Song of the Soul
656 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★★ - 15 ratingsSong 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.
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Episodes
Song-Farmer of Wood-Songs & Pete Seeger's Neighbor – Michael Johnathon
July 04, 2024 07:50 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBMichael Johnathon is a farmer - a songfarmer - and he cultivates folk music from his log cabin just outside of Lexington, Kentucky, by his personal writing, playing and touring, through his 20 albums, but also via the radio and video show called WoodSongs that he's been broadcasting on hundreds of stations for the past 18 years.
Southerner by Heart, Midwestern by Choice: Emily White
June 28, 2024 03:26 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBEmily White is Memphis-raised, but Chicagoan as adult, self-describing as Southerner by heart, Midwestern by choice. While Emily's voice and music are beautiful and compelling, her lyrics elevate her to the top ranks of performers, touching the deep places and raising it all to golden heights. Her newest album is called Songs You Didn't Know I Wrote About You, and that's likely the truth you'll experience in Emily's music.
People's Convergence - Warming Up the Winter
June 21, 2024 02:19 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBA sampling of the full 3-plus-hour collaborative concert held on February 11th, 2023 as part of the People's Music Network (PMN) Winter Convergence hosted at The People's Forum in New York City. Activism, humor, inspiration, justice, and more by 10 of the 25-plus performers at the concert.
Singing the Healing & Health of Earth's Creatures - Earth Mama
June 14, 2024 06:08 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBThis is our 2nd visit with Earth Mama/Joyce Rouse and her rich assortment of musical influences, combined with great lyrics and a truly beautiful voice, all in service of the people and creatures of this planet. Joyce's 15 albums of fun, deep, joyful, and thought-provoking songs make Earth more stunning and hopeful. Past/present religious/spiritual influences: Lutheran, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, Quaker
Confessional of Folk Therapy
June 07, 2024 03:15 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBAnnie Capp's music has sometimes been called Midwest Urban Folk and it has also been called Folk Therapy, and the music that she shares today is from an especially deep and somewhat confessional project called How Can I Say This.
The New Story of Erin Zindle & The Ragbirds
May 31, 2024 04:04 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBErin Zindle and the Ragbirds play songs with a deep center, and with rhythms and melodies gathered broadly, from around the world. Erin is a multi-instrumentalist, playing her magic on the violin, keyboards, accordion, & many more instruments.
Resurrecting Wobblies’ Music: the Starvation Army Band
May 24, 2024 06:21 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBUsually we have songwriters sharing their own songs, but today we have Chris David Westover-Muñoz, (and on Facebook) associate professor and director of bands at Denison University near Columbus, Ohio.
Back to Life with Music and Bill Isles
May 17, 2024 03:59 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBBill Isles was into all kinds of music and several instruments back in his youth, but then there was a hiatus of around 25 years where he was focused elsewhere. It took a near-death experience, where he had no heartbeat for 2 minutes, to spur him back to his passion for music, now partnered with his wife, Kate. Deeply rooted in the soil and water of his homeland in Northern Minnesota, Bill tells the story of his life and his homeland through his music.
Women's Pride, Women's Wings: Randie O'Neil
May 10, 2024 02:43 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBRandie O'Neil's music is magnetic, especially in the deeply honest feelings and aspirations of her songs. Randie has self-described as a Americana/Folk-Pop artist, but she is also standing on the shoulders of a number of heavy-rocking, strong-and-assertive-and-determined women who blazed a way in a mostly male-dominated rock world. Though her songs are largely solo artistry now, back in the day Randie was part of AMA (Against Medical Advice), though she is truly FMA (For Mental-health Advanc...
The Promise of Local Folk with Massachusetts Walking & Blackstone Valley School
May 03, 2024 04:38 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBBack in 2020, early in the pandemic, I discovered the music of Raianne Richards and Mark Mandeville and instantly adored it, and had Mark as my Song of the Soul guest.
Punjabi Pancakes and Canadian Connection - Kiran Ahluwalia
April 26, 2024 02:22 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBKiran Ahluwalia was born in the Punjab, in India, but moved with her family to Canada when she was 7, well after she started training in the traditional music of her region. Kiran has continued her training, both deepening it and widening it. While her 8 albums are definitely rooted in the music and dance of her homeland, she has also enriched, extended, and diversified the songs she creates, most often carrying a message of connection and compassion.
Si Kahn's 80th: Part 2 with John McCutcheon & Cathy Fink
April 19, 2024 03:10 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBPart 2 of a birthday celebration for Si Kahn on his 80th birthday, this week with John McCutcheon and Cathy Fink, sharing streams of music and meaning that flow from Si Kahn.
