Song of the Soul

Magic Mama is Kjersten Hallin deGaia and she does what she calls eco-edu-tainment and "Organic Hip Hop & World Beats for the Whole Family", and she does it with spiritual depth and soaring joy.

Peter Blood and his wife, Annie, gave the world an immense gift of music with the Rise Up Singing. Peter has a passion for leading group sing-alongs, like Pete Seeger, with whom Peter Blood has worked on Seeger's autobiography. But Peter is more than music, including social change organizing, teaching religion (Quaker) and advanced practice psychiatric nursing.

Paulette Meier is a singer/songwriter and a school-based trainer in violence prevention and social emotional learning. Based in Cincinnati, she performs as part of Just Earth, along with Jamie Fota and Len Webb. Jamie performed with Paulette for this Song of this Soul interview.

Susan Stark is a spiritually deep and musically powerful musician. She has 4 albums behind her and one in the near future. She grew up a "preacher's kid", attended Earlham School of Religion, is the mother of 2 and the piano is her preferred instrument. Raised UCC, she's been Quaker most of her adult life.

Joyce Johnson Rouse has been Earth Mama for the past 15 years. With a degree in Earth Literacy, she teaches about care for the Earth through her songs, spreading peace and justice as part of the message.

Alivia Bright Maple Biko is a singer/songwriter with a ministerial component, raised in the Midwest but now a longtime Oregon resident. Part of her religious and spiritual journey was in the UCC and Lutheran churches, and she is now clerk and substitute pastor for Freedom Friends Church in Salem, Oregon.

Susan Werner is a Chicago-based singer/songwriter, preferring a big, big, city still close to her Iowa roots. Susan is an innovator, and among her musical creations is "The Gospel Truth", a no-holds-barred grappling with faith and doubt which raised hackles and admiration from the entire belief spectrum. But that project is just the tip of the iceberg, and there is so much more to hear and see.

Mark Holdaway has many facets to his life including his work as a scientist and currently as a musician whose passion is centered on the Kalimba, the African Thumb Piano. From generic Christian to Born Again to Quaker, Mark's life is a tapistry of spirit and music.

Mark Holdaway has many facets to his life including his work as a scientist and currently as a musician whose passion is centered on the Kalimba, the African Thumb Piano. From generic Christian to Born Again to Quaker, Mark's life is a tapestry of spirit and music.

Singer/songwriter Dennis Warner has 8 recordings under his belt and just one children's book, Beads On One String, named for one of his songs. Dennis joined us from Chicago's Dominican University where he was invited as a performer for a New Thought conference.