Shows
How Can I Keep From Singing?Unity and Harmony w/ John McCutcheonJohn McCutcheon has performed for audiences around the world for over 50 years. Beside his considerable musical talents, he's a committed song leader with a long history of encouraging connection and activism through group singing. We talk about his development of song leading as a skill and a passion.
John's Website
2026-03-1928 minHow Can I Keep From Singing?Shape Note Singing with Esther Morgan EllisEsther Morgan-Ellis shares the joys and the structures of this old style of singing together. The exuberance of the practice is echoed in Esther's own enthusiasm for the power of this tradition.
Esther Morgan-Ellis is a historical musicologist who focuses on participatory musical traditions, especially community singing and old-time music-making. She has written extensively about the early twentieth-century American community singing movement. Her research also explores contemporary traditions such as Sacred Harp singing, hymn singing, and revivalist old-time music, examining how communities sustain and reshape these practices over time. As editor and lead author of the open-access t...
2026-03-1229 minHow Can I Keep From Singing?Singing with Nightingales w/ Sam LeeSam Lee is a British folk singer, song collector, and environmental activist who founded Singing with Nightingales, an immersive springtime series that brings audiences into the woods to experience live music in duet with nightingales. A Mercury Prize–nominated artist and passionate nature conservationist, he uses this project to connect people more deeply with the natural world, blending traditional song, storytelling, and ecological awareness into a powerful shared experience.
What is the song of a Nightingale if not a celebration of life? An expression of the energy in the roots...
2026-03-0528 minHow Can I Keep From Singing?Buddhist Chanting with Chau Yoder
Chau Yoder was born in Hanoi, Vietnam. Since 1989, she has offered workshops and classes in Mindful Living, in youth, corporate retreat, and community settings.
Chau was Trained by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and ordained as a Dharma Teacher in 2003. She’s dedicated to sharing practical methods of mindful living that cultivate awareness of body and mind. She’s also a retired engineer, who spent 25 years at Chevron.
Chau lives in Walnut Creek, California, with her husband Jim, and is a grateful mother of two daughters and a grandmother of four.
2026-02-2622 minHow Can I Keep From Singing?Hootenannies: with Phil Hoose and Beth and Scott BierkoSinging that fills the living room or dining room or basement or kitchen is a tradition that's probably as old as group singing in itself. Phil, Beth, and Scott talk about their experience and tips for inviting people in to your home and to the songs themselves.
Phil Hoose information.
Beth and Scott Bierko information
and a written piece by Phil and Faith Petric.
These days, many people can’t imagine singing out loud without a Karaoke machine. It seems a shame, for nothing brings people...
2026-02-1927 minHow Can I Keep From Singing?On-Ramps to Activism: Music in the Minneapolis Streets w/ Heather MaeHeather Mae is a genre‑defying artist‑activist whose music blends the storytelling intimacy of folk with the grit of alternative rock and the hooks of indie pop. She writes anthems about mental health, queer liberation, survivor empowerment, and social justice, inviting listeners into a space of radical honesty and shared vulnerability. Her double‑album project WHAT THEY HID FROM ME has helped to build a devoted community of “light‑seekers” and “good‑troublemakers” Her concerts feel less like passive performances and more like participatory gatherings that remind audiences they are worthy, not alone, and very much still here. And I would add He...
2026-02-1326 minHow Can I Keep From Singing?Tradition and Creativity w/Jane SappJane Sapp is a nationally admired cultural worker, musician, educator, folklorist, and activist whose approach to social transformation is rooted in the African American musical, cultural, spiritual and human rights traditions. Through her singing, documenting local culture and stories, song-writing workshops, and other expressive work with diverse communities and youth, Jane actively engages people in creative cultural processes that help them understand and see not only the challenges faced by their communities, but their assets as well. Jane has many recordings and a book Let’s Make a Better World: Stories and Songs of Jane Sapp. She has sung al...
2026-02-1224 minHow Can I Keep From Singing?Singing with a Vision w/Paul TinkerhessPaul Tinkerhess is a long time community singer and songwriter from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Our conversation explores the ways we risk vulnerability and move forward as singers and as a community.
2026-02-0527 minHow Can I Keep From Singing?An Impromptu Glorious Chorus w/ Elise Witt
Elise Witt’s concerts of Global, Local & Homemade Songs™ and her Impromptu Glorious Chorus™ workshops create and connect singing communities around the world. Born in Switzerland, raised in NC, and living in Atlanta since 1977, Elise speaks 5 languages fluently and sings in at least a dozen more. From 2009-2024, Elise served as Director of Music Programs at the Global Village Project, (GVP) a special purpose middle school for teenage refugee girls in Atlanta, Georgia. Imagine a Circle: The Global Village Songbook: Using Singing and Songwriting to Teach English for Multi-lingual Learners is a book of 55 songs written by, with, and for the GV...
