Ruth Huber was instrumental in founding both the Rainbow Women’s Chorus (where she is co-Director and composer-in-residence) and Tapestry Singers (the Austin Women’s Chorus). She holds three music degrees, including a Master of Music in Composition from the San Francisco Conservatory, and has studied conducting at San Jose State University. Her compositions and songs have won awards from the American Choral Directors Association, the San Francisco ArtSong Competition, and the Austin Music Umbrella Songwriters Competition, and she receives commissions from choral groups around the country. She has released three recordings, including her latest, “Spirit of Nurture,” is available online. A certified member of Music Teachers National Association, she teaches piano, and served recently as musician for the Metropolitan Community Church and is now Music Director for Campbell UCC. She resides in San Jose with her wife, Brenda Meng, and an assortment of adorable cats.

In high school Blair sang in musical theatre, jazz band and folk groups. In the 1970's Blair was on the National Coffeehouse Circuit playing colleges across the country. In the last few years she was part of a bluegrass/folk group and since her recent move to Campbell, Blair is looking for a new group to sing with. Blair is the founder of the Lighted Window Concerts and has started and or managed several other venues, including the Stained Glass Coffeehouse, in Deerfield, IL. "My absolute belief is that music, in my case singing, is an inside healer. And I am very grateful to have been given a way to have this kind of healing in my life." Blair is also the pastor of Campbell United Church of Christ.

Tracy grew up in Colorado singing in church. Her parents were travelling evangelists and Tracy, along with her sister, performed in churches in every state west of the Mississippi. When she moved to Seattle, Tracy began singing with several choruses, small ensembles, weddings, local pubs and then fell in love with musical theatre. One of her personal highlights was playing the lead in “Hello Dolly”. Tracy also wrote and directed a musical murder mystery series that was performed for years at Thornewood Castle in Lakewood, Washington. Tracy moved to the South Bay Area a little over a year ago and is now a proud member of the Rainbow Women’s Chorus. When not singing, Tracy is a quality engineer at Apple Inc.

Karen Parker is a native Californian, raised in the agricultural town of Watsonville. She got her singing start at the Watsonville First United Methodist Church where she sang solos and with the children’s choir. Karen sang with the Watsonville High School Choir and the Madrigal Choir under the direction of Herman Fischer. She also sang with several choirs at Cabrillo College under the direction of Cheryl Anderson. She completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Music at Friends University in Wichita Kansas. Singing has given Karen the opportunity to travel around the world and sing in some of the most beautiful places on earth. Karen lived for a time in Denver Colorado and sang with the Denver Women’s Chorus before finally returning to California. Karen now sings with the Rainbow Women’s Chorus and continues to sing in church. On Friday nights Karen can be heard practicing at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, San Jose, with the Friday Night Live Band.

Susan Hough has been singing in choirs since she was 7, and can't seem to stop. During her Mechanical Engineering undergraduate work, she was rehearsing 17 hours a week in 3 ensembles, and she found grad school in Acoustics and Vibration much livelier as a result of her membership in a 60's-style girl group, the DeciBelles. Now that she has more or less an empty nest, she's getting back into singing seriously and even adding some solo work, although her guitar playing is not yet ready for public exposure. When she's not singing, she's a voter educator for the League of Women Voters and a math and science tutor.

"West's voice invokes angels, if angels had a dangerous side." ~ North Coast Journal, Arcata CA - 2014 Fourth generation Californian Corinne West, now residing in the mighty redwood forests of the California coast, has been described as "the Siren of the Sierras" by a columnist from the San Francisco area Times-Herald; and for solid reasons. Corinne's powerful and eloquent voice, coupled with the way she forges a song, has earned her a unique identity within the global acoustic roots music scene. Relix Magazine noted her "voice of gold," coming at you with honey, velvet-dusk wine and distant sage. The notable Bob Harris of BBC declared "I love Corinne's music and truly believe in her as an artist. She has spirit, integrity and talent. I am a massive fan." The Liverpool Echo categorized Corinne's sound as "elegant new sexy acoustic jazz-rock-folk", while others have named it "West Coast acoustic soul, elegant, laced with grace". Among the echoes of small towns and curious roads less traveled, her writing reveals an artist who paints dimensional and emotive landscapes with song. She harvests from a deep mine, and while quite personal, her music penetrates into the soul of the listener offering gems they can call their own.