Si Kahn's 80th: Part 1 with Phoebe Rees & Joe Jencks
April 12, 2024 07:11 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBAs a happy birthday to Si Kahn for his 80th birthday, this week and next week we are sharing songs and stories by & about Si as performed by the hand-chosen successors to Si's work and music. Today that means we are joined by Phoebe Rees & Joe Jencks.
In Memoriam - Idris Phillips: Star By Moon
April 04, 2024 18:57 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBIdris Phillips left this world in July 2022, and we remember him today with my interview with him from December 2017, although I also interviewed him again in person,
Full of Hard Truths and Maybe Wild - Andy Hanson
March 29, 2024 03:31 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBAndy Hanson has lots of history with making music, but has only only seriously worked on conveying his music to the world in the past 5 or so years. Having performed previously with the band WYBLUE, Andy is now principally a solo act, able to draw on his guitar, keyboards, and even saxophone.
Bound for Land, Bound for Heart - Leslie Evers
March 22, 2024 03:23 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBLeslie Evers joined me for her first Song of the Soul back in 2020, just after the advent of COVID, and it was a rich occasion of musical and spiritual sharing. She has been a singer and songwriter since she was a kid, so in some ways the release of her first record in 2014 and the second one this year represents a fruition of decades of creativity and art on the folk/jazz/rock continuum.
North Wood Blues as it Should Be - Nick Foytik
March 15, 2024 03:40 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBNick Foytik brings with him music deeply marinaded in blues, soul, and rock n' roll, something not-so-common in Wisconsin's north woods where Nick grew up. Nick has been building his chops for some 20 years, and yet it's really only the past few years when he's really launched his music career full-scale, still focused mostly in the upper Midwest. In addition to his solo gigs and those with his Nick Foytik Band, he continues to work as a guitar for hire.
Tyrants Always Fall as The Nields Arise
March 08, 2024 04:22 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBOur guest is Nerissa Nields, who shares equal lead billing with her sister, Katryna, of the group known as The Nields. Their website proclaims them to be "equal parts Beatles, Cranberries and Joni Mitchell", and that description is admirably accurate and concise. It's hard to adequately capture the power of their songs and voices except to tell you that you need to brace yourself to be inspired, moved, and likely brought to tears.
Rocking with the Zinnias: Lee Mynett
March 01, 2024 04:36 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBAlthough Lee Mynett had music in her bones and heart from a tender age, she didn't start writing songs till the age of 50, sort of like what happened with Melvina Reynolds of Little Boxes fame. Lee has a passion for music and story-telling, and has played music as Magdaleena's Muse, Gypsy Maggie, and as Lee Mynett and the Root Tappers, and after decades in the South, she has returned to her native habitat of Eau Claire, WI.
Goodbye John Wayne and Day Is Coming – The Music of Geof Morgan
February 23, 2024 04:49 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBGeof Morgan was a pioneer in the men's music that emerged around 1980 and which was so transformational for so many. Geof's path began in New England, matured and deepened in Nashville, and then migrated to Bellingham, Washington. His healing work continued all the while, though Geof's music lay largely dormant for decades, till about 6 years, where it sprung fully back to life. Geof released the album Morning Rising last year, with new breadth and depth.
Orchestral Alternative Folk-Rock by the Super Saturated Sugar Strings: Kat Moore
February 16, 2024 06:37 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBMy guest today is Kat Moore, and she's bringing us the music of the Super Saturated Sugar Strings from Anchorage, Alaska. Words fail in terms of describing the power and energy of their songs, though the phrase orchestral alternative folk-rock captures at least part of it. We're talking about band members playing multiple instruments at the same time, while the music sails and dives and soars and ambles in creative and moving ways.
This Is It with Chuck Brodsky
February 09, 2024 03:24 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBIn December I interviewed Chuck Brodsky about his song, On Christmas I Got Nothing, which introduced me to Chuck's wry sense of humor mixed with cultural insight, Today we'll get a full chance to explore the range of his songs, complete with tinges of Bob Dylan's tones, mixed with heart-tendering stories, irony, and inspirational vision. And let's not neglect the imprint of the stories of baseball, present on every album of the 13 albums Chuck has produced.
Not Robbie Robertson - But...
February 02, 2024 04:55 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBThough Tim Case's musical career began more than 15 years ago, it went quiescent for much of the intervening years. It has now come fully back to life. Tim says his policy for writing a song is to feel the ones that make him cry, to know they are the songs to be shared.
Coming Alive to David LaMotte
January 25, 2024 19:19 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBDavid Lamotte returns today for Song of the Soul. If you've listened to our previous visits with David, you'll know why we were eager to welcome him back. Through his music that is so clearly rooted, both in place, in meaning, and in Spirit, David enchants.
