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Song of the Soul
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Song of the Soul

Author: Northern Spirit Radio

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Song of the Soul invites you to a soul-level encounter. Music has the ability to proclaim the soul's language beyond what mere words can speak. That's what we seek as we invite our guests to share their Song of the Soul. You will hear the music that has charted the steps of their spiritual journey, that has provided a touchstone in the soul's dark night, and sung the hearts awe and joy when come to the Light. As you listen to Song of the Soul, you are both witness and companion to our guest's spiritual path and sacred testimony.

Song of the Soul guests provide about 25 minutes of the music that speaks of their spiritual path, beliefs or journey, and Mark Helpsmeet explores with them the relevance and meaning of this music to their experience. Some guests are musicians, perhaps sharing their own music, but most guests are simply sharing music they've been impacted by, written and performed by others.
644 Episodes
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I interviewed Peter Mayer back in 2011 – so 15 years ago – and for some bizarre reason I've waited all this time to have him back. The recent impetus was a song Peter wrote, called “Heroes,” inspired by the recent Minnesota uprising, so near to my home and to his. But Peter's music is endless reason to visit him time and again, because it's not only beautiful, but it's deeply reflective and inspirational, dancing on the line between spirituality and science, between inward magic and outward miracles.
Seven portions of seven Song of the Soul shows with seven great musicians back in the summer/fall of 2020, with songs linked by themes around old-timey music, old times, old folks, and new songs.
Today we have a wide-ranging re-visit with musician-farmer, Andy Juhl. Though much of his music tilts Americana/Folk, he's also passionately into progressive rock music, and plays with a band of that character also. Raised on the farm, he's also been navigating that work in the direction of organic farming, working side-by-side with his father on 800 acres in NW Iowa. Time in the self-driving combine leaves him with more time than you might expect to write music, and he's expanding his range regularly.
El Kleiner does music from the deeper side of the pool, with profound imagery, and with sensitive sensitivity and insightful sight into the way we look below the layers of meaning of our lives. El does not define or box-in our beliefs, but creates a shifting mosaic of perception that allows the listener to flow beyond the usual constraints of analysis, all of it delivered through haunting, enrapturing, heart-opening voice, lyrics, & melodies.
We welcome back Katie Dahl for Song of the Soul today, plunging deeper into the soul-sharings she gifted us with just over 2 years ago. Immediately after the murders of citizens in Minneapolis, Katie wrote and recorded A Song for Minnesota, which made it urgent to welcome back this Minnesota-raised Wisconsinite. With typical Minnesotan modesty, she looks deep within, looks boldly at the world around her, and she transforms these into heart-opening music, and into theater.
We're headed over to Metuchen, New Jersey, today, for a visit with the amazingly talented Efrat. Efrat showed her musical gifts from a tender age, with the Oak Ridge Symphony at age 10, than with the Knoxville Youth Orchestra at 11, along the way with her dad in a Mexican Jewish band, and on and on. Though she shines powerfully in classical and jazz music, and she's top notch in klezmer, blues, & swing, she found a special place in folk & pop music.
Ethan Eckert is a player of music in a wild variety of genres, including folk, jazz, hip-hop, hard rock and just about whatever you can imagine. He's a drummer, keyboardist, guitarist, vocalist, and he writes songs on the creative edge. He will help raise you up, just as he does with his sourdough bread and his songs will answer your thirst, as does his mushroom tea. Ethan does all of this and more in Kansas City, Kansas.
This is the third visit of Anne Hills to Northern Spirit Radio, and she brings together for us stirring visions of our past, present, and future, often glimpsed from on the wing. Anne has a rich history of writing and performing folk music, on her own, and with the likes of folk greats like Tom Paxton, Michael Smith, David Roth, and others.
Claire Dacey is a wonderful gift of music, too-little known. Her arrival on the folk music scene was delayed, in part, by her studies in Biology, Botany, Field Naturalist, and finally, Ph.D. studies at Harvard in Physiological Plant Ecology. Twas near the end of these studies when she realized her passion for music could be her chosen path, alongside her work of introducing folks to the more-than-human world and neighbors.
We're headed out to Pennsylvania today, with hopes that we'll see today's guest in Wisconsin within a couple months. His name is Dann Pell (music on bandcamp), and he came to my attention from an email offer he sent to my local Quaker meeting of a tour he is planning for March.
A visit to a rich variety of musicians featured on Song of the Soul in the early days of the pandemic, highlighting themes of The Road, The Reason, The Destination, with songs by Spook Handy, Andi Renfree, Laura Marie, Ksenia Mack, 
We're headed to Whitefish, Montana, for a deep-end encounter with Jamie Wyman. Jamie was headed toward work as a lawyer, in the role of either a criminal prosecutor or a healthcare attorney, but, as she says, her Saturn Return radically altered her trajectory, and music became her pathway and vehicle to world betterment. She spent some time with the Sunraven Band, but most of her years creating & performing music has been as leader of the Jamie Wyman Band.
Cliff Eberhardt has performed with oodles of well-known performers I've loved, like Lucy Kaplansky, Dave Van Ronk, Richie Havens, and Odetta, generally of the folk-rock-Americana-acoustic varieties, and I'm so excited to have him here today.
Time today for some seasonal music, but, of course, with a twist. Sofia Talvik has joined us twice before, and with the release of her 2nd compilation of her annual Christmas songs, songs which Sofia has written to explore the wider experience of Christmas, including the distressing and challenging sides of the holiday, we again reached out across the sea to her, to Berlin, Germany, where this Swedish-born folk artist sometimes lives when she's not touring the USA or living in her other home in Spain.
Today for Song of the Soul, we are straying far from my safe and well-known musical turf to the the wonderful works of Ivar Lunde, Jr, a prolific and accomplished composer, pedagogue, performer, and conductor. Born in Norway, educated in Norway & Austria, he has performed & taught in many corners of Europe & the USA, including 35 years teaching at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire. His works have been performed by at least 7 different symphony & chamber orchestras in the US & Norway.
A delightful retrospective of Song of the Soul guests from Summer 2020, ranging lighthearted to profoundhearted.
We're headed to the west coast today for a deep & touching visit with Frances Ancheta, a Filipina-American singer/songwriter and acoustic musician. Frances has a rich repertoire of thoughtful and eclectic indie folk/pop/rock songs. I hear tell that before long she may also share some of the music from her family's country of origin, The Philippines, but right now we'll be blessed with her US-born and inspired songs, again, from the tenderest and most vibrant of hearts.
We don't usually have a lot of cowboy content on Song of the Soul, but this week we'll at least get a piece of that with the music of Dusty James & Abalone Pearl, with Pearl as our guest. Dusty and Pearl have just released their first album, after about 9 years of performing together, and it's a mix of their original songs with traditional and public domain covers.
We're headed today to the enchanted realm summoned by the flute of Peter Phippen, now accompanied by the magic of Ivar Lunde Jr and Paulina Fae. Some of you may remember Peter, who has been with us on Song of the Soul a few times before, mostly in the musical manifestation connected with his wood flutes, though Peter's alter ego also plays the bass and guitar as part of Virginia Steele and in other groups.
We'll dive deep in the Afro-Colombian music of Lucas Silva, pioneer of Champeta. Founder of Palenque Records (or on Facebook) via today's guest-host Patricia Stansbury (AKA Sunny Gardener).
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