Kat is one of the most accomplished guitarists and singer/songwriters in the folk, Celtic and traditional music genres. Elating, moving, and amusing audiences with her beautiful blend of sweet melodies, gentle honesty and searing humor, Kat's music reflects a wide range of life's experiences with unusual clarity and authority. In a clear alto with flawless intonation, Kat Eggleston goes straight to the lyrical and emotional truth of every word and every note. Her musings on home, childhood, and her father's garden are gems of direct, unassuming plainspokenness. Her narratives push hard at our senses and demand we return again and again to pick up the pieces we dropped on first hearing, expanding our comprehension of difficult, personal and universal experience Kat has released five CDs to date, three of which are available from Waterbug Music, one from Redwing Music, and the most recent--Speak--in August 2009 as an independent release. Also an actor, teacher and hammered dulcimer player, Kat has been a lead singer with The Otters and with Bohola, and recorded a duo CD with Kate MacLeod. She has played live and on recordings with David Bromberg, Bohola, the David Munnelly Band, Niamh Parsons, Jim Tullio, Tom Dundee, Dennis Cahill, Michael Smith, Brooks Williams, Andrew Calhoun, and many others. She has toured in Europe, Australia, Ireland, England, and Scotland as well as the U.S. After nearly 20 years in Chicago as a performing singer-songwriter and musical theater artist (including two seasons in Michael Smith's "Snow Queen" at Chicago's prestigious Victory Gardens Theatre), she returned to her home community of Vashon Island in 2008 to be close to her beloved father, an inspiration for many of her best songs. "I was born when my parents were working on the 'Gumby' show, probably sealing my fate as a performer, and certainly making green the central color of my wardrobe." Kat's mother was Gumby's first voice, and her father was Gumby's first art director and invented Pokey. Her father is an inspiration for some of her best songs.

Jumping the lines between folk, rock, blues and singer-songwriter soulfulness, Bev Barnett & Greg Newlon create a place where you can relax in the comfort of the groove – and know you’re going to leave smiling and just a little more hopeful. The first thing you’ll notice is the blend of their harmonies, along with rhythmic guitar that drives a compelling tension and release. Greg’s guitar pushes – Bev’s voice pulls – together exploring life, love and the pursuit of something real. See more info and hear samples at www.bevandgreg.com.

The Downstream Mergansers have been playing together off and on since only one of them could drive, but coalesced as a trio just in time for this appearance. Collectively, they sing soprano, alto, tenor and bass, and play guitar, ukulele, dulcimer, flute, piccolo, piano, saxophone and drums. They've sung in Hebrew, French, Ojibwe, Sindarin, and Russian as well as their native English. Caleb studies biochemistry at De Anza college, Jenna studies linguistics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Susan studied signal processing at the University of Southampton.

John has been playing guitar and writing original songs since high school. He currently sings and writes for two San Jose progressive rock bands, Mind Furniture and Metaphor. He also writes liturgical music for Grace North Church (NACCC/UCC) in Berkeley, where he is pastor.

Hollie grew up in a musical family being a daughter of a mom who was choir director for 25 years. She enjoys singing in various venues from church choir to delivering singable corporate messages at work rather than PowerPoint presentations. Her greatest joy is singing with her son Christian! Christian enjoys playing LEGOS with his mother but still lives a life of: music (singing, piano, theatre, etc), architecture, and electronics.

Claudia Russell and Bruce Kaplan traverse a wide Americana landscape, stopping at wondrous musical landmarks along the way, tipping their hat to bluegrass bands, blues divas, jazz cats, folkies, and singing cowboys. Lesser performers might stumble or sound fake, but, driven by Claudia’s expressive voice and distinctive guitar style, it all comes together beautifully. Claudia has a knack for crafting tightly written songs that take you back to the sweet spot of youth and the autumn colors of middle age. Kaplan’s accompaniment, on mandolin or electric guitar, is spot-on. Paul Zollo, senior editor of American Songwriter magazine, called their new CD, “All Our Luck Is Changing,” “a masterpiece.” All of this, served up with a generous serving of homespun humor and shaggy dog stories, making for a heartfelt and humorous evening of deeply engaging music. Russell has won numerous other accolades including Best New Artist from WUMB FM in Boston, Best Musician in the East Bay Express Reader’s Poll, 2x Kerrville Folk Festival Songwriting Finalist, and praise in Sing Out, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Boston Globe.