Part one of a rich assortment of guests & original music of some Winter Holidays, like the Solstice, Hanukkah, Christmas, and the New Year.

Carrie Newcomer joins us for a Song of the Soul drawn from her latest album, A Great Wild Mercy, including some songs co-written with John McCutcheon and with Siri Undlin/Humbird.

Michael Johnathon is a farmer - a songfarmer - and he cultivates folk music from his log cabin just outside of Lexington, Kentucky, by his personal writing, playing and touring, through his 20 albums, but also via the radio and video show called WoodSongs that he's been broadcasting on hundreds of stations for the past 18 years.

Part 2 of a birthday celebration for Si Kahn on his 80th birthday, this week with John McCutcheon and Cathy Fink, sharing streams of music and meaning that flow from Si Kahn.

In December I interviewed Chuck Brodsky about his song, On Christmas I Got Nothing, which introduced me to Chuck's wry sense of humor mixed with cultural insight, Today we'll get a full chance to explore the range of his songs, complete with tinges of Bob Dylan's tones, mixed with heart-tendering stories, irony, and inspirational vision. And let's not neglect the imprint of the stories of baseball, present on every album of the 13 albums Chuck has produced.

We interviewed Tom Paxton & John McCutcheon back before Christmas about their jointly written and performed album called Together. We're talking about an overabundance of music creation skills by two folk musicians who have released over 100 albums between them.

Second part of Songs Beyond the Norm for the December 2023 Holidays, focused today on Christmas, but with twists both deep and heavy, and still moving toward Light.

First part of Songs Beyond the Norm for the December 2023 Holidays, with humor and humility, for Hanukkah, Solstice, & Christmas, in ways you'd never expect.

4 more artists from Georgia, Texas, North Carolina, & Wisconsin, with songs of welcoming, Dreamers, cages, & loving our neighbors.

Phil Hoose writes songs that we all love and that other performers love to perform. His best-known, Hey, Little Ant, is a song, but also a book that has sold over 1 million copies in 10 languages. With a quirky eye for seeing the world differently, his songs intrigue, amuse, & enchant. An employee of The Nature Conservancy for decades, and the author of more than 10 books, including the inspirational Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, Phil's awards include the John Newbery Medal, Sibert Medal, and the National Book Award for Young People's Literature.