Makers & Mystics

Gabrielle Grace is a singer-songwriter committed to telling stories. She believes that authenticity is one of the most important qualities when it comes to music. Gabrielle was born & raised in a small town in southeast Texas before moving to Nashville TN. Her indie/pop-folk/acoustic sound developed as she made her way into the scene, playing show after show and growing as a touring musician....

In this episode, our friend and fellow arts advocate Justus Stout interviews songwriter Carly Taich and introduces Porchlight Art + Hospitality Network. Carly Taich is a storyteller with the ability to lasso the darkest parts of the soul and deliver them with a smile. Her lyrics, often framed by swooning violins and barbershop harmonies, take us to another era, or dimension, where forgiveness is f...

In this episode, guest-host and MM Collective facilitator, Corey Frey, gives an overview of the eccentric life and poetry of Emily Dickinson. Join the Creative Collective Explore our Library of interviews and profiles Send us Fan Mail Support the show Sign Up for Our Newsletter! http://eepurl.com/g49Ks1 Connect with Makers & Mystics Website: https://makersandmystics.com Patreon: https://patreo...

John Hendrix is a New York Times Bestselling illustrator and author of many children's books, including Shooting at the Stars, Drawing is Magic, John Brown: His Fight for Freedom, Miracle Man: The Story of Jesus, The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler. His illustrations have appeared on book jackets, newspapers and magazines all over the country. John is a Professor...

Silicone Boone is an Ex-Amish artist from the hills of Kentucky.  With minimal exposure to contemporary music throughout his childhood and teen years, his songwriting and music are refreshingly original.  In 2019 he released “The Reaches,” a space opera of sorts, a concept album spanning big bang to universal death  – a project he thinks of as a “love song to humanity.”  In this episode, guest-hos...

Vanessa Brantley Newton was born during the Civil Rights movement and attended school in Newark, New Jersey. She was part of a diverse, tight-knit community and learned the importance of acceptance and empowerment at early age.   As an illustrator, Vanessa includes children of all ethnic backgrounds in her stories and artwork. She wants all children to see their unique experiences reflected in the...

Have you ever wondered what distinguishes art from non-art? What are the distinctions and who gets to decide? What makes something a work of art? Is it the result of a conscious act? Does it require skill and originality?  What about memes and propaganda? Can these be considered works of art as well?  These are some of the questions we discuss on today’s show.  This episode is Part Two of our roun...

Does commerce feed or take away from your artwork? Does getting paid to do it validate your work? How do you make the leap from hobby to vocation in your work and more importantly, should you? These are among the questions our Summer Series round table guests songwriter, John Mark McMillan, author/illustrator, Vesper Stamper & visual artist Brandon Willett discuss in this episode. Find out mor...

Jason “Jay” King is the founder and owner of World Citizen Media and a twenty-year veteran of the music industry. He manages Los Angeles based duo JOHNNYSWIM, Propaganda, and Pop writer/artist TRELLA. World Citizen’s core mission is to help BUILD, LAUNCH, and ACCELERATE meaningful projects, with strong foundations, that contribute good back into the world. Jay’s background includes working with re...

David Chang is an NYC based artist merging the traditions of Western calligraphy and Eastern philosophy that is shaped by immediacy of his urban environment. Chang’s art is a sustained exploration into the significance and meaning of words and texts as embodied through physical gestures. Centuries-old eastern techniques in calligraphy find new form in the western alphabet as the artist shapes his...

Shara Nova is a classically trained vocalist and self-taught multi-instrumentalist. She records dazzling, shapeshifting music under the moniker My Brightest Diamond. Her music resists the conventions of genre, blending elements of rock, art pop, and chamber music into a sound totally her own. Over the span of her career, Shara has released multiple ground breaking albums, as well as composed a bar...

We may not care to be famous or even desire to make art as a full time vocation, but we each carry a need for our work to matter.  We want to know that what means something to us may also mean something to others or that what we give our time, attention and resources to may serve to beautify or to better the lives of those around us. In this episode, I discuss what it means to make a significant c...

Temi Coker is a Multidisciplinary artist based in Dallas, Texas. He creates visually compelling artwork for campaigns, products, activations & more. Temi’s use of vibrant colors and textures come from his upbringing in Nigeria as well as his love for the colors, patterns and storytelling of the African Diaspora. He has worked with clients such as: Adobe, HBO, Apple, and Facebook. In today’s ep...

