Our Songleaders

Benja is a professional musician and educator based in Richmond CA. He is on the board of directors of the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, an immigration rights and anti-incarceration nonprofit org. He is also the founder/director of the Joyful Noise! Gospel Singers, a nonprofit community choir. He is a human rights and racial justice activist, advocating through writing, speaking, Civil Rights songleading, and fostering interfaith and interracial alliances. Benja has been leading Black Spiritual music for over 15 years. He is also a Certified Executive Coach and Inclusion Specialist through the Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute (BECI)

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Justin Ancheta and Maren Metke have musical nectar flowing through their veins. The dynamic Grass Valley duo is the driving force behind a project that is even sweeter than it sounds. Honey of the Heart is an ambrosial mix of musical interpretations influenced by folk, soul, roots, and world/flamenco styles. Built upon a repertoire of uplifting original material, they join together, or with other phenomenal musicians to create in an organic state of symbiosis. Many of their songs come forth like ancient incantations, casting angelic spells on all in their path. Honey of the Heart weaves soaring harmonies and hypnotic polyrhythms into an alchemical semblance of groove intended for dancing, rejoicing, and blissful recalibration.Justin and Maren formed the group, Honey of the Heart, to inspire and connect people with their voices, melodies, and world rhythms.

Based in Northern California with strong roots in the Bay Area, Seattle. Their music gets as intimate as just vocals and Ukulele, to as large as a twelve-piece band with a horn section, multiple percussionists, and DJ.

Their live shows emote a sweet nectar of sounds that can bring people to personal revelation, and community awareness, and uplift the power of joy in our hearts.

Maren Metke is a vocalist, songwriter and instrumentalist performing across the US and beyond. Justin Ancheta is a guitarist, vocalist and multi instrumentalist and Internationally acclaimed touring musician. They joined forces in 2014. Both strong composers & performers, they tour as a duo as well as full band.

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Kid Beyond: Electro-soul legend. Singer, songwriter, producer. Songleader. Activist. Legendary beatboxer / live-looper. Buddhist teacher. Love Warrior.

His intoxicating new single — HONEY — is a sultry, steamy electro-soul voyage: a dizzying alchemy of sensual, spiritual, mythical communion.

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Kid Beyond has rocked festivals like Coachella, Earthdance, Symbiosis, SXSW, Lightning in a Bottle, and beyond.

He’s opened for Michael Franti, Imogen Heap, Bassnectar, Will.I.Am, James Brown, Ray Charles, the Neville Brothers, Widespread Panic, Balkan Bump, Lupe Fiasco, Keane, Steve Aoki, Disco Biscuits, Glitch Mob, Amon Tobin, Lyrics Born, Buckethead, The Coup, and many more.

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Kid B has led song circles for over 20 years, and has returned to this longtime love, inspired by his dear friend and former partner Lisa Littlebird.

He offers music as medicine — a joyful, playful, soulful, powerful alchemy of expression, connection, inspiration, and healing.

He helps folks open their voices and hearts... offering songs of his own and others... creating new songs through improvisation... weaving in play, movement, embodiment, breathwork, ritual, joy, shadow...

He co-leads San Francisco’s monthly Song Circle Magic, and offers circles at festivals and venues nationwide.

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Tobirus Mozelle arrived on the house music scene in 2013 after moving to the SF Bay Area from North Carolina. With a background in gospel, alt. rock, accapella ensembles, and R&B he brings a soulful, funky, and brassy dynamic to the tracks he graces. He has found a home with the Moulton Music label out of Oakland/SF and it the vocalist for the nu disco/deep house crew, The SyntheTigers. He has started to garner international attention with his vocal stylings and collaborations with a litany of house djs who have remixed his tracks or featured them in prominent radio shows. He puts his heart and soul into every track he is a part of and deeply believes that "music is the essence of life!"Tobirus Mozelle arrived on the house music scene in 2013 after moving to the SF Bay Area from North Carolina. With a background in gospel, alt. rock, accapella ensembles, and R&B he brings a soulful, funky, and brassy dynamic to the tracks he graces. He has found a home with the Moulton Music label out of Oakland/SF and it the vocalist for the nu disco/deep house crew, The SyntheTigers. He has started to garner international attention with his vocal stylings and collaborations with a litany of house djs who have remixed his tracks or featured them in prominent radio shows. He puts his heart and soul into every track he is a part of and deeply believes that "music is the essence of life!"

https://soundcloud.com/tobirusmozelle

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Our Big Sing organizing team is gathering a motley group of fabulous friends to lead us in a few wholehearted singalongs. Amongst us there are some serious musical chops (ex: Troy wrote the theme song to the Beijing Olympics) and experience curation chops (ex: Oprah said of the workshops we lead, "This is how we change the world") but mostly we're a community of friends here to sing, laugh and enjoy soulful good times.

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A native from Salvador, state of Bahia, Nilo Ayele arrived in South San Francisco, California, in 2007.

He is a capoeirista, dancer, singer, and songwriter.  In 2013, together with Brazilian guitarist and songwriter Renan Damasceno, he started his music project: “Namoradas da Lua”, a reggae band with Bahian music influences. In 2019 the band released the first album “Jah Do Amor” which is available on all music digital platforms.”I am from Boca do Rio, a neighborhood in Salvador where you can feel the music in all aspects”, add Nilo Ayele. His music also is influenced by musicians such as Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Marisa Monte, Carlinhos Brown, and of course, Bob Marley. The versatile musician keeps the focus on, and says “with perseverance, discipline and hard work you will overcome!”.

COCOA KEYS is a contemporary R&B duo made up of two women of color singer-songwriters: Devon White and Olivia Carrington. Both artists are native to California and share a background in classical and jazz music. The dynamic duo brings a unique blend of jazz-infused neo-soul with a modern pop twist to their stylistic musical approach. Their uniquely stripped acoustic sound and raw vocals are bound to resonate with any audience. With an assortment of popular cover music and original pieces, Cocoa Keys’ tantalizing sound will leave you wanting more.

Olivia is our pianist who has been playing live piano music professionally for 9 years. She has a foundation in jazz and classical piano but enjoys playing a variety of genres. Olivia has collaborated with a variety of local artists and organizations, including The Battery, Shack15 social club, Groundfloor social club So Far Sounds, Dredd Scott and The Prototype, SPARC, Kevin Allen, Helen St. Mixr and more.

Devon is our sultry singer who has 15 years of experience in the music industry as a professional songwriter, vocal coach, artist developer and singing live piano music. She is best known as a contestant on American Idol, S8. She is co-founder of WOC, the Bay Area community based organization dedicated to empowering the next generation of women of color in music and tech. Her other affiliations are as follows: ZooLabs alumni, co-director and music composer with AJ Rafael and Tori Kelly , San Francisco Opera House, Soul Graffiti Oakland , United Roots Oakland Fellow, and Impact Hub Oakland.

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