Voice Seeker

By Dandelion Lakewood

A novel documentary audio-collage magazine composed with voice memos from friends, memories, fragments, interviews, music, and field recordings from the travels of nomadic bard Dandelion Lakewood.

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FAQs about Voice Seeker:

How many episodes does Voice Seeker have?

The podcast currently has 10 episodes available.

Voice Seeker episodes:

March 19, 2025 Elexa Dawson: native wisdom, contemporary action [Voice Seeker #10, Spring Equinox 2025]
On the 10th episode of Voice Seeker, we have a wide-ranging discussion with Elexa Dawson: musician, songwriter, speaker, mother, gardener, Potawatomi Citizen, and all around awesome human being.

Elexa Dawson is a practitioner of the soul. Her red-dirt honey vocals and rhythmic guitar style deliver a sound that hits home. Both familiar and intriguing, her songs speak of the earth and community, and celebrate all relationships, from mother and child to friend and lover.

Kansas-based and Oklahoma-born, Elexa is a songwriter, educator, community organizer, Folk Alliance Region Midwest's Board President, and serves on the Board of Directors of Music to Life. Elexa is a Kansas Touring Roster Artist, Music to Life's Juried Artist, and Mid-America Arts Alliance Interchange Fellow. Former fellowships include First Peoples Fund and Western Arts Alliance Native Launchpad.

Elexa is the founder and director of Good Way Gardens, a land-based arts organization, and is co-founder of Weda Skirts, one of Kansas' best-beloved female folk ensembles. She runs an independent label, Turns Out Records. She’s also a founding member of popular folk groups The Power Lilies and Heyleon.

https://www.elexadawson.com/

https://www.patreon.com/elexadawson

Native Heritage and Place in the Flint Hills presentation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJPFaBuC73c

(00:00:00) - INTRODUCTION
(00:04:10) - PRACTITIONER OF THE SOUL
(00:08:19) - SINGING TOGETHER
(00:10:47) - MUSICAL BACKGROUND
(00:15:14) - WINFIELD
(00:17:42) - THE CITIZEN POTAWATOMI NATION
(00:26:30) - INDIGENOUS EARTH
(00:32:40) - INSPIRATION, APPROPRIATION, FETISHIZATION
(00:42:22) - SHAPED BY NATIVE HERITAGE
(00:42:44) - INDIGENOUS FOODS MOVEMENT
(00:47:10) - FOOD SOVEREIGNTY
(00:52:11) - A WORLD OF ABUNDANCE
(00:57:38) - ABANDONING THE PATRIARCHY
(01:02:58) - IF EVERYONE'S A MILLIONAIRE, WHO'S SPECIAL?
(01:05:24) - WOMEN'S HOMES
(01:09:24) - EDUCATION
(01:18:35) - POTAWATOMI LANGUAGE
(01:21:07) - MUSICAL MEMORY
(01:22:58) - GOODWAY GARDEN AND MORE
(01:26:10) - PETER OVIATT, STANLEY HOTEL
(01:31:30) - ARTIST RECOMMENDATIONS
(01:33:44) - WORDS OF ADVICE FOR YOUNGER CREATIVES
...more
1h 38min
December 23, 2024 Kansas City Sufis [Voice Seeker #9, Winter Solstice 2024]
An informal discussion with some members of the Shining Heart Sufi Community in Kansas City. Topics include: Dances of Universal Peace, Sufism, Turkiye, Konya, Alevi music, and more.
https://www.shiningheartcommunity.org/
00:00:00 Invocation
00:00:25 Solstice time
00:02:26 Introductions
00:05:54 Kurbanlar Tiğlanıp
00:12:42 Dandy's encounter with the Sufis
00:27:24 Some other Sufi stories
00:50:22 Joel Kraft's song
00:53:22 Thy Light Is In All Forms
00:59:38 Karşidan Görunen Hey Dost
01:06:40 Dandy's pilgrimage to Konya
01:17:40 Marty's Sufi story
01:22:00 Closing the circle
01:24:00 Outward
...more
1h 26min
September 25, 2024 Gracie Caggiano [Voice Seeker #8 Autumnal Equinox 2024]
Welcome to Voice Seeker, I’m your host, Dandelion Lakewood. In this episode, I sat down with songwriter, composer, and performer Gracie Caggiano. We cover a broad spectrum of topics including perfectionism, suffering, joy, death, poetry, perspective, and life as an artist with a disability. You will have an opportunity to hear some of Gracies original compositions throughout the episode. The recording quality fits the conversation about imperfection, it’s a bit noisy, you can hear the echo of the room and Gracie’s upstairs neighbors stomping around sometimes. Listening through the foggy lens of those flaws, you will hopefully discover some gems in our conversation.
(00:00:00) Psalm of Recognition
(00:01:03) Introduction
(00:01:48) Beginnings, journals as a living document
(00:08:40) Sad girl starter pack
(00:10:01) Omniscient algorithms
(00:10:35) Adrienne Lenker and the value of imperfect aesthetics
(00:17:40) The elusive "perfect version"
(00:26:50) After I die, what's going to happen to my music?
(00:30:45) The value of creative work
(00:34:48) How to market authenticity
(00:41:11) How many artists actually live off of their creative work?
(00:47:00) The making of an album
(00:58:30) The element of surprise
(01:01:50) Musical influences
(01:06:35) Listening to music as a musician
(01:15:46) Themes of decay and disability
(01:15:05) Presence in grief
(01:26:19) The poems of Mary Oliver
(01: 28:18) Emily Dickenson
(01:29:20) The inevitability of death
(01:34:28) The Book of Delights
(01:38:07) Positivity vs reality and the role of art in discourse
(01:44:17) War, murder, and death
(01:52:21) Intersectionality and artistic performance
(02:01:33) Conceptual space making and community
(02:08:23) Words to a future fan
(02:09:21) Rilke's Book of a Monastic Life
...more
2h 11min
June 20, 2024 Folk Alliance International Mixtape [Voice Seeker #7 Summer Solstice 2024]
A bardic quest mixtape featuring the various performers who assembled at the 2024 Folk Alliance International conference in Kansas City.

