It's been 20 years that Northern Spirit Radio has been broadcasting, and to celebrate that milestone we've set up a John McCutcheon concert event both streaming online and right here in-person, in Eau Claire, WI, on Sunday October 5th, 2025, starting at 6:30 pm Central Time. Get more info and tickets on the NorthernSpiritRadio.org website. I've interviewed John several times, including live at a Quaker gathering at Grinnell College in Iowa on July 4th, 2019.
Though Kris Angelis is a long-time resident of LA, California, she joins us today from her new home in Okinawa, Japan. There is so much about Kris that will intrigue & enrich you. She has an identical twin, Alex, and both of them are singers, and both have been actors, Alex more than Kris. But Kris is queen in the indie singer-songwriter role, with a rich tapestry of music mostly painted in colors of the heart.
Linda Allen was called to my attention by Peter Alsop. Linda has all the credentials that speak to me. She has 5 decades of experience as a people's musician. She combines a piercing mind & and capacious heart, with room enough for all. And she won her Doctor of Ministry degree with a dissertation called, “The Bridge Between the Earth and Sky: The Spirituality of Voice”, leading to her ordination as an interfaith minister in 2006.
Katie Dwyer is absolutely one of the top surprises & joys of 20 years I've been doing this program, no exaggeration. Katie is unassuming & modest, even though she has every reason to be proud of the wonderful music she creates & performs. She's all about real life, real pains and glories, all song with passion & compassion. Maybe it's fitting that she doesn't live among coastal elites, but right in South Dakota.
Though he tried a strenuous life on the music circuit in his 20s, Mike Green found a better path for him, at the time, was helping other musicians in organizing & scheduling their tours.
Lucy Kaplansky is, in some ways, very much a road-less traveled person. For example, after starting a successful career as performing Americana musician with the likes of Shawn Colvin, Suzanne Vega, and many more, she detoured through a decade as a clinical psychologist. Her own inner work led her back to the path she most loves, music, and she has released a total of 11 albums, I think, the last 4 on her own, including avoiding streaming services and other devices that impoverish most musicians - another road less traveled.
(From left to right: Annie Patterson, Wendi Bourne, Lauren Janson)
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, all compelling.
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 Newport News, Virginia, for her second Song of the Soul.
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'll have every reason to request that she not remain quiet as you hear her music.
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 light.
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, where she so eloquently shares her heart's truth.
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 mandolin. 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, her music has kept flowing, now in partnership with Bob Webb. Heidi & Bob live in rural Northeast Oregon.
I first interviewed Tim Caseearly 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 of the music experienced in person.
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.
