Music

Mother Banjo (Ellen Stanley) is wonderful. In addition to her musical career, she is executive director of the Minnesota Music Coalition, and does a weekly show on station KFAI called Womenfolk. She writes all kinds of great music, with a special gift for creating new & impeccable gospel songs. She's shared the stage with many folks, among them Robert Bly and Tracy Grammar, and is coming near the end of fund-raising for her 5th album with a Kickstarter Campaign.

Let Elizabeth Erin Kemler ride into your heart with her passionate songs related to The Weight of Mortal Skin. Elizabeth champions an array of organizations like Kids for Peace, Songs for a Cause, Hope Sings, and many others, while single parenting her son. The skin may be mortal, but not so the music.

For great folk music north-of-the-border, Dawud Wharnsby is the one. Homeboy of Kitchener, Ontario, with roots also in Syria and Pakistan, Dawud weaves nature, vulnerability, faith, truth, and universality into song, integrally linked to the Islamic path he walks. Occasionally he performs as part of the Abraham Jam, a Jewish-Christian-Muslim collaboration trio.

Laura Joy won the Songwriter Contest at the Great River Folk Fest 2017, and it's no mystery why. The young Phoenix-to-Chicago transplant has talent far beyond her actual miles. And what's more, "Laura Joy has been known to quell dark, angry bars full of ornery old Irishmen".

It looks like maybe Anna Elizabeth Laube has at least temporarily stopped running. Starting from Iowa City, and including sojourns in Madison WI, San Francisco, and Liège, Belgium, Anna brings her Americana/Folk/Country-rooted music into your heart with vocals & lyrics to dream of. With 4 CDs and several singles, including Enough for Me with Jason Horowitz, she shares riches to enchant.

Jason Horowitz of The Whiskey Farm penned the tune that beat out 100's of competitors to win the Songs for Social Change 2017 contest. Weekdays he's mild-mannered child psychologist Dr. Horowitz, but on stage he and the other musicians of The Whiskey Farm exert superpowers of joy, healing, & transformation through Americana music flavored with country, rock, & bluegrass highlights.

Jean Rohe has created an alternate (and much better) National Anthem: Arise! Arise! and she shares the songs from the US, Cuba, Brazil, & Republic of Georgia that got her there. She'll share much more of her own music on her next Song of the Soul visit.

Dada Veda uses a couple different taglines. One is Meditation, Music and Social Vision, and the other is Eastern Mysticism meets folk, country, and world music. He is a monk at the Ananda Liina Spiritual Eco-Community in Urbana, Illinois, where he teaches meditation and promotes the activism of his community through music. He is central in the work of RAWA (Renaissance Artists & Writers Association) and their Songs for Social Change contest, and broadcasts music on-line via RAWAradio.com.

Jan Nigro has been growing healthy kids for 30 years with his musical group and project called Vitamin L. If you're daunted by their intention to produce positive character development through music, think again, because you'll experience songs that are beautiful, fun, & inspirational. Jan lives in Ithaca, NY, and comes from a very musical family, including a jazz-oriented dad, classical-focused mother, plus his immensely talented sister, Laura Nyro. Spend an hour and walk a mile with Jan Nigro & Vitamin L.

Lisa Ann Wright (or on Facebook) makes compassionate, thoughtful, creative music, even as she performs as one of the Snarky Sisterz with Diana Quinn. Her song, My Daily Bread, was included in the Songs For Social Change top 10 by RAWA.