2026-01-2928 minHow Can I Keep From Singing?Singing at the Threshold w/ Kate MungerKate Munger has been passionate about community singing since she was 8 years old at Girl Scout Camp and has led community singing now for over 45 years. In 2000 she founded the first of now 200 Threshold Choirs around the world. Today at 74 she is retired from running the Threshold Choir and has returned to her passions of writing songs for medicinal use and singing at the bedsides of people who are dying, in coma and with folks who are incarcerated. Kate knows that this work is deep and serious and she offers a fresh, lively, sometimes irreverent, always relevant perspective.
2026-01-2227 minHow Can I Keep From Singing?Expert Noticing w/ Mike Ross of the Madison Youth ChoirsMike Ross is the director of the Madison Youth Choirs. In this episode we discuss how group singing for children and young adults molds outlooks and understandings even as they engage in the joyful experience of being part of a choir.
https://www.madisonyouthchoirs.org/
2026-01-1527 minHow Can I Keep From Singing?A Lifetime of Harmony w/ Sandra KerrSandra Kerr has had had a long and distinguished career in Folk music. Trained by MacColl and Seeger in the controversial Critics Group, co- writer of the music for the much-loved cult TV series, Bagpuss, multi-instrumentalist, choir director , long time member of Sisters Unlimited, and much- respected lecturer and tutor on the Newcastle degree course in Folk and Traditional Music, Sandra has been awarded their highest accolade by EFDSS – the gold badge for ‘outstanding and unique contribution to the art of folk song.’ In each of those settings, bringing people together to sing in harmony has been a major featur...
2026-01-0829 minHow Can I Keep From Singing?Occupella w/ Bonnie Lockhart and Nancy SchimmelBonnie Lockhart and Nancy Schimmel have been singing at rallies and other political events for over sixty years. They discuss the challenges and joys of trying to rally people with music around a cause. Occupella is one iteration of their work, formed during the Occupy movement. More information at BonnieLockhart.com, NancySchimmel.com and the ever evolving Occupella songbook is available at occupella.org
https://www.occupella.org/comprehensive.html
2025-12-1823 minHow Can I Keep From Singing?A Temple of Song w/Jake JohnsonJake Johnson is a cultural historian and author whose work focuses on the intersection of music, myth, and community in American life. His books—such as “Mormons, Musical Theater, and Belonging in America” and “Lying in the Middle: Musical Theater and Belief at the Heart of America”—explore how musical theater and storytelling enable people to shape identity, belief, and belonging outside major cultural centers. Jake Johnson examines the everyday role of music as a form of world-building and myth-making, drawing insights from diverse communities. Our conversation explores the role of music in Mormon culture but moves beyond that into realms...
2025-12-1126 minHow Can I Keep From Singing?What One Little Voice Can Do w/ Sally RogersSally began her career as a full-time touring musician in 1979. Her travels since have taken her to Europe, China, Hungary and Poland, England and Scotland and all across the United States. Her songs are accessible to singers of all types, and she infuses a deep respect and appreciation for community, tradition, and the power of music to nurture social change. Our conversation includes a rather detailed explanation of how to encourage successful round singing.
more information at https://sallyrogers.com/
2025-12-0424 minHow Can I Keep From Singing?Singing as Sanity w/ Stacy HornStacy Horn is an author and singer who talks in this podcast about how singing in a community choir provided a bridge to wholeness and community. It's been a long term commitment. Although she considers herself an average singer, she urges anyone with an interest to try singing as a remedy that can help bring sanity to a difficult world.
More information about Stacy here.
2025-11-2724 minHow Can I Keep From Singing?Music, Ministry, and Message w/ the New Hope Baptist Church of Birmingham, AlabamaThe New Hope Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama has a long tradition of gospel choir excellence. In this episode Pastor Clarke, Minister of Music Michael Mays, and Glennie Dotson, president of the mass choir, discuss the power of gospel music and the tradition of improvisation, praise, and uplifting spirit that are the hallmarks of the church. For more information, https://thehopebham.com
2025-11-2019 minHow Can I Keep From Singing?Sing Anyway w/ Ruth PelhamRuth Pelham is a songwriter, activist, and community organizer. Ruth spent over thirty years bringing music to street corners, libraries, festivals, and other neighborhood spaces in her hometown of Albany. In the process, she created songs that are instantly singable and adaptable, and she learned daily about the power of singing to build relationships and community.
