Song of the Soul

Rod MacDonald spins deeply emotional tapestry with his songs, a sort of emotional journalism, powerfully capturing the aspirations and angst of the listener. He was a principle in the 1980s folk revival in Greenwich village, co-founding the Greenwich Village Folk Festival. You'll find a couple of his songs in Rise Up Singing because of their penetrating & enduring power. Follow him on FaceBook.

Jean Rohe has created an alternate (and much better) National Anthem: Arise! Arise! and she shares the songs from the US, Cuba, Brazil, & Republic of Georgia that got her there. She'll share much more of her own music on her next Song of the Soul visit.

Michael Hough has been making music with Mustard's Retreat since 1974, and as part of The Yellow Room Gang for the past decade. Michael is honest. He's straightforward. He's got a good heart. And he's talented. You will surely find both depth & enjoyment in his songs.

Billy Jonas is more fun and spiritual depth than you can hardly imagine. Sometimes described as doing neo-tribal hootenanny, industrial re-percussion, and soul-spelunking, he started as part of the Oberlin College Big Bang Theory performance art collective, was part of The Billys, sometimes shares as part of the Abraham Jam, and is at the core of the Billy Jonas Band.

For the past 3 years, Joe Kidd & Sheila Burke have been awarded the Detroit Music Awards for Outstanding World Music. With 60's folk music roots mixed with Appalachian/Celtic/Bluegrass/Country/Middle Eastern/African/Native American spirituality, influences, and rhythms, Joe & Sheila make moving, meaningful, music.

Listen to Nici Peper and you'll know why she won the title of Minneapolis's most authentic artist at the Wholly Guacamole contest. Whether performing solo, as part of Firefly, with The Big Smooch, or in other configurations, Nici radiates. Titles like indie, Americana, folk, etc, do not capture the reality of this love-based, Lutheran-raised, intense and deep woman who delights in performing in rowdy dive bars.

David HB Drake has deep Wisconsin roots, and deep knowledge of Wisconsin's music, wonderfully exhibited in his Wiscon-Sing history of the state's music. His decades of endeavors have included his years dancing with the Milwaukee Ballet & Betty Salamun's Dance Circus, and serving as shantyman on the tall ship, HMS Bounty. He leads music & worships with the Congregation of the Great Spirit.

Many people find an important piece of themselves in nature, but Deirdre Jenkins knows herself in oneness with nature at a whole new depth. Through her journeys with trauma, devotion, and remembering-the-self, Deirdre produces music that transports and transforms the listener. Contact her on Facebook.

Brian Miller has a great passion for the Irish music and traditional songs of Great Lakes workers. He knows the legends, people, & places, to a science, steeped in art. Raised in Northern Minnesota, enriched & deepened in Ireland and other lands, Brian plies his trade from St Paul, MN. Check out his TheLostForty.com collection recordings from 1924.

J.E. Sunde is a sensitive, creative, inspired singer/songwriter who combines the influences of the folk greats of earlier generations with the broad indie canvass of his own. Currently a resident of the Twin Cities, J.E. does solo work now after 10 years with The Daredevil Christopher Wright.