Quaker Musicians A to F

Carin Anderson and Chris Moore-Backman are singer song-writers & members of San Francisco Friends Meeting.  Carin performs with Chris often to raise awareness about war in Colombia.  You can contact them c/o Chris' email. Chris has his own rock band "Atticus Finch" Facebook  Wiki page 

Carla & David Arnold from LaGrande OR are overseers of The Olde Meeting House, a New Works group of Northwest Yearly Meeting.  They are part of an acoustical band called HouseBlend that plays for coffeehouses and contra dances with an assortment of instruments and other musicians. The Olde Meeting House is a tiny white church used to host folk dances, contra dances, a monthly coffeehouse and an annual Spring Music & Dance Festival.  Email Carla & David

Joan Baez was raised a Friend in Palo Alto (CA) Mtg and has continued to be strongly supportive of Quaker concerns such as the testimony against war.  Her official website is joanbaez.com. (Her artist page on this site: riseupandsing.org/artistcomposer/joan-baez)

Tony Biggin is a British Quaker. He has was the composer of several choral oratorios that have been performed for Friends - and also in some cases for the general public including The Fire and the Hammer (about the life of George Fox) and The Gates of Greenham (about a peace encampment at a military base in the 1970s). “The Fire & the Hammer” was performed at New England Yearly Meeting in 2011 and at FGC Summer Gathering in 2012. His website is: tonybiggin.com.  The music for these SATB pieces can be downloaded using links from his website (click on the specific pieces above). 

Alivia Biko is a singer-songwriter living in Salem OR. She is minister and clerk of Freedom Friends Church.  One of the projects that she is working on is sending guitars & other music material to Friends in East Africa. (She is looking for ideas on ways to ship such items cheaply over there!) Her songs focus on truth-telling & worship.  

Peter Blood is a member of Mt Toby Friends Meeting (NEYM). He is the co-creator (with his wife Annie Patterson) of the songbooks Rise Up Singing, Rise Again, and If I Had a Hammer. He is the editor of Pete Seeger's musical autobiography, Where Have All the Flowers Gone: A Singalong Memoir. He has frequently co-led singalong concerts with Annie in hundreds of Friends meetings, schools, camps, retreats, and gatherings in the US, Canada, New Zealand, and England.

Joshua Brown is a member of West Richmond Friends Meeting in Richmond, IN. He has been collecting folksongs for over 35 years, and has performed in New York, New England, Indiana and Ohio, playing Appalachian and hammered dulcimers and clawhammer banjo. 

Katie Dahl describes herself as a teacher, tutor, fruit picker, scholar, test proctor, writer, barrista, librarian, receptionist, bookstore clerk, nomad and (as her "myspace page":http://www.myspace.com/katiemdahl is meant to demonstrate) singer & songwriter. She has been attending Cambridge (MA) Meeting.

Alec Davison is an English Friend. He has collaborated (as the lyricist) with Tony Biggin on several terrific choral oratorios including The Fire and the Hammer (about the life of George Fox) and The Gates of Greenham (about a peace encampment at a military base in the 1970s).

Steve Deasy is a singer songwriter and regular attender at Detroit (MI) Mtg. He recently moved to Windsor Ontario. His song "Let Me Make Peace" (co-written with Lester Dore of Madison Friends Mtg) was recognized as a top 40 finalist in the 2008 Music To Life Songwriting Contest.  "Through my involvement with Friends & AFSC, my writing & performing have been increasingly devoted to causes of peace, justice, and equality."  Email Steve or go to stevedeasy.com.

Laura Dungan & Aaron Fowler both graduated with music degrees from Friends University in Wichita KS & continue to be active Quakers.  Their performances weave together exciting harmonies & instrumentation with themes of empowerment and social justice.  They often led "noon sings" (daily singalongs using Rise Up Singing and Rise Again songbooks) at FGC Annual Gatherings.  They have two songs in Rise Again including the great resistance anthem “Rise As One”. Aaron is a member of Heartland Friends Meeting in Wichita and is a leader of AFM Local 1000, the traveling musicians union. More info at aaronfowler.org.