PSG 2024 Musicians
BLACKWILLOW STARLING
Blackwillow Starling are a duo of musicians relatively new to each other but not unto the music scene and public performance. Using elements of acoustic guitar, bouzouki, percussion, and harmony vocals, along with insightful lyrics, they reach out to listeners of Celtic folk, folk rock, and pagan music.
Nora is a classically schooled vocalist with a long history of fronting rock and roll bands as well as playing bass and guitar. Singing about the elements of the natural world and wonder of spirit has been her passion for decades. She works with Celtic-based rhythmic patterns and folk stylings for her work in Blackwillow Starling. She finds pure joy in the art of song.
Michael “Tinker” Tierney regularly tours, and has musical platforms, on both the national and global scale with Celtic folk rock band Reilly and hard rock mash-up band Beatallica, He enjoys cleverness and outside the box creativity in writing and performing.
Blackwillow Starling will be making their Pagan Spirit Gathering debut this June. Visit online at facebook.com/blackwillowstarling
KRISTA CHAPMAN GREEN
I spend my days in the foothills of Arkansas, weaving and writing music that reflects my home, my thoughts and my life. Surrounded by the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen, it’s easy to find inspiration in all the things I see. I’ve spent the last 30 years shaping my path, an eclectic blend of animism, polytheism, and nature led beliefs. I believe we all have something to give the world, something to share and something to offer. I found my gift and my voice through music. I was blessed to grow up surrounded by music. My Grandfather was an amazing musician and tried very hard to pass that love on to all of us.
Most everyone in my family was able to play instruments. I seemed unable to get the hang of them, and so voice was what I had left. So, I stood beside my mother's piano and learned to express myself that way. I found out very quickly, it was the art form I most loved. I found myself there, in the words and worlds that lyrics created. I began writing little songs by the time I was 12 and it has stayed with me my entire life. The vast majority of my music is Goddess led. Reflecting the beauty and strength I see so sacred in feminine power. Stories of love, self-reliance, belief in the strength we can find both within ourselves and belief in things beyond ourselves. Belief in the dirt we can place our hands in, belief in the things we can create, belief in things both seen and unseen. The world is full of wonder, and I refuse to look at it any other way. Often times the world can be a scary place, full of doubts, hate, non-belief and judgment. But beauty still sits there waiting to be found. Love, grace, patience and joy are still the greatest gifts to both give away and to hold on to. Stories from a wandering heart, Krista Chapman Green
LOUIS GAROU
Raised in the dark hollows of Appalachia and now residing in Arkansas, Louis Garou has been traveling and writing most of his adult life. His music, he calls "Dark Americana," is popular among members of the Pagan community. He writes about Goddesses and Demons, about Wolves, about lonely, sometimes desperate people. And others who are not quite... People. Almost whispering, he calls all his music, love songs... Dark and twisted, but love songs just the same. Come and join Louis playing his old guitar, singing of Heartbreak, Darkness, and the Other Side.
MEREN KING & MR. E
Meren Edna Marie King is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist presently making Music out of Ocala, Florida, USA. Born in Long Beach, California, Meren has been a traveler most of her life. From the West Coast to the East Coast and every US State in-between, Meren accompanied her parents as they worked with traveling circuses and sideshows during the first three years of her life, and then as a teen searching for her kith and kin she traveled even more extensively, and as an adult reaching into Canada and even across the pond to Europe. Meren has been a part of the Pagan communities in most of the places she has lived and says that her faith contains a little bit of everything that she has seen and heard and read and experienced. Following no particular pathway or religion, her church is the wild places of the world, and her deities are all around her. Believing that we are all Energy, and everything is a part of everything else, she brings this sensibility to her music and stories, sharing her perspectives and beliefs with the world. Music has always been a part of Meren's life, and with Phambly across the Globe and with many worldwide musical influences, Meren's songs and stories show you what is most dear to her heart: her Phambly, her Faith and her Hopes for Our World. From Folk to Blues to World Beat and more, the songs she sings and the stories she tells will take you on a journey of the mind and heart. Come on along and join her on her adventures across this twirling Earth.
