Folk Music

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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".

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.

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.

Jan Krist and Jim Bizer make music that is fun, profound, quirky, insightful, and moving. As a duo their creative name is Jan Krist & Jim Bizer, but they also perform in a number of other groups & configurations, with Diamonds in the Rust, The Yellow Room Gang, Floyd King & The Bushwackers, and more.

Robert B. Jones, Sr works joyfully to build bridges of understanding through music in an organization & project called Common Chords. Using tools of music, story-telling, history, & inspiration, Robert brings pleasure and insight to diverse audiences. Part of his richness is that he is also pastor of Sweet Kingdom Missionary Baptist Church of inner-city Detroit, where he seeks to inspire & heal the world in other ways.