I've seen mentions of the music of Bettman & Halpin for years, but it took running into a video of a new song by Stephanie Bettman to lead me into the wealth of music she's written and performed. Just recently Stephanie released her own album, Out of the Darkness. Stephanie's range is astonishing in oh-so-many ways. Certainly in terms of vocal range, genre range, and the range of themes & ideas, but also in that she's also been an actor and a trapeze artist!

We're back today with Part 2 of our Song of the Soul visit with Arielle Silver. If you missed part 1 last week, it can be easily found on our website, and it was a visit steeped in song, story, and Arielle's silky-soaring voice. We finished just as she was explaining some of the riches & wonderings that were gifts of her Jewish upbringing, including her deep dive into Eastern and Earth-based inspirations.

Arielle Silver is on a mission, and she takes this pursuit seriously. We'll get to know her music today, but her deep encounter with Eastern Spirituality, including her practice of yoga, meditation, and more, could easily fill all our broadcast time. Arielle had music flowing into her from her father's guitar playing, and it also was a rich part of her Jewish background, but she definitely found the need for her music to rise out of and be rooted in her spirituality.

After 18 years we welcome back David Rovics today to share his 2^nd Song of the Soul. David has made an expansive career in writing and sharing music of protest, providing energy for & insight into the issues & mechanics of making a better life for those in the US & around the world. His many dozens of albums cover the gamut, with genres especially of folk, and folk-punk, but also touches of children's music, metal, & rock.

Cheryl Prashker is a talented musician with wide and deep skills, particularly on the drums, but she especially has a heart of gold and bestows endless blessings on all around her. Besides performing decades ago with a back called CC RailRoad, she performs currently with a Celtic-based band called Runa.

El Kleiner does music from the deeper side of the pool, with profound imagery, and with sensitive sensitivity and insightful sight into the way we look below the layers of meaning of our lives. El does not define or box-in our beliefs, but creates a shifting mosaic of perception that allows the listener to flow beyond the usual constraints of analysis, all of it delivered through haunting, enrapturing, heart-opening voice, lyrics, & melodies.

For a number of years, Sage Cook was part of Elephant Revival, and toward 2014 Sage and Aera consciously moved toward a more subsistence, closer to the land, lifestyle, and continued to make music as part of We Dream Dawn. Their metamorphosis has continued, with a stronger acoustic folk flavor, as they mostly now perform as Sage & Aera.

It's been 20 years that Northern Spirit Radio has been broadcasting, and to celebrate that milestone we've set up a John McCutcheon concert event both streaming online and right here in-person, in Eau Claire, WI, on Sunday October 5^th, 2025, starting at 6:30 pm Central Time. Get more info and tickets on the NorthernSpiritRadio.org website. I've interviewed John several times, including live at a Quaker gathering at Grinnell College in Iowa on July 4^th, 2019.

(From left to right: Annie Patterson, Wendi Bourne, Lauren Janson)

Today is the second time we'll have Jim Phillips with us, and this is kind of a new-and-improved-music of Jim Phillips, with significant overlap of songs from the last time, but with dramatically enhanced versions of some of his tunes.