The Twin Cities of Minnesota is a treasure trove of great music, and Jeff Narlock is one of the gems in that trove. Jeff had a kind of 'musical conversion' experience when he first heard Nickel Creek, the progressive bluegrass trio, perform, and it became a clarion call to new music path. The road led Jeff to years performing as part of a trio called North Ridge, though the group's members recently went separate ways.

Yata has been a decades-long feature of the music scene in the Chippewa Valley region of Wisconsin, and an inveterate collaborator with so very many musicians of the area, enhancing his own songwriting, guitar, and wonderful singing skills with all kinds of instruments and harmonies.

I love the music of today's guest, Roger Street Friedman, someone I just discovered a few weeks ago. I've seen descriptions of his music as being of the Roots Rock, Folk, Blues, R&B, Rock and Roll, and Country genres, but mostly I feel that hearing Roger is like being with a dear long-time friend, one who knows the words and notes that strum the chords of your heart. There's Earth and sky and waterfalls and campfires in this music, so I think you'll want to make it daily part of what feeds your soul.

Colleen Kattau joins us today from New York State to share Earth-rooted and activist-nurtured music. With every note perfect along a wide and soaring range, and a soul that reaches out widely in compassion and care, Colleen uses her music to motivate and strengthen world-healing work.

We welcome back Paulette Meier, last with us in 2009. She's put out 3 albums since then, one around her activism and work for the world, and the other related to the timeless Quaker wisdom she has delivered in chant or plainsong. Paulette combines her beautiful voice with deep spirit and care for the world to share heart-mending and nourishing music from Cincinnati, Ohio.

Past/present religious/spiritual influences: Catholic, Community Christian, Quaker

I discovered Tom Pirozzoli back in the first months of the COVID shutdown, and was inspired by the heart in his music. Actually the first song of his I heard is called "This Is What Love Is Like," and that captures the truth of his music. This time, I am circling back to Tom after hearing a new song, 1942, where he combines memories from his dad with what we need so very much right now.

Katie Dahl's music is spirit-laden, rooted in a religious past which no longer fits, but which Katie still copes with through new lenses. Katie has been described as “a songwriter and playwright whose work is as expansive as Lake Michigan and as deeply rooted as its rocky coastal bluffs”, and that fits her well.

Kate Minogue's music is done under the name Rowan Sway, and she has two releases, an EP from back in 2021 called What's Begun, and she's currently releasing Conjure. Starting from classical flute and performing with orchestras, other bands, and a singer-songwriter father, she caught a passion for Celtic music (especially while living in the Boston area), honed her Irish chops, and played for a while with The Beggar Boys before moving to Switzerland almost ten years ago.

We're headed down under to Perth, Australia for a deep dive with Marie Hopkinson. While passionate about music from the age of 4, including playing, over the decades, violin, cello, and guitar, her life included a passion for healing using acupuncture needles and the other tools for healing of Chinese medicine. Along the musical path, Marie performed with Smash Monkeys and she also has hosted her own music interview program called The Good Vibes Show.

Seldom have we had guests for Song of the Soul matching such incredible singing with such penetrating and offbeat lyrics, full of alternate visions of divine workings and mayhem, as what we have today with Heather Aubrey Lloyd. Heather was on the way to a profession as a reporter when a curve on the road of life placed her instead in front of a microphone, sharing music for a living.