(00:00:00) Intro
(00:03:00) 1st night: arriving at FAI
(00:06:38) Westin Lobby
(00:07:37) Bose Lounge open mic
(00:08:16) Scott Strickland
(00:13:27) Ellie James
(00:17:18) Eddy DJ E
(00:20:18) Rachel Sage
(00:24:50) Bandits on the Run
(00:28:46) Kristin Rebecca
(00:32:38) Dandelion Lakewood
(00:36:57) Joey Forever
(00:41:27) Christina Eltrevoog
(00:47:39) 2nd night: bardic quest
(00:49:03) Bards at the gate (with Cowboy Aiden)
(00:57:16) The Foggy Memory Boys
(01:03:08) Darbuka in the hallway with Robert
(01:08:57) Paula Boggs Band
(01:13:04) True Lions
(01:16:31) Laura Taubman
(01:19:54) Ethno Room 1st jam
(01:23:33) Late night lobby bluegrass
(01:36:53) 4am diary
(01:38:43) 3rd night: Lobby clogging with Sophie Mae Wellington
(01:43:53) Laytha
(01:48:59) Ingrid Yasmin
(01:52:10) Kelly Love Jones
(01:56:46) Echo chamber interview with Billy Two Rivers
(02:04:42) Ila Barker
(02:10:25) Elevator check ins
(02:13:52) Pow wow dancers
(02:16:07) Chatting with Mitsune
(02:19:54) Slava
(02:28:34) 2nd Ethno Room jam
(02:30:49) Epic late night lobby jam
(02:33:38) Nani
(02:38:24) Ensemble Sangineto
(02:40:30) Mitsune
(02:44:30) Clement Brothers
(02:49:16) Sneaki Bandit interview
(02:57:42) World of Plenty
(03:01:08) Final Jam in the Ethno room highlights
(03:13:45) Universal Lover
(03:23:22) Midnight Special
(03:28:42) Elexa Dawson's love letter
(03:36:10) Brief chat with Nimkii
(03:38:00) Interviewing Win
(03:44:00) Petit Solo and Klara Ahlersten
(03:47:54) Ashley Virginia
(03:52:28) End notes
...more
3h 56min
March 19, 2024 Florida [Voice Seeker #6 Spring Equinox 2024]
Florida
Voice Seeker #6
Spring Equinox 2024

A journey around the peninsula of Florida with music and conversations of various sorts.