The Corrosion of Perseverance, Gin, & Eternity: Rock Creek Song Dogs
January 19, 2024 03:01 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBDown-home music is what you should expect from Jake Soha of the duo Rock Creek Song Dogs. Jake makes some banjo-spicy music with his wife, Dani Jo Soha, and they self-describe their music as “a little folk, a little rock, a little gritty with a hint of bluegrass”. You'll also find him on stage with Tim Case and Ramblin' Lou Carver. Jake Soha brews his eclectic melange in Mondovi, Wisconsin.
Tom Paxton & John McCutcheon: Together
January 12, 2024 04:02 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBWe interviewed Tom Paxton & John McCutcheon back before Christmas about their jointly written and performed album called Together. We're talking about an overabundance of music creation skills by two folk musicians who have released over 100 albums between them.
From Maucker Road to Your Refrigerator: Ben Cook-Feltz
January 05, 2024 03:18 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBBen Cook-Feltz is an Iowan boy who got lost and wondered north to the Twin Cities of Minnesota. Ben has found a stable and fertile place to grow and make music in the Twin Cities, enough so that he does that at the same time he's parenting a 4-year old.
Since I Fell in Love with the Music
December 28, 2023 05:07 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBAudra Kubat is deeply connected to the Earth, and her rootedness grows, blossoms, and sometimes weeps through her beautiful music. She is a talented multi-instrumentalist, but there is exceptional power in her voice and in her profound and moving lyrics.
Deep, Sad, & Hopeful Holidays December 2023: Part 2
December 22, 2023 04:23 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBSecond part of Songs Beyond the Norm for the December 2023 Holidays, focused today on Christmas, but with twists both deep and heavy, and still moving toward Light.
Holidays December 2023 - Songs Beyond the Norm, Part 1
December 15, 2023 03:45 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBFirst part of Songs Beyond the Norm for the December 2023 Holidays, with humor and humility, for Hanukkah, Solstice, & Christmas, in ways you'd never expect.
Memories of Eclectic Barns & Swinging Wingtips: John Lynch
December 08, 2023 05:23 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBJohn Lynch has decades of experience in the music world, performing full-time right out of school, traveling all around the USA with the group The Memories.
Winnipeg's Roots & Growing Fruits: The Janzen Boys
December 01, 2023 08:11 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBJohn Janzen is on his way to “living the dream”, largely because he successfully planted the seeds of the dream of life as a musical artist in his young sons' hearts, and they've taken over making the dream a reality. The result is some really go-getter music makers known as The Janzen Boys.
From Angwish to Super Happy Fun Time With Bryan Bielanski
November 24, 2023 01:12 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBBryan Bielanski hails from Charlotte, North Carolina, though he's spending little enough time there as he takes his music almost everywhere in the US & in quite a few other countries as well.
One of the Eclectic Barn Boys: Randy Sinz
November 17, 2023 04:35 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBRandy Sinz recently released his first personal album, This One's For You Dad, after a lifetime of performing, given that his dad pulled him onstage to perform in Randy's early teens. While he's mainly known as a bass player, and his native music genre is country, in fact he's played many instruments and numerous varieties of music.
Big Top Jig from Way Up North: Tom Draughon
November 10, 2023 04:46 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBTom Draughon has written & performed music for more than half a century, on his own, on all kinds of stringed and keyboard instruments, and as part of a wide variety of groups, including Wild Oats, Second Wind,
Feeling the World's Heart with Dead Horses & Dan Wolff
November 03, 2023 05:36 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBDan Wolff, along with Sarah Vos, have been the stable nucleus of Dead Horses since the band's inception. I interviewed Sarah back in 2016, fell in love with their music, so I'm so excited to have Dan here to share more of the riches they've created in the ensuing 7 years. Every song they share is an opportunity to feel deeply the heart of the world, and to be part of its healing as well.
Primordial Forest in Skyline Studio: Peter Phippen & Ivar Lunde, Jr.
October 27, 2023 02:19 - 55 minutes - 51.3 MBToday for Song of the Soul, Peter Phippen & Ivar Lunde, Jr., are sharing music & stories they've created together.
Love, Fire, & Two Redwoods
October 20, 2023 02:14 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBAnnette Wasilik's love affair with the guitar & song began in her mid-teens, but has only come into the fullest sunshine & blossom over the past 10 years, releasing two full albums. She is all about healing, including the balm to the heart & soul that come through her voice, lyrics, & guitar, but she also is a healer through her energy & massage work. Annette works her musical magic from her base in Takoma Park, MD. Past/present religious/spiritual influences: Catholic, Native American, Ear...
