Local 1000 AFM

The Traveling Musicians Union

Church/Worship Service

George Mann

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A former union organizer, George Mann hails from Ithaca, New York and has been producing labor and protest music for more than 25 years. He has performed with and produced albums featuring such folk music legends as Utah Phillips, Pete Seeger and Tom Paxton, and produced national tours of the US and Australia in honor of the Almanac Singers (2013) and Joe Hill (2015). George brings his experience as a union organizer and educator to his concerts– stories and songs about real events and the struggle for a better life. He is touring Australia and releasing a new CD “This Chain” in October 2023.

Websites: 

http://www.georgemannmusic.com

http://www.untilyoucomehome.com

Aaron Fowler

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Aaron has been performing since he was 16. Working alongside several musicians throughout his career he has built a breadth of musical experiences from house concerts to festivals and concert halls. His passion for the music and the power it can have with groups of people is part of why he keeps bringing the music to audiences across the country. Aaron brings a polished fingerstyle and rhythm guitar playing to a warm tenor voice. His songwriting tells the stories of common folks bringing uncommon stories to life. Whether one of the more than 100 songs from rural communities across this country or songs of passion and purpose, Aaron delivers a performance that will move you. As an educator, Aaron began his teaching career in 1984 after he graduated from Friends University in Wichita, KS. Aaron intended to teach a couple of years at the elementary level then move to middle school and then high school and then land a career at the college. Well, part of that became a reality. Aaron taught 2 years at the elementary level and 2 years at the middle school level. The problem is that he stayed another 7 years, teaching middle school for 11 years! Some love middle school kids and Aaron is one of them. It was in 1995 when Aaron decided to pursue songwriting and touring more intentional. Now 32 years later he still loves working in the classroom drawing music and stories out of students. Aaron’s work includes work with the itty-bitty one, birth through 6-year-olds through Wolf Trap Early Learning Through the Arts. As a National Trainer, he loves getting these very young ones finding the music and rhythm inside themselves. Aaron is a Certified National Teaching Artist with Young Audiences in New York and a Wolf Trap Master Teaching Artist with Wolf Trap Early Learning through the Arts in Vienna Virginia. His current home in Wichita, Kansas keeps him connected with Arts Partners Wichita working with students K-12. The work of integrating the arts into science, math and language arts is a wonderful way to inspire kids to use the creative space in their heads to think about the world they live in. In early 2020 Aaron began thinking about how to leave some of the stories he was telling students about Bella and Choco, the two classroom therapy dogs that work with Aaron in the classroom. He came up with the concept of a children’s book about the two adventurous dogs that visited the classroom with him as Therapy dogs. The first book, Being YOU-Neek, was written during the 2020 Pandemic. It became the first book in the series The Adventures of Bella and Choco. This book helps children learn about character traits and a variety of academic lessons. The second book is entitled, The Boat, and is about how all us belong on this great plant we call Mother Earth. The 3rd book will come out in the spring of 2022 and is an Alphabet book highlighting local businesses in Wichita Kansas where Aaron and illustrator Peter Mader live.

Debra Cowan

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“Stunning” is the word often used to describe Debra Cowan’s vocals. She performs unaccompanied or with guitar, interpreting a wide range of traditional and contemporary songs. She is a full-time performer who bridges the old and new with a refreshing stage presence and has released six recordings, all having earned praise on both sides of the Atlantic. She tours in the United Kingdom and in North America and can often be seen on stage with her good friend, singer and musician John Roberts. Debra is a proud member of American Federation of Musicians Local 1000 and endorses Harvey Leach guitars. 

Tret Fure

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Tret Fure began her career at the age of 16, singing in coffeehouses and campuses in the Midwest. At 19, she moved to LA in hopes of obtaining a record deal. Within a year she was performing as guitarist and vocalist for Spencer Davis, touring with him and penning the single for his album “Mousetrap”. She went on to record her own album “Tret Fure” in 1973, on MCA/UNI Records, with the late Lowell George of Little Feat as her producer. With the success of that release, she opened for such bands as Yes, Poco, and the J Geils Band.

 

A prolific artist in the contemporary singer-songwriter arena, Tret Fure has released 18 albums and CDs over the course of her 53 year career. She just released, “Lavender Moonshine”. 

 

In addition to being a gifted songwriter, Fure has engineered and produced countless recordings by a variety of artists, including her own work.

