Folk Music

Mother Banjo is Ellen Stanley, an incredible voice and talented songwriter of the folk/gospel/Americana/down-homey variety. When Ellen is not promoting other great musicians for Red House Records or being a DJ for Womenfolk on KFAI, you may be lucky enough to see her perform as Mother Banjo.

Andra Suchy comes from an impressively musical family, including her father, Chuck Suchy, so you know that she good schoolin' in music on the North Dakata plains. A down-home woman currently living in the city, Andra speaks & sings her heart passionately. Featured on Prairie Home Companion repeatedly, she combines folk, country, all-her-own, music.

Dorothy Zerbe is a wonderful singer/songwriter, person & voice to know. A latecomer to performing her songs, she shares music in many ways, including at the Shawano Folk Festival, plus she hosts house concerts under the name of The Savage Beast House Concert series.

Pat Humphries & Sandy O are Emma's Revolution and they use their music in the service of activism and, as their web site notes, they're "like Rachel Maddow and Jon Stewart with guitars". Their latest CD, Revolutions per Minute, chronicals & participates in many of this year's dramatic movements & concerns - like Iraq, Arab Spring, the Wisconsin Uprising & the Occupy Movement. They think and sing powerfully, providing fuel for change we really can believe in!

Cris Williamson has played an important role as one of the prominent voices of feminism and lesbians, including her part in founding the first women's record label. With more than 20 CDs, Cris has been prolific and fertile for many hearts. And, of course, her song has been our theme music since day 1.

Danny Schmidt is one of many talented artists with the Americana Agency. Danny is profound and down-home, and he has an amazing gift for stunning lyrics, with influences like Bob Dylan & Leonard Cohen - and many others. Raised Jewish, his current spiritual outlook is not bound to any church or organization.

Chris Moore is unique singer/songwriter on a very conscious spiritual path, often explored in and through music, currently as part of the trio, Kindling Stone. Chris' journey forward in Spirit has taken him progressively back in musical styles and forms, including music from the Sacred Harp and the Shakers. He's profound, humble, inspiring, and a talented, creative musician.

Sally Campbell does not refer to herself as a musician so much as a "song catcher". Having been judged unacceptable for choir as a youth, she had to work on developing her singing & playing ability when she started receiving songs in 1982. For her 70th birthday she performed & recorded a concert of her music for a group of friends.

Joe Reilly is a singer, a songwriter, an environmental educator, and a man on a spiritual quest. His spirit journey has taken him from Catholic to Native American to Buddhist and back to Catholic, all the while deeply connected to the Earth.

NOTE: Photo of Joe Reilly by Mary Kerney

A memorial Song of the Soul for Walkin' Jim Stoltz, the great hiker and minstrel of the open places, who left us 9/3/2010. Jim's passions and music are here guided by his wife, Leslie Stoltz, sister Susan Grace Stoltz, and long-time friend, Scott Carpenter.