Deeper Yata - Yata's 2nd Song of the Soul
October 13, 2023 03:04 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBYata has been a decades-long feature of the music scene in the Chippewa Valley region of Wisconsin, and an inveterate collaborator with so very many musicians of the area, enhancing his own songwriting, guitar, and wonderful singing skills with all kinds of instruments and harmonies.
Bluegrass from Clear Water: Caleb Horne
October 06, 2023 01:25 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBCaleb Horne grew up steeped in music, playing the piano, alto saxophone, guitar, mandolin, and more. Along the way he got severely bitten by the bluegrass bug.
Healing Our Youth & Resolving Racism In One Voice & Body
September 29, 2023 04:43 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBEmma G brings together culture & family from all over the world, including Persia, Fiji, New Zealand, Iowa, and more. Her music is likewise expansive, including seeds of operatic voice training with a rock music emphasis.
Bottleneck & Finger-picking Story-telling from Kill Devil Hills
September 21, 2023 21:36 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBRuth Wyand, of Kill Devil Hills, NC, is a wonderful songwriter and performer, with magic in her tunes and lyrics, though it was really her guitar work that first riveted our attention, complete with soul-captivating finger-picking and bottleneck slide flourishes. Though of a genre all her own, she channels elements of blues, jazz, & Americana - and much more. In addition to her own musical creations, she breathes new life and identity into the tunes of other musicians, making them all her own.
Beauty, Activism, & Timeless Wisdom: Paulette Meier
September 15, 2023 02:50 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBWe welcome back Paulette Meier, last with us in 2009. She's put out 3 albums since then, one around her activism and work for the world, and the other related to the timeless Quaker wisdom she has delivered in chant or plainsong. Paulette combines her beautiful voice with deep spirit and care for the world to share heart-mending and nourishing music from Cincinnati, Ohio. Past/present religious/spiritual influences: Catholic, Community Christian, Quaker
Bob Dylan, Robert Frost, & Buddha's Minivan: Doug Alan Wilcox
September 07, 2023 20:48 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBStarting in high school, Doug Alan Wilcox has been in a variety of bands, including names like Black Jack, Logix, So What Band, and Friends, transitioning from pop/rock/dance (and much more) music to a solo performing singer/songwriter career around 2000. Doug's influences are far and wide, including Bob Dylan, Robert Frost, and Buddha's Minivan. He hails from Haggarstown, MD. Past/present religious/spiritual influences: Lutheran, Unity, Non-affiliated
Singer & Playwright of the Wild Midwest: Katie Dahl
September 01, 2023 06:17 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBKatie Dahl's music is spirit-laden, rooted in a religious past which no longer fits, but which Katie still copes with through new lenses. Katie has been described as “a songwriter and playwright whose work is as expansive as Lake Michigan and as deeply rooted as its rocky coastal bluffs”, and that fits her well.
Moved by Funky Captain Danger
August 24, 2023 20:32 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBAaron Steinberg is Captain Danger, flanked by Keith “E-Day” Eaddy & Roger “Joose” Benford. Aaron has done so much with music, starting very young with bands like The Studmuffins, Wabbit, Uncle Dad, and was he and is part of The Televisionairies whose role in life is to make music out of television theme songs that is part Dr Demento meets Gilligan's Island.
From Soul Songs School and To The Light: Anne Heaton
August 18, 2023 02:17 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBAnne Heaton has lived widely, pursuing a wide range of interests, in Chicago (IL), Washington DC, New York, Ann Arbor (MI), and now in Milwaukee (WI). She has all the classical piano cred you could want, but has also performed as part of a Harlem gospel choir, while her songwriting has been inspired by the likes of the Indigo Girls and Tori Amos.
Berkeley CA Meets Woodstock NY: Friction Farm
August 11, 2023 02:57 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBBack in 2020 and 2021 I discovered Christine Stay and Aidan Quinn who are known collectively as Friction Farm.
Riveting & Sisterly – Deborah Silverstein
August 04, 2023 04:53 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBDeborah Silverstein is a gem and a beacon. She started out musically in the heady early days of women's music, in the 1970s, as part of the Red Basement Singers, and the New Harmony Sisterhood Band.
End of Our Blues – Something Green from Kate Klim
July 28, 2023 02:32 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBKate Klim enchanted me from the first with her songwriting and vocals and a talent which also thrust her into prominence when she was a 2010 Kerrville New Folk Winner. Over 4 years she dazzled the world with 3 albums, but then, with the advent of 2 children and then COVID, her muse was quiescent. The dry spell finally passed last year, with musical storm clouds and rainbows again appearing, stirring our imaginations and passions and delivering to us Kim's fourth album, Something Green.