 

In the early 80s, Tret moved to the independent side of the industry discovering the blossoming genre known as Women’s Music. She recorded with and produced some of the best of women’s music including mixing the legendary “Meg & Cris at Carnegie Hall” (1983). She worked as a duo with Cris Williamson throughout the 90s, producing, engineering and releasing 3 CDs together. Now after 9 acoustic releases on her own label, “Tomboy girl Records”, she has re-established herself in the folk world.

 

Wanda A. Fischer from WMAC Northeast Public Radio has this to say, “Roses in November is yet another masterpiece from Tret. Exceptionally crafted songs delivered with passion, conviction and, yes, soul. Tret weaves magic both in the lyrics and between the lines. This will certainly be on my “Best of 2018” list.”

 

Some highlights from her career include:

 

2023 Tret was awarded the Phil Ochs Award in recognition of her music and her activism for social and political justice.

 

2022 – Finalist in the USA Songwriting Competition with Tret’s new song, “Home You Go”.

 

2021 – #1 song “Roses in November” from the CD “Roses in November” (2018) for the month of November in the FAI FOLK CHART.

 

2021 – #14 Album for the year with “Stone by Stone”.  #9 song for the year with “Monuments” and #25 artist of the year.

 

2021 – 2nd place winner in “A Still Small Voice 4U” songwriting competition with the song “Louder Than the Guns”.

 

2021 – #1 song “Monuments” from the CD “Stone by Stone” (2020) for the month of February in the FAI FOLK CHART.

 

2018 – #1 song ”Lessons From Home Plate” from the CD “Roses in November” (2018) for the month of June in the FAI FOLK CHART. 

 

2020 – 1st place winner in “A Still Small Voice 4U” songwriting competition with her song “Monuments”.

 

2017 – 2nd place winner in the “Musicians United to Protect Bristol Bay” songwriting contest for her song “The Fishermen of Bristol Bay” (2015).

 

2015 – “Rembrandt Afternoons” (2015) was chosen by the acclaimed folk music show ‘Midnight Special’ as their album of the week.

 

2011 – Winner of the Women in the Arts “Phyllis Roark Memorial Award” for Philanthropy.

 

2009 – Winner of the Women in the Arts “Janine C Rae Award” for the Advancement of Women’s Culture.

 

2009 -Voted “Pride In The Arts” Favorite Female/Lesbian Musician.

 

2004 – Winner of the South Florida Folk Festival Singer/Songwriter Competition in 2 out of 3 categories, Best Overall and Best Up-Tempo Song.

 

2004 – Winner of the Women in the Arts “Jane Schliessman Award” for Outstanding Contributions to Women’s Music.

 

1990 – Voted both Best Guitarist and Best Engineer in a Reader’s Choice poll in “Hot Wire: The Journal of Women’sMusic & Culture”.

 

In addition to touring and recording, Tret teaches guitar and songwriting individually and in workshop settings. She paints pet portraits on commission and, an accomplished cook, Fure has also published a cookbook, “Tret’s Kitchen”, featuring her own recipes. Along with bridging the marketing, production, music and art worlds,

Tret is truly a Renaissance Woman!

Steve Eulberg

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“Smile-inducing, toe-tapping, thought-provoking folkgrass” is how reviewers describe award-winning instrumentalist and songwriter Steve Eulberg’s music. He weaves together age-old songs and tunes with new melodies and contemporary lyrics accompanied by dulcimers and more.

Transformational Music was the focus of his work as an inner-city pastor and co-convener of the Religion and Labor Council in Kansas City, as well as undergirding his anti-racism work in two different judicatories of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (Kansas/Missouri and Wyoming/Utah/Colorado/New Mexico/El Paso, TX)

He is a registered Music Together® teacher and has been primarily focused on helping to support and equip parents to provide musically-rich environments for their infants and toddlers through pre-schoolers the past 8 years.

“I live for the aha! experiences that people have and am dedicated to helping people enjoy their musical explorations on their instruments and share them with others,” Eulberg says. Students respond enthusiastically to his engaging style and warm sense of humor, making him in demand at festivals across the USA.

Award-winner in the national mountain dulcimer contest at Winfield, KS he is also a multiple finalist in the national hammered dulcimer contest. His music, has been featured on PBS’ RoadTrip Nation, United Airlines Inflight Audio and NPR.

Active in Locals 1000 (Traveling) and 423 (Geographic) of the American Federation of Musicians, and the Pacific Northwest Chapter of NARAS (Grammys), Eulberg owns Owl Mountain Music, Inc., was the first guitar instructor on JamPlay.com is co-owner and teacher at dulcimercrossing.com.