(0:00:00) Intro
(0:02:34) A Walmart parking lot in Birmingham, Alabama
(0:05:50) Beach diary
(0:06:34) Orlando diary
(0:08:38) Tampa windy boat ramp
(0:11:39) Trans girls rule
(0:15:40) Bee and Ri
(0:17:23) School Palooza
(0:25:30) Self-directed learning
(0:28:40) Trail trekking
(0:33:18) Trauma relativity
(0:37:23) Emergency on the trail
(0:42:21) Living out of comfort and trail magic
(0:47:11) Isolation
(0:50:26) Bee’s eclectic work history
(0:55:32) Granny energy
(0:56:38) The gift economy
(1:03:03) Piper and Kirst at La Teresita
(1:12:12) Food treasure maps
(1:14:40) Losing a father
(1:22:22) Food and family trauma
(1:28:18) Kimchee and fermentation
(1:33:37) Intense hobbies
(1:36:32) The genius of construction
(1:37:36) Creative time management
(1:40:40) The dream of buying a village
(1:46:43) The work ethic of a meth head
(1:48:16) Challenges of community
(1:49:43) Board games and the apocalypse
(1:51:27) Struggle over communal space
(1:54:26) Spiritual space
(1:57:39) Ugh not this talk
(2:00:46) Apocalyptic strategies
(2:04:00) A future without slaves
(2:07:29) Our imagined reality
(2:10:08) Objects vs experiences
(2:12:16) Critique of board games
(2:16:26) A sample of Piper’s performance
(2:19:42) ASMR late night Atlantic skinny dip
(2:25:48) Florida earth skills gathering
(2:28:24) On the way to volunteer in the kitchen
(2:30:04) Kitchen talk with Addie and Joe
(2:35:52) Bulgarian soups
(2:39:02) What’s the most people you’ve cooked for?
(2:41:33) First food memories
(2:45:12) Fireside old time with Bronwyn
(2:47:46) Interview with Shaye and Bronwyn (The Little Mercies)
(3:02:06) Walkthru
(3:05:59) Waiting in line for dinner
(3:10:36) Salem and witches
(3:17:00) Advanced kids
(3:21:03) Old time music
(3:29:36) Little Mercies campfire music
(3:37:23) Drum circle
...more
3h 43min
December 23, 2023 The Year in Review [Voice Seeker #5 Winter Solstice 2023]
A collection of diaries, field recordings, voice memos, and performances from the past year of travels inside the USA.

00:00:00 Everything all at once
00:01:30 Can you all just quiet down?
00:01:48 So many things
00:04:55 Doors
00:05:55 Random sample flip
00:06:16 The year in review
00:10:27 Hamtrack bells diary
00:14:20 Recap session
00:16:08 US customs
00:19:53 Portland
00:20:44 Marching band conference
00:21:20 Outdoor markets
00:22:19 Tram
00:23:23 The rust belt sprouted dandelions
00:25:51 Johnny Franco
00:27:59 Live at Lantern Records
00:33:26 Miss Killa at Nalu Kava
00:40:17 Pacific baptism
00:41:59 Heading East
00:44:40 Ode to train horns
00:48:00 Ghosts and the myth of purity
00:49:49 Sam Knob diary
00:54:21 Tent diary
00:55:26 Wedding singing
00:59:01 Song circle thoughts
01:00:49 Song learning
01:04:40 All that we need
01:10:15 Samara Jade song circle
01:17:54 Asheville recollections
01:33:28 On to Winfield
01:37:48 A tour of Winfield
01:41:56 Humble Town
01:46:28 Pretend Friend
01:50:10 Jack Summers
01:53:39 Dimension Bill Edwards
01:56:05 Foggy Memory Boys
01:57:31 Bad Housewives
02:03:18 Good Time Charlie
02:06:00 Sugar Beet Harvest
02:10:51 Harvest poems
02:12:50 Cleaning the piler with Matt
02:22:12 End of season party
02:28:48 Talent show
02:30:15 Brando Chemtrails
02:34:20 Barnyard impersonations
02:36:07 Dandelion's interrupted Jabberwocky recitation
02:43:47 Managing a disruptive drunk friend
02:46:41 Hailey and Brandon
02:50:46 Pony trick
03:05:00 Beet harvest exit interviews
03:18:12 Outro

