between Minnesota down to Florida, eager to provide a force that feeds hearts & souls and nudges the world in a good direction. Down-home, sing-along, is Walter's preference, gracing places like The Bullfrog Fish Farm/Eat My Fish or the Wrong Place Saloon.

Alex Smith has a deep voice & deep roots in the Allegheny Mountains of northern New York. He was a punk rocker in high school, but at 23 makes music of the folk/Americana vein, about the people & places of his rural home.

Inspired by the likes of Odetta & Pete Seeger, Lisa Meissner makes music with the feel of traditional folk music, but with new tunes and themes, concerns like Climate Change and much more. With her husband, Klaus, they are The Rustic Riders.

Nicolas Boulerice was a founding member of Le Vent du Nord, a group from Québec playing progressive folk music, mixing a traditional repertoire with their own originals. Reinterpreting, energizing, and conveying the power of songs, old and new, the band aims to both please and motivate listeners to make a difference.

Jillian Rae says that she's got music genre ADD, unable to stay focused on any one genre of music. Trained in classical music on the violin, she's likely to be on stage singing and playing pop, cosmic country, old-school folk, hard rock and anything else in reach. You can see her in person at the Great River Folk Festival, August 28-30, 2015.

Sandy Weisto has been a part of Milwaukee's folk music scene for 30 years, in front of and behind the spotlights. Having done organizing and sound for Milwaukee's The Coffee House and at The Miramar Theatre, and performed individually and with groups like Sweet Diversity, The Silver Linings, and, currently, Green Sails, Sandy puts a beautiful voice to great music.

Our third visit with musician/poet/artist extraordinaire, Carrie Newcomer, during her visit to the 2015 FGC gathering at Western Carolina University. Along with the release of her 15th album, A Permeable Life, Carrie released her first book, of poetry, by the same name. Carrie's gentle spirit and her deep and persistent passions combine with her music to make world-changing songs.

Megan Smith is half of Misner & Smith, a really special folk/roots/country music duo. Megan plays the upright bass and mandolin, but it's her phenomenal vocals that won my soul. A native of Davis, California, she's also appeared in a number of theatrical productions. This is music and a musician you don't want to miss.

Larry Penn was a prolific folk musician/song-writer in the footsteps of folks like Woody Guthrie and Utah Phillips, until his death in October, 2014. Using themes like trains, workers, and powerful, common folks, Larry was inspirational to so very many others, and some of those folks share their stories and Larry's songs in celebration of Larry. In part 2 of 2, we talk with Bill Camplin, Mark Dvorak and Brett Kemnitz.