Vivian Nesbitt – Actress
You’ve seen her on The Night Shift, Breaking Bad, Manhattan, In Plain Sight, The Messengers, Longmire, and more. Vivian’s first professional acting job was understudying on Broadway at Roundabout Theater. She has gone on to develop a considerable body of work including Off-Broadway’s United Solo Festival, Theatre Row, NYC where her original solo play The Bark & The Tree was awarded Best Documentary Play and Best Lighting Design, as well as regional theater and summer Shakespeare. Her short film Leverage was an official selection of Taos Shortz Film Festival and NMWIF Film Fiesta garnering her an award for Best Performance. She was invited to perform her original solo play The Bark & The Tree at the prestigious Los Angeles Women’s Theater Festival in 2016. She holds an MFA in Acting and has continued her studies with luminaries such as Anna Deavere Smith and Alan Arkin. Vivian is also host and co-producer (with her husband John) of Art of the Song, heard on public radio nationwide.
Si Kahn – Author
Si Kahn is a folk, bluegrass and roots music legend, once described as “a rumor in his own time.” At almost 75 years old, he is at the peak of his powers as performer, songwriter and recording artist. His songs of family, community, love, work and freedom have been recorded and performed by hundreds of artists in North America and Europe.
For 52 years, he’s worked professionally as a civil rights, labor and community organizer. He’s currently the lead organizer for Musicians United To Protect Bristol Bay, an international network of over 650 musicians and music lovers using their music and media access to help stop the proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska. Si has sometimes described his music as “a hobby that got out of hand,” which indeed it has.
Si’s body of published work includes 16 CDs of his original songs, including six releases on the Dutch record label Strictly Country Records, plus albums on Rounder, Flying Fish, and the Swiss label Doubletime Music; a CD of original songs for children, Good Times and Bedtimes; a collection of traditional labor and civil rights songs recorded with Pete Seeger and Jane Sapp; and the songs and/or scripts for seven musicals.
He has toured with Pete Seeger, Andy Irvine, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer and John McCutcheon, and has shared concert and festival stages with such artists as Maria Dunn (Canada), Buffy St. Marie (Canada), Peggy Seeger (England), the Looping Brothers (Germany), The Kruger Brothers (Switzerland/U.S.), Dick Gaughan (Scotland), and U.S. artists the Fairfield Four, Hazel Dickens, Ani DiFranco and the original Red Clay Ramblers. Ironically, Si has never even attempted to earn a living as a musician.
JO JOHNSON – Director, Stage Manager
An essential member of the team, Jo’s regional stage management credits can be found in the archives of Mill Mountain Playhouse, Trinity Repertory theater and Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Jo also acts as Production Stage Manager for the touring production of Mother Jones In Heaven – a musical by Si Kahn, and The Bark & The Tree by Vivian Nesbitt. She completed her MFA from the Professional Theater Training program at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. Her acting credits are growing to include several productions in the Philadelphia area. She is an activist, writer and a photographer and studies acting at The Barrow Group. JustJoPhoto.com
John Dillon – Music Director, Guitarist
John is a singer-songwriter, performer, music activist and former guitar maker. In the 1970s, John spent a year traveling (by thumb and freight train) across the US and working with some legendary artists of the time. Eventually, he came to rest in Taos, New Mexico.
During his 25-year career as a guitar maker, John has built more than 80 custom instruments for musicians including Steve Earle, Tish Hinojosa, Trisha Yearwood, and The Mavericks. John plays his handmade guitars in the show.
In 2003, John and Viv launched Art of the Song, a one-hour, weekly public radio program now heard on over 100 stations across North America. The two have interviewed some of the biggest names in the industry like Roger Daltry (The Who), Smokey Robinson, Judy Collins, Donald Fagen (Steely Dan), Joan Osborn, and Jorma Kaukonen (Hot Tuna, Jefferson Airplane), to name a few. The interviews focus on the universal truths common to all creative expression.
Now with their home-base in Saratoga Springs, NY, John and Vivian spend part of the year in their 32-foot Winnebago Cambria – The MoJo Motorhome – and are pleased to share Mother Jones in Heaven with audiences across North America and beyond!