#0081: Ruth Ungar Merenda on balancing your craft and business, leveraging patience and impatience + connecting with ...

Last year she and her husband, Mike, with their band, The Mammals, toured small folk music venues for a month in Australia as a duo with their two kids, organized two community music festivals back in Upstate NY, and recorded a new full-length studio album due out next summer.  
Ruth is a dedicated folk musician and artist, but also works hard to study, shape, and share the musical, environmental mission of the Ashokan Center as the Director of Arts & Communication. This is where Mike and Ruth host their two annual folk music festivals, the Winter Hoot and the Summer Hoot each year. 
In this episode, the lessons that Ruth shared extend far beyond the scope of folk music. We talked about balancing your ambition beyond your craft, whatever your craft that happens to be. We also talked about leveraging patience and impatience as well as the importance of learning all sides of the business you are in. We also take on some mindset topics like how the power of music evokes emotion and how to connect with other humans in a meaningful way. 
Selected link love + resources from the episodeConnect with Ruth: The Mammals: Website | Facebook | Patreon | Hoot (both winter and summer): Website | Facebook | Ruth on Instagram
Woodstock Youth Theater
Bard College
Jay Ungar
Ashokan Farewell (song/theme for Ken Burns’ Civil War series)
Lynn Hardy
The Balfa Brothers
Newport Folk Festival
Peter, Paul and Mary
Kingston Trio
Odetta
Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana (video)
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn (book)
“My Baby Drinks Water” by The Mammals (song)
Leah Penniman of Soul Fire Farm on LvcS
Fred Rogers: Fred Rogers Center |  The Good Neighbor, Maxwell King (book) | Won’t You Be My Neighbor (documentary)
Katharine Hayhoe on LvcS
Emmet Otter's Jug-band Christmas (movie)
Pete Seeger
Tao Rodrieguez-Seeger
Crooked Still (band)
Chris Merenda (performing artist)
The Restless Age (band)
Jingmai O’Connor on LvcS
Aja Schmeltz on LvcS
Good Work Institute
Ashokan Center
The Fantastic Fungi (documentary)
Wild Earth
James Hansen (climatologist)
Youth Empowerment and Sustainability Summit at Ashokan Center
Kickass Theme Music: “Things Are Getting Better” Written by Rishi Dhir. Performed by The High Dials.
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