...more
3h 20min
September 20, 2023 Mikee Strongmen and Ozosou [Voice Seeker #4 Autumnal Equinox 2023]
In this episode of Voice Seeker, your host Dandelion Lakewood conducts two interviews on the road with friends Mikee Strongmen (of Twenty Thousand Strongmen) and Ozosou (a recent Kurdish immigrant to the USA).
Mikee Strongman:
00:00:00 Wackadoo
00:02:08 How we met
00:03:10 Song evolution
00:06:19 Indecent proposals and agressive roosters
00:08:46 Eating rats in Albania
00:10:17 Gut health
00:11:39 Grounding
00:13:04 Heavy bedding
00:14:53 Brand-exclusive speech
00:16:58 Bardic seed saving
00:18:19 Gingers
00:19:21 Dyeing and shaving
00:19:51 Hobbit bros
00:20:28 About the homestead
00:23:30 Trail work
00:27:22 Communities and trauma
00:28:01 Relationship candles
00:28:59 Distance and time
00:32:24 Heartbreaking distance
00:33:48 Intimacy and compersion
00:36:50 Polyamory challenges
00:41:17 Relationship anarchy
00:45:53 It takes a village
00:52:40 Musical interlude (Mikee and Dandy)
Ozosou:
00:55:58 Chorba
00:58:07 Musical interlude (Ozosou and Dandy)
00:59:52 Kitchen counter
01:01:06 Turkey, Turkiye, Hindi
01:02:56 Friends from Rainbow
01:05:58 Being Kurdish in the USA
01:10:13 The example of a lost earbud
01:12:19 The comfort of materialism
01:13:40 Property ownership: USA vs. Balkans
01:14:42 Family support
01:17:27 Plus and minus
01:22:39 Musical interlude (Ozosou and Dandy)
01:25:56 Cursing on the Silk Road
01:27:54 Musical interlude (Ozosou and Dandy)
01:28:34 More curses
01:30:11 Musical outro (Ozosou and Dandy)
...more
1h 36min
June 23, 2023 Iranian Women Speak [Voice Seeker #3 Summer Solstice 2023]
Four Iranian women share their stories of Iran and beyond in this intimate and compelling tapestry of personal voice message narratives of womanhood under the Islamic Republic.

Thanks to Mr. Maddy, Honey, Dina, and a Kurdish girl.

Music and production by Dandelion Lakewood featuring Sea Priest, J.S., and Sar A.
Additional reference materials mentioned in this podcast:

⁠https://digital.sandiego.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1293&context=ilj⁠
⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6I8oXPWq9E⁠
⁠https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_famine_of_1917%E2%80%931919⁠
⁠https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780761861683/The-Great-Famine-and-Genocide-in-Iran-1917-1919-2nd-Edition⁠
⁠https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat⁠
⁠https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655⁠
⁠https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Soviet_invasion_of_Iran
⁠
Chapters:

00:00:00 Introducing our storytellers
00:05:28 Voice Seeker Theme
00:06:00 How it feels to be an Iranian
00:08:54 Diversity of Iran
00:12:29 Tarof: Polite lies
00:16:37 Extinction of Iranian Culture
00:21:53 Greatest fear: the dissolution of Iran
00:25:05 Iranian American
00:29:49 Gay in Iran
00:33:30 LGBT in Iran
00:36:41 Transgender in Iran
00:38:08 Iranian bisexuality
00:41:11 Dandy response
00:45:05 A Kurdish girl born in Iran
00:49:32 Finding "The Secret"
00:51:41 8 years of adventures
00:54:59 Finding a new tribe
01:06:10 A different point of view
01:09:47 Iranian society
01:10:41 Global chess game
01:11:59 Politics as professional wrestling
01:13:50 Destruction of the family
01:16:45 Social media brainwashing
01:23:00 A civil war inside our minds
01:24:35 The abundance of Iran
01:30:34 Leave a place to know it
01:32:12 5th generation warfare
01:34:37 The advantages in Iran
01:35:26 The cost of housing
01:36:07 9 to 5 conditioning
01:40:36 The employment trap
01:42:28 Husband control of wive's work
01:44:05 What about sanctions?
01:46:28 Alcohol: Iran vs. USA
01:48.34 Iranian dealers
01:51:00 Home made liquor
01:52:53 The risks of moonshine
01:55:43 Legality of alcohol in Iran
02:00:43 Distillation as rebellion
02:03:39 Currency devaluation
02:08:10 Dreaming of visiting a free Iran
02:10:09 Return to a previous conversation
02:13:23 More on money
02:15:03 How sanctions influence Iran
02:19:40 Addenda and final thoughts
...more
2h 32min
March 22, 2023 Once upon a time in Sakarya... Tales of the Mad House [Voice Seeker #2 Spring Equinox 2023]
Sex, Drugs and Chorba. An international group of wayward travelers descend upon the conservative city of Sakarya, Turkiye and establish a communal house in an abandoned apartment block. This is their story...

