Song of the Soul

Rebecca Pidgeon brings to her music influences as disparate as her early years in Massachusetts, life through early adulthood in Scotland, professional decades in England, then more than 20 years in Los Angeles. In addition to her singing/songwriting, Rebecca is an actress, and her ability to inhabit diverse minds and persons is reflected through her incredibly versatile songs and styles...

Linda Marks is an amazing creative woman and prolific singer/songwriter. I was drawn to her and her music by the image she shared online of dancing with God, something I've felt myself. In addition to music, Linda has impressive achievements as a body-centered psychotherapist, lifework counselor, social architect and author of two books .

Tret Fure , last with us for Song of the Soul in 2011 , joins us to share her second sharing from the soul. Tret was among a group of women's music powerhouses of the 1970s and 1980s who were inspirational and transformational for the country, and for me, personally. With her gentle but resolute heart, and her deep musical talent, Tret calls listeners into community and growth. Tret joins us from...

Makaela Joy is a delightful mix of whimsical and heartfelt, doing her own thing while drawing on inspiration of great women writers/singers of decades past. She can deliver "La Vie en Rose" beautifully, emote a hymn like "In The Garden," or convey her grief about her brother's passing through her "Apples," all with perfect tone and intention. Makaela is a self-described quiet/shy girl, though you'...

Last December, at the suggestion of Flamy Grant , I interviewed Sadie Gustafson-Zook , a winner of the Kerrville Folk Festival and New Leaf songwriting contests, so you know that she's among the shining lights of today's rising folk stars. Given my delight at getting to know Sadie and her music, it's astounding and lamentable that I promptly mislaid her recording, and I only recently brought it to...

We welcome back Kora Feder, who was with us back in April of 2019, a year before COVID so radically altered the world. In the interim period, Kora migrated to a few different states, gradually incubating songs, until she released here new album, Some Kind of Truth , this past spring. She's been a fan & favorite at the Kerrville Folk Festival & the Strawberry Music Festival , among others,...

Sage Leary  has a gift & a passion for music that blossomed early and impressively, such that he released his first album of all-original music at the age of 14, his second at 16. He can rock it, he can blues it, and he can definitely acoustic Americana it. Raised in the outdoors and the woods, his music touches the Earth but reaches celestial heights, powered by a visible and almost symb...

Despite having spent 6 years in Nashville,  Kirsten Manville 's true home is in the Boston area of MA. Raised with important influences from old-time, classical, folk, & rock music, country music has been foremost in Kirsten's heart since she was 8.

MG Bailey  joins us today for SOS. MG is not only a One Man Band, playing simultaneously with hands and feet, while singing, he's a not-in-anyone's box kind of man. Authenticity & creativity mix fruitfully in MG's music, with ideas, stories, and images that stretch us out of our conventional expectations & storylines.

6 songs from 6 finalists in the  Songs for Social Change 2021  contest, sponsored by the  Renaissance Artists and Writers Association , founded by  Ananda Marga , presented by one of the judges, Arun/Ed Glassman.

Today's Song of the Soul guest brings us a special gift today in the form of the mountain dulcimer, too little heard from current music scenes. Heidi Muller 's first instrument was the guitar, she's become a special friend, performer, & teacher, of the dulcimer. Heidi has lived East Coast and West Coast, she been great-big-city urban, and tiny village in the country rural, but through it all,...

I first interviewed Tim Case early in 2024 , after the release of his Great Big Moon EP , a reemergence of his music after more than a decade on the back-burner, but then he turned right around and released his new album, House of Mirrors , just recently.

We've had Annie Patterson as a guest many times on NSR programs, but today we're going full-spectrum on Annie. She's known by many as a folk singer and the co-creator of the group singing songbooks, Rise Up Singing and Rise Again , but she also performs a variety of music genres like swing, blues, soul, gospel and more with groups like Dear Ella and Girls from Mars , and others.

We've got a very different experience for you today and it's called shape-note singing, or sometimes sacred harp singing. Our guest, Jim Page (or James Page when in print) gives us a rich taste-test of this venerable tradition of American religious singing for laypersons. I've only been around shape-note singing a couple times, and I have to admit that what you'll hear today is only a faint echo o...

Noel Paul Stookey 's first band was the Birds of Paradise , but he rose to prominence in the 1960s as part of Peter, Paul & Mary , and has produced around 19 solo albums. Noel's music & work are deep in healing & connecting directions, including OneLightManyCandles.org and MusicToLife.org , both which he helped found.

Steve Hazell is an inspiration for all of us, for both the quality and depth of his songs. In his youth Steve performed with Wolverine Willy and the Blues Toads , but now he's mostly, but not always, a solo act. Interestingly, the best way to get Steve's music is to email Steve .

Prepare yourself for a thorough musical delight today as we head to Cleveland, Ohio for a visit with Charlie Mosbrook . Besides his exquisite guitar, piano, lyrics, & voice, Charlie has a rich backstory and forestory.

For 20 years  Frank Dutsh  (AKA François Duchesne) has been a top-notch competitor in strongman competitions, but he's turned to another discipline over the past 5 years. Having started on violin at 4 years old, adding piano after that, Frank gave a few decades to other work before coming back to music. Besides his physical strength & endurance, Frank is gifted linguistically & h...

Matthew French 's singing & songs unlock hearts. An Ohio transplant to the Twin Cities of Minnesota, Matthew segued from a vibrant church music life to a musical passion stirred by personal trials & growth, finding deep community within the Twin Cities music scene. His voice & lyrics combine to find hope & strength out of our challenges and uplift us together. Past/present religiou...

Giulia Millanta  is the best Americana singer from Italy you could ever hope to encounter. She's been in the USA, in Austin, TX, for the past 10 years or so, and she seems to be producing endless riches of music, 8 albums to-date. While her talent & craft are impeccable, it is her heart-and-soul touching lyrics and voice that make her a memorable treat for all who are blessed to hear her...

Todd Adams (or on BlueSky ) has spent most of his life sharing music with the world, including running and owning record stores, but it is only in the past 5 years that he's really dug into writing & recording his own songs. Along the way, Todd was part of the team that brought WHYS-LP Radio into existence in 2005, and he spun records there for years on his All Over the Map show.

Sometimes a really talented person can get lost in the background behind other very talented performers, and Gary Walters has certainly dealt with some of that. Gary frequently accompanies the amazing Carrie Newcomer (and others), and although Carrie gladly shares the limelight with him, it took an explicit announcement by Carrie at one of their concerts to alert me of Gary's other work, including...

James Schattauer has a long history of music in the Twin Cities, MN, area, and though his songs are wide and deep in variety, topic, and nature, much of his music career was as a children's musician, under the name Mister Jim (here's some of his kid-centric music ).

Autumn Sky Hall  is an amazing and astounding - and young - folk/Americana singer/songwriter hailing from Sacramento, CA, complete with an enchanting & versatile voice, dancing guitar fingers, and emotionally compelling lyrics. Autumn pours her inner experience and growth through her songs so that to hear her is to know her and the human condition better.

Today we introduce you to a new-ish member of the wonderful crew of musicians of the Twin Cities of Minnesota, Emily Haavik . Emily brought down to the Cities some of the fruits of her time and connections in Duluth as part of Emily and the 35s , including many years with the Duluth Homegrown Music Festival . There are a variety of flavors of music channeled through Emily's music, and lately she's...