Katy Vernon is a rare combination of deep, joyful, heart-rending, creative, and spritely. Wielding her trusty ukulele and backed up by a rich assortment of instruments, her voice, tunes, & lyrics will embed themselves in your heart. Born & raised in England, Katy landed in Minnesota in 1993, and has produced 3 CDs over the past 10 years. Just recently she performed her 4th Toilet Tune with Sarah Morris.
Earth-planted, Water-flowing
First Air Date
The music of Jennifer Levenhagen stirs deep currents and invites soul rejuvenation. While she’s shared her guitar, piano, violin, and exquisite voice in many settings, including playing bluegrass music, her current calling is to the meditative, rooting, flowing end of the spectrum, as evidenced by her recent release of piano improvisations, Another Sea, and her growing work in what she calls Listening Rooms, a place for personal deepening, reflection, and settling.
Singing in a Time of War
First Air Date
Xanthe Alexis is a captivating and enchanting musician from Colorado Springs who so clearly captures power, meaning and charm through her music. She self-describes her music as sepia-toned Americana, and while I don’t see it exactly that way, there is something reflective and deep that the listener will receive from her music, She performed for many years as part of The Hopeful Heroines including on their album, Goddamn Mess (Live), and just returned from the annual Folk Alliance International session in Montreal.
When Daddies Aren't Heroes
First Air Date
Wendy Martin is part country, folk, Americana, and rock, but she is completely a golden throat and a golden heart. She wrote her first song, a really viable song complete with harmonies & instrumentation, at age 5, so it's a great pity that shyness and care for her children and family delayed the release of her musical gifts to the world by decades. She's here now, a great reason to be thankful for her voice, lyrics, & stories.
Music In My Mother's House - And Everywhere
First Air Date
Stuart Stotts is a powerful singer/songwriter, storyteller, & writer. Although he's made a living for around 30 years focusing mostly on youth & schools, many of his most popular and requested songs are targeted at grown-up audiences. Present for the founding of the Children's Music Network, Stuart also played for a stretch as part of the social change rock group, Tongue N Groove.
Soul of Minnesota 2018
First Air Date
A retrospective of many, but not all, of the Minnesota-based Song of the Soul guests of 2018. There's gospel, folk/Americana, country, blues, rock, and more from: Mother Banjo (Ellen Stanley), Sarah Morris, Charlie Parr, Annie Fitzgerald, Braden Canfield, Joyann Parker, Kristin Lems. Click on the date to listen to the full interview.
Soul-food from Kitchener & the Qur'an
First Air Date
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's Actual Miles
First Air Date
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".
A Single Bright Lamp
First Air Date
Barb Tilsen became a devotee of folk music in the early '60s, and has spent a life mixing music, activism, and enrichment of children. Her circles of music & work have included the People's Music Network, the Midwest People's Music Network, and the Children's Music Network (CMN) - watch the video of Let The World Be Well - and she was the founder/early curator of the CMN Song Library.
Violin & Universal Mystery
First Air Date
Accompanied by the amazing violin & talent of Katie O'Neill, Idris Phillips weaves heart-enlivening music, both his own & that of others, live at the 2018 FGC gathering in Toledo. Inspired by music greats like James Taylor, Paul Simon, and his friend, Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam, Idris writes, sings, & plays music of the deep.