Wisdom of the Elders 16: Dan Navarro, Deidre McCalla, and Rex Fowler

This month’s Wisdom of the Elder’s Podcast features three distinguished artists - Deidre McCalla, Dan Navarro (Lowen & Navarro), and Rex Fowler (Aztec Two-Step).  Hosted by series creator Sonny Ochs with co-host Ron Olesko, the discussion centers around changes in the music industry and adapting to the challenges to marketing music in our current environment. 

DAN NAVARRO - Dan Navarro’s eclectic 40-year career as a songwriter, artist, singer and voice actor,includes 17 acclaimed albums, thousands of concerts, Oscar-winning films “Coco” and “Happy Feet”, television, videogames, commercials, and writing hits like Pat Benatar’s Grammy-nominated “We Belong”. In early 2019, after 20+ years with Lowen & Navarro, he released his first studio-recorded solo album, “Shed My Skin”, to rave reviews. 

DEIRDRE McCALLA -  Black woman, mother, lesbian, feminist - has long been in the forefront of Black musicians expanding the understanding of how Black folk can do folk. Deidre is riding high on her current release ENDLESS GRACE which dominated the June 2022 Folk Radio Charts as the #1 Album with the #1 Song - Shoulder To The Wheel and the #3 Song - I Do Not Walk This Path Alone, and finished for the year as the #13 Top Album on FAI Folk Radio. In 2023 Deidre’s song Shoulder To The Wheel won the 19th Annual International Acoustic Music Award for Best Folk/Americana/Roots song.

REX FOWLER -  Originating from a chance meeting in 1971 at an “open mic night” in Boston, Rex Fowler & Neal Schulman went on to form Aztec Two-Step, recording four albums on Elektra and RCA Records that helped usher the music of the 60’s into the 1970’s and beyond, leaving an indelible mark on the musical genre. Since Neal retired in 2018, Rex and his wife Dodie Pettit are now the heart and soul of Aztec Two-Step 2.0, expanding and exploring the band’s musical legacy with fan favorites, forgotten gems and outstanding new original compositions.

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