J.F. Martel is a Canadian writer, filmmaker, and podcaster. He has directed a number of French and English documentaries for Canadian television as well as created several dramatic short films. His writing has appeared on Reality Sandwich, The Finch, Metapsychosis, and in anthologies published by Tarcher-Penguin, North Atlantic Books, and Intellect Books. His book Reclaiming Art in the Age of Arti...

Amy-Jill Levine (“AJ”) is University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies and Mary Jane Werthan Professor of Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt. Her books include The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus and Short Stories by Jesus; four children’s books (with Sandy Sasso); The Gospel of Luke (with Ben Witherington III); and The Jewish Annotated New Testament (co-edi...

In this episode, I share highlights from some of my favorite conversations from the year. Highlights include my interviews with Kimbra, Elephant Heart, Padraig O’ Tuama, John Eldredge and others. Support the podcast! Join our creative collective! Tickets to BC21 Send us Fan Mail Support the show Sign Up for Our Newsletter! http://eepurl.com/g49Ks1 Connect with Makers & Mystics Website: https:/...

Sarah Hempel Irani has been sculpting expressive figures in clay and stone for nearly twenty years. Originally from Michigan, she moved to Maryland to apprentice with Jay Hall Carpenter, former Artist-in-Residence at the Washington National Cathedral. Sarah has contributed sculptures to national shows and received several notable awards, including the Maryland Arts Council Individual Artist Award...

One of the growing problems of our society that started long before but has been agitated by the COVID-19 pandemic is isolationism or the sense of loneliness and lack of meaningful social connections. Too much isolationism leads to individuals feeling a decreasing sense of responsibility or belonging to a group or a family. Therefore everything from littering to mass shootings could be rooted in t...

Thea Matthews is a San Francisco born poet, orator and activist whose work centers on the complexities of humanity, grief, and resiliency. In this episode, Stephen Roach to talks with Thea about her debut poetry collection published by Red Light Lit titled, Unearth [The Flowers] and about her journey of finding healing and resiliency through poetry. Thea's empowering poems provide a path to h...

Julian of Norwich was a Medieval English mystic born around year 1342 and who died around year 1420. Much of Julian’s life remains unknown to us but what we do know of Julian comes from biographical passages in her book Revelations of Divine Love. This book, now considered a classic of contemplative literature, is the first known book to have been written in the English language by a woman.  The b...

Rivers & Robots is an independent band from Manchester, UK whose sound explores acoustic and electronic elements beneath layers of devotional lyrics and worship themed motifs. In this episode, Stephen talks with founding members Jonathan Ogden and Nathan Stirling about the creative exploration within their music and how context influences the art we make. Rivers & Robots Set Sail (Rivers &...

In this live, keynote talk, Makers & Mystics host, Stephen Roach shares with The Well Collab in Frederick, Maryland. This talk discusses what sociologist, Max Weber coined as “disenchantment” and the human need for reverence. What does it mean to sit with the mystery and what is the artist’s role in bringing “re-enchantment” to a world devoid of ecstatic experience? Listen to this keynote for...

JUURI is a Tokyo-born muralist currently working from Oklahoma City. Her vibrant, figure-driven work fuses traditional Japanese imagery with modern, pop motifs. Juuri’s large scale murals frequently serve in city-wide revitalization efforts and can be seen in cities across America and overseas in Israel. Her realistic watercolor faces surrounded by cultural elements, patterns or flora contain deep...

Jennifer Dasal is the curator of modern and contemporary art at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, North Carolina, and she is the host of the independent podcast ArtCurious, which she started in 2016 and was named one of the best podcasts by O, The Oprah Magazine and PC Magazine. Jennifer’s book ARTCURIOUS: Stories of the Unexpected, Slightly Odd, and Strangely Wonderful in Art History t...

Pádraig Ó Tuama is an Irish poet and theologian whose work centers around themes of language, power, conflict and religion. His poetry and prose has been published widely across Ireland, the US and the UK. For Ó Tuama, religion, conflict, power and poetry all circle around language, that original sacrament. In the context of public theology, he takes the received form of biblical texts and explore...