Ruth's website.
2025-11-1327 minHow Can I Keep From Singing?100 Community Sings a Year w/ Matt WatrobaMatt Watroba has spent most of his adult life sharing his knowledge and passion for folk music. As a performer, Matt has delivered thousands of shows in every kind of setting. As a song leader, he is committed to facilitating at least 100 community sings every year. Matt is inspiring as he talks about his passion and experience in community singing. www.MattWatroba.net
2025-11-0631 minHow Can I Keep From Singing?Vocal Improvisation is Life w/ RhiannonRhiannon is a vocal artist with a vision of music as a vehicle for innovation, healing, transformation, and social change. A vibrant, gifted singer, performance artist, composer, and master teacher, Rhiannon has been bringing her unique and potent blend of jazz, world music, improvisation, and storytelling to audiences for over five decades.
From her stellar collaborations with the all-women jazz ensemble Alive! to a cappella ensemble SoVoSo’ to Bobby McFerrin - Voicestra, and Gimme5, to her groundbreaking solo and ensemble performances, Rhiannon has paved a unique path as an independent artist. In recent years she has con...
2025-10-3029 minHow Can I Keep From Singing?Singing as Cultural Cohesion w/ Reggie HarrisReggie Harris has been singing and telling stories for over 50 years. He's a powerful educator about the history and the current state of civil rights, and, among other things, he is the musician for the Living Legacy Project, which offers pilgrimages to explore the history of civil rights in the South. In this episode Reggie explores how music feeds a culture that faces difficulty and discrimination. At the same time, he offers a lot of hope for the power of singing to get us through hard times. More information at Reggie's Website.
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2025-10-3030 minHow Can I Keep From Singing?A New Podcast - How Can I Keep from Singing?A new podcast that explores the power of group singing. Stuart Stotts interviews song leaders, choir members, authors and a range of people who provide insight and advice on this ancient human activity.
2025-10-2502 min
Radio Active KidsRAK 7/24/21 - New music is SWEET!New music is SWEET this week on Radio Active Kids! We've got new songs from 1TribeCollective (by Alphabet Rockers, Aaron Nigel Smith, Uncle Jumbo, Rissi Palmer, DJ Willy Wow, Melanie DeMore: Vocal Activist, & Shine & the Moonbeams), Joanie Leeds, Twinkle Time, Teddy Eddy by Ingrid Hofer & Dirk Scheele, Ralph's World, Sonia De Los Santos, Kymberly Stewart Music, Steve Pullara and His Cool Beans Band, EVT Kids, The Pretty Crazies, #StuartStotts, The Cuddly Koalas ft. Itty Bitty Beats, Jenn Hartmann Luck, The SOKS, The Weirdos Are Out, Angelfish Kids, & #Boogles! Playlist: https://spinitron.com/WSFM/pl/13742582/Radio-Active-Kids
2021-07-241h 57Radio Active KidsRAK 11/28/20 - New music is ⬆ going up!! ⬆ We're getting more & more & more new music on Radio Active Kids! This week, we have songs by caspar babypants, Rocknoceros, Johnny and the Raindrops, Tina Kenny Jones & Danny Weinkauf - Red Pants Band, The Pop Ups, Fans of Randy Kaplan (FORKs), Levity Beet Music, Michael and the Rockness Monsters, #VictorArriagada, Pointed Man Band, Little Magic, Totally Knuts, Epewtufe - Grupo de música infantil, JellyBean Queen, #StuartStotts, #HogwartsTherapist, & a request for Jesse Jukebox--plus #YNO, Oleg Kostrow & Pink Abduction Ray from Istotne Nagr.'s #KookyNutsPop! Playlist: https://spinitron.com/WSFM/pl/12104617/Radio-Active-Kids
Be sure to li...
2020-11-281h 58Radio Active KidsRAK 10/24/20 - Claudia Robin Gunn interviewThis week on Radio Active Kids, I am excited to do a Zoom interview (my first!) with Claudia Robin Gunn, whose new album #LittleWildUniverse is stellar! 😉 Also, new tunes by Lucy Kalantari and the Jazz Cats, Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could, Ralph's World, Baba Got BARS, CLARALUNA, Ron Albanese - POLKA DOT, fleaBITE ft. Levity Beet Music, Here Comes Trouble, Miss Katie Sings, #StuartStotts & drsbopnpop, plus a request for some Little Feet Music and more songs from Grace Kendall's #WizardRockSampler by Percy and the Prefects, Kirstyn Hippe, Candle Wix & more! Playlist: https://spinitron.com/WSFM/pl/11879368/Rad...
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