Known by many names and heights, Mr. E. has been involved in music for over 30 years, and has spent almost that same amount of time creating and playing Pagan music. From his first forays with the bands Brendan's Dream and Rowan Moon, Mr. E. has repeatedly lent his roaring vocals, eclectic celestial percussion and haunting didjeridoo to many groups and individuals over the years, and has expanded his own personal repertoire into a burgeoning solo career. Playing with The Bilge Pumps, Needfire, and Sentinel Grove in the past, he now lends his talents to Spellsinger, Meren King, Krista Chapman Green and Louis Garou, among many others. Mr. E's music will be available on Bandcamp within this coming year.
Meren and E have been playing together at Pagan Spirit Gathering since Meren first appeared on the PSG Performer's Rite of Passage/Talent Show Stage in 2016. Over the years they have made music together, both in person and online, and they look forward to many more years of collaborating to bring their songs and stories to the PSG community.
PRIMAL RHYTHM
Primal Rhythm is a female drum ensemble based in Cleveland, Ohio. Sue Balaschak created it to bring her studio CD's to the stage and share the power of drumming in a live setting. When we drum, we connect our mind, body, and spirit to all living things. The Primal Rhythm Ensemble brings a diverse and talented group of women to the stage to engage the audience in the magic created by drumming. Ride the waive of energy while four chicks pound out thunderous rhythms and groovy vibrations!
SPELLSINGER
SPELLSINGER is a blend of voices, instrument and song, featuring Beltana Spellsinger, Béla and Mr. E.
Beltana was born on Beltane, and has played with groups such a SONA and BellaWyck, the RKO Radio Band, and several others. She has performed solo for many years, at pagan and music festivals, all over the US. She lives in the wild woods of deep southern Missouri on her family’s farm. Beltana is also an avid activist and acts as a liaison for other artists who come to Missouri, and through the blissful lands surrounding the Gasconade River via the Osage Arts Community.
Mr E has performed with a variety of groups, such as Celtica Fae, Brendanas Dream, Rowan Moon, Needfire, Sentinel Grove, and many others. He can regularly be seen sitting in with most of the musicians around the festivals he attends, such as PSG, and as a pirate, at Renaissance festivals. He is also the vendor coordinator for the Big River Steampunk Festival. He is a percussionist, also a rhythm guitarist and singer/songwriter. He joins Spellsinger in 2024, to travel and vend his lovingly crafted teas, spices and didgeridoos.
Béla was born on Mayday, and has been writing songs from a young age. She sings and creates kinds sorts of art, and plans to seek further education in the musical arts, science, and physics. She is Bel’s daughter, and joins Spellsinger this year to travel to festivals with Spellsinger. She has also served as a youth coordinator, has been involved in a variety of sports, and loves art in many forms, to include painting. She is a songwriter in her own right, and offers new selections to the band when she creates them.
As they work together, the trio has just begun their journey back into the Otherworlds, with Spellsinger and beyond. They look forward to tell you their stories, through song.
You can find out much more about their music, travel, gigs and more, at Spellsinger’s Websites: https://spellsinger.bandzoogle.com/ and https://beltanaspellsinger.com/
SPIRAL RHYTHM
Spiral Rhythm has been creating magic for over two decades. The group began singing at bonfires, gatherings, and festivals. Over time they have evolved and changed, but their goal has always been the same - to raise the spirit through voice and song. their performances are designed to build community and get people dancing!
The group features: Kerri Upton, Kiki Williamson, Ric Neyer, Jon Skoglund, Kira Lang & Richard Williamson. A vast majority of Spiral Rhythms songs are original, and all of their music is a co-creative effort.
Spirit music, indeed!