2012 Featured Storytellers & Musicians

Jim Cogan, emcee

The Ojai Storytelling Festival will once again present Jim Cogan as the official emcee for this year's festival. Jim Cogan is a nationally known storyteller and former resident of Ojai. He brings a zany presence and engaging style to every tale he shares. His performances are a celebration of culture, imagination, and creativity. Known for his effervescent personality, Jim will definitely add color and humor to the festival. www.jimcoganstoryteller.com

Bill Harley

Through story and song and of course humor, Bill Harley captures the world of growing up like no other performer. Whether you're a kid now or were one in the past, Bill will have you smiling and nodding your head as you remember the wacky times you are living in or managed to survive. Bill's world is full of swamp monsters, grandmas carrying baseball bats, teachers with claws instead of hands, bus drivers that see much more than the road, science experiments gone awry, mothers that couldn't be fooled and fathers throwing TV's out the window. Heard on NPR, a two-time Grammy winner, and the recipient of storytelling's highest honor, the Circle of Excellence, Bill Harley is a treasure that will leave you with renewed wonder and an appreciation for everyday life. www.billharley.com

Kevin Kling

We are pleased to welcome back Kevin Kling to the festival. A playwright, humorist and storyteller extraordinaire, Kevin will have you rolling in the aisles one minute and wiping away a tear the next. Kevin has hopped freight trains, joined a circus, and eaten things before knowing what they were. His stories fall somewhere between Garrison Keillor's homespun humor and the mid-west quirkiness of the Coen brothers' movie, Fargo. His childhood stories and observations touch upon universal human experiences combined with irony, and a sense of the absurd. Listening to Kevin will bring big grins and treasured memories. www.kevinkling.com

Baba Jamal Koram

Baba Jamal Koram – the "storyman" with a huge heart who inspires listeners of all ages – returns to the festival this year. Baba Jamal brings storytelling alive with history, humor, music, and teachings of African American cultures. Blending contemporary and traditional storytelling techniques with drumming and call-and-response wit and wisdom, Baba Jamal Koram is a storyteller of great distinction and respect. He has travelled the world sharing his stories of resilience and the creative excellence of Africans in America. He has earned the title of Griot by his example of leadership and guardianship of African American culture. Baba Jamal's courage, perseverance and struggle are the building blocks for his teaching in character education. Baba Jamal has received many awards and honors for his ongoing commitment to challenging young people to be their best and attain their highest values and standards. www.babajamalkoram.com

“Everywhere I have been, families have shown concerns for family, respect for elders, strength of character, and a reverence for life. These are the stories I tell”. – Baba Jamal Koram

Beth Horner

Hailing from Chicago and a new voice at our festival, Beth Horner is known as a vivacious talent dedicated to providing an entertaining and empowering experience for her listeners, young and old. Her performances captivate audiences with a wide variety of folk, literary, traditional, contemporary and original tales from around the world. Horner's lively, traditional storytelling style often incorporates music, creating a unique performance which critics have called "dynamite!" Raucous laughter, grand adventure, tender courage, childhood farmyard escapades, spirited women, the American soldier's experience, love lost and found, and even environmental triumph all vividly spring to life through the animated voice of this talented teller. Children, adults, seniors, and inter-generational audiences all revel in Beth's programs. She has performed for the National Storytelling Festival, Ravinia, the American Library Association, Women in Management, and Live From National Geographic in Washington, D.C. storytelling.org/Horner/

Suzi "Mama" Whaples

Performing for the very first time at our festival is Suzi "Mama" Whaples from West Virginia. Offering a unique homespun experience in storytelling, her unaffected dialect, lightning quick wit and a gentle demeanor will entertain audiences of all ages… Sometimes laughter is its own language especially in the voice of Suzi Whaples. The stories she tells are almost all her own experiences and creations. Each tale intertwines the poignant, the encouraging, and, often, the flat-out hilarious! Enjoying her Appalachian heritage will make you treasure your own roots as her themes are universal and multicultural. "Call me ‘mama’, Whaples insists, because that's what I am, eveybody's mama." With humor flowing faster than whitewater on the Gauley River, Suzi "Mama" Whaples, like a breath of fresh, sweet mountain air, will take us all back to the mountains of West Virginia at the turn of the century. suziwhaples.com

The Chameleons

This impeccably mesmerizing performance duo will slither their way into the Ojai Storytelling Festival to present their highly unique style of magical motion and thought provoking theatre fun.

"Sometimes it gets so quiet you can hear an idea drop...Sometimes it gets so funny you can't hear a thing"…

Through a deft assemblage of movement theatre, mimetic illusion, physical comedy, music, sound effects, intelligence, romance and pinnace; the mercurial Chameleons lead their audience through a quicksilver world of page- turningly irresistible stories in motion. www.chameleonsmime.com

John Zeretzke

Join acclaimed multi-instrumentalist John Zeretzke as he plays music from around the world woven with cultural and historical information to create a captivating musical journey. www.zworldmusic.com

Elizabeth Welles

Elizabeth Welles loves the Word, be it on the stage or the page, and she has a mastery of language that reframes, uplifts, renews, and inspires. Her warmth, compassion, and quirky sense of humor endear her to audiences around the world. www.elizabethwelles.com

Patricia Cardinali

Patricia Cardinali has been actively involved in the Ojai and Ventura County Music scene for over 25 years. Patricia is a singer, songwriter and guitarist who has also worked in many other aspects of the music business, including performing, producing, teaching, retail and community outreach. Many students will remember her as Mrs. “C”, because Patricia has been a music educator in the Ojai Valley for many years. She created “Music in the Classroom” programs at Mira Monte, Topa Topa and San Antonio Elementary Schools and was the Music Director at Monica Ros School for 8 years. She has organized many performance opportunities for youth in the valley, including Ojai Day, Meiners Oaks Solstice Festival and The Ojai Day of Music.

Street Corner Renaissance

Come take a trip down memory lane and experience the smooth sounds of Street Corner Renaissance. With great voices, comedy, and choreography, the group will take you back to a musical corner filled with spirit and joy. Bringing back that “Mellow-A- Cappelo," RENAISSANCE is an all a cappella, street corner style; doo-wop singing quintet, dedicated to showcasing and preserving this critical art form of the African American musical and cultural heritage. streetcornerrenaissance.com