Mad House chapters:
00:00:00 Enter the Mad House
00:01:03 Halil's Luck
00:03:12 Call for Submissions
00:07:13 Dandy Beginnings
00:08:02 Arrival Drums
00:09:08 Irene's Arrival
00:10:07 Datura
00:13:11 Public Opinion
00:14:47 Magic Cookies
00:19:00 Cookie Trip Music
00:19:43 Maryan and the Cookies
00:22:38 Eva's Stealing Story
00:26:18 Busking and Bananas
00:28:29 Cursed by a Name
00:29:13 Witches of Presence Song
00:30:34 Recycling
00:32:18 Ali to the Rescue
00:34:45 Maddy on the House Name
00:36:33 Talking Circles, Bakery Baba
00:40:32 We've Got Eggs
00:41:45 Abundance of Food
00:42:42 Internationality
00:43:36 Slow Decline
00:47:09 We're Going to Die
00:47:53 Irene on Eva's Birthday Party
00:50:26 Dandy's Departure
00:51:34 Alcohol Arrives
00:58:19 Zaid's Experience
01:01:47 Learning to earn
01:03:20 Vocal Jam
01:04:20 Hamza Drop In
01:05:22 Learning Life Skills
01:06:13 Puppy Problems
01:07:28 The Dark Time
01:10:22 Growing
01:12:05 After 3 Days, Fish Stinks
01:15:59 Grandpa Zaid
01:17:31 Desperately Seeking Space
01:19:06 Albanian Interlude
01:20:41 Maddy and the Moroccans
01:22:53 Trash Fashion Week
01:23:22 Musicians' Paradise
01:25:29 Maddy's Reflections from Thailand
01:27:42 Christina's Benediction
01:28:22 Maddy's Poetical Summary
01:30:03 Meta-analysis and Missing Stories
01:31:48 Pooping And Table Diving
01:34:16 Local Birthday Parties
01:36:07 Community Involvement
01:37:12 Honey Recounts the Yalova Sufi Derga
01:40:31 First Days in Sakarya
01:42:11 Very Good Ladino Interlude
01:42:56 Filthy House, Toilet Tales
01:46:36 Strawberries and Burek
01:47:28 Transformational Experience
01:52:09 Spiritual Lesbian Wedding
01:57:15 Payam's Journey from Iran to Madness
02:01:05 Passing the Portal
02:02:30 Dionysian Drunks
02:04:45 Importance of Iranian Perspective
02:05:44 Hamza on His Arrival
02:08:15 Bad Things and Good Things
02:09:47 About Recycling
02:10:23 Reflecting and Growing Up
02:13:35 Closure
02:14:36 Demolition
02:15:04 Long Outro: We Are Free
...more
2h 30min
December 21, 2022 Introducing Our Host [Voice Seeker #1 Winter Solstice 2022]
In this episode, our host, Dandelion Lakewood is introduced by friends and fellow travelers via voice messages from around the world.

Special thanks to the contributors of the premier episode:
Honey
Christina Galka
Irene Deesadjo
Elele Tiana
Yashiwa Turner
Tina Djordjevic
Bledi Budo
Aida Al Hani
Faruk
Sarah Oz
Evrensel Urum
611
Rebbag Gabbanarchy
Brook Woolf

Music by Dandelion Lakewood
...more
30min

FAQs about Voice Seeker:

How many episodes does Voice Seeker have?

The podcast currently has 10 episodes available.