Blues

Though Rick Ruskin has a voice sometimes reminiscent of James Taylor, with all the enchantment that implies, and though he's got a lot of wonderful lyrics & tunes, the way that Rick most distinctively shines is through his magic on the guitar.

Patrice Webb brings music flavored with folk, swing, country, & the blues, marinaded in sunshine with a side of 4-footed critters. Influenced by music from pre-rock USA, Patrice's music is western in it's heart, while her voice & words are heavenly & Earthy all at once. At home in Sandpoint, Idaho, or at music festivals she'll teach you Western Swing Guitar, Finger Style Blues, as well as the tunes of the 1920s and 30s.

Richard Wiegel has spent a full lifetime earning a living through making music, which might be the dream, but seldom the actuality of the dreams of a small-town boy. Roots rock is his central thing, although sometimes his style of music might be called Americana, and he can definitely throw in a ragtime and a blues and all kinds of country. Though he's often a solo act, a fair amount of his music was recorded with a group called The Midwesterners. He's a talented guy, been with a couple dozen bands, out-lived them all!

A deep dish of appetizing Blues from the Rev. Robert B. Jones, Sr. He's made music and shared the stage with many of the greats, like B.B. King, because he's a gifted musician, writer & storyteller. Robert also shares & writes many varieties of Americana music, like that which he performs with Matt Watroba and others. Also important is Robert's role as pastor of the Sweet Kingdom Missionary Baptist Church in Detroit.

Charlie Parr is a singer/songwriter dynamo, touring constantly & widely, sharing his down-home music of the American country blues genres. For a person who battles constantly with depression, his music is powerfully enlivening, played on either his 12-string or resonator guitars, or sometimes on his banjo. A life-long Minnesotan, Duluth is his occasional refuge from the road.

Lena Elizabeth writes and sings music straight from the heart, using her songs to transform experiences like depression, crippling anxiety, & an eating disorder into health and wholeness. While clearly growing from folk-music infused ground, she has a blues-rooted voice, and the combination of these & other influences is magical. Check out her transformation of the Everly Brothers' song, Bye, Bye, Love, so that it sounds like the lyrics, with Sarah Morris and her Toilet Tunes.

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.

Idris Phillips has been making superb music with wonderful artists for close to 40 years, and finally he's released his first CD, Star By Moon, this one emphasizing his folk roots, but promising his jazz, blues, and other styles in future recordings. His guitar & keyboards are magic, and his lyrics triple-deep, in the listener's ear, in Idris' personal experience, & in the mystical truths they name.

Larry Long is the kind of great musician who brings musicians together, hence his collaborations known as the American Roots Revue. Studs Terkel called Larry America's Troubadour. With flavors of folk, soul, blues, rock, and Native American music, and as a deeply passionate activist, Larry helps transport hearts and create programs like Elders' Wisdom Children's Song. Larry & the American Roots Revue will be performing on Weds, July 6, 2016, in St Joseph, MN, at the annual Friends General Conference Gathering.

Dean Magraw is some kind of awesome on the guitar, not just technically, but spiritually. Dean defies labels and limites - musically & spiritually - with one review saying, quite accurately that Dean is a Jazz cat, a folkie, a rock star, a front-porch bluegrass picker, a bluesman, ... and more. He's located in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, but the universe is his oyster.