Chris Moore is unique singer/songwriter on a very conscious spiritual path, often explored in and through music, currently as part of the trio, Kindling Stone. Chris' journey forward in Spirit has taken him progressively back in musical styles and forms, including music from the Sacred Harp and the Shakers. He's profound, humble, inspiring, and a talented, creative musician.
Singer/songwriter Tracy Feldman is one of the many rewards I got for going to this year's MREA Clean Energy & Sustainable Living Fair. While there's a clear and powerful passion in his guitar, violin & lyrics, teaching biology at UW-Stevens Point is also a major calling of his life.
Sally Campbell does not refer to herself as a musician so much as a "song catcher". Having been judged unacceptable for choir as a youth, she had to work on developing her singing & playing ability when she started receiving songs in 1982. For her 70th birthday she performed & recorded a concert of her music for a group of friends.
David Campbell, co-author of American Grace, speaks about the rise of non-religious affiliated "nones" in the USA, issues like abortion & same-sex marriage (and how they divide us), how the hippie 60's led to the rise of the Religious Right, and much more. With piercing insight, solid documentation & historical richness, American Grace is an invaluable resource to make sense of the religious world in the USA, and the political world it interacts with.
Noa Baum is an Israeli-born woman now living in the USA who has found her avocation in telling stories, who came to my attention through her one-woman story-telling show called A Land Twice Promised, about the personal stories of people vying for or sharing the land variously called Israel or Palestine. Stories can change hearts and find a way forward in places where argument is powerless or counterproductive, so Noa's very personal sharing may light for us a more peaceful way forward in a very troubled world.
Featured Music:
The Greatest Story Never Told - John McCutcheon
Hills of Ayalon - Fred Small
John Sheldon of Warwick, England, has been teaching, leading, performing & directing music, across the spectrum, for around 4 decades. A longtime participant & leader for The Leaveners, John was present at the 2012 FGC gathering at Kingston, RI, where this was recorded, to organize & conduct a performance of The Fire & the Hammer.
Ellen Whyte mostly hangs out in Portland, but recently toured Wisconsin's Chippewa Valley with Sue Orfield. She combines her beautiful voice & great musicians with a powerful personal understanding - of the blues, of rhythm, and of turning her life around. She's someone you want to know, both as a musician & as a person.
The topic is the Transition Town movement and the experience of Steve Chase, Director of Advocacy for Social Justice and Sustainability at Antioch University New England and involved with the Keene, NH, transition, and Ruah Swennerfelt, former long-time long-time General Secretary of Quaker Earthcare Witness and is currently involved with the Transition Town implementation in Charlotte, VT. Both are active with Quakers in Transition.
Addtional links and resources: TransitionNetwork.org, TransitionUS.org, and The Transition Handbook and The Transition Companion.
SuZ Ogden is an angeltonk Baptist Buddhist living in Oklahoma, with visits to California, Russia and Israel. In other words, she's all over the map, from nightclub singer to minister in the United Centers for Spiritual Living.
Ken Lonnquist is change-making, environmental activist, humorous & serious type of singer/songwriter. Ken produces a wide array of musical styles, though folkish is sort of home base for him. You'll find a spirit of deep connection with the Earth and a musical talent to add riches to your musical experience in Madison, Wisconsin, with Ken.