ROUSE, JOYCE (b. 1955)

Joyce Rouse is a singer, songwriter, actor, activist and creator of the Earth Mama® music projects. Her songs are heard worldwide through various media, at Earth Mama concerts for empowering audiences to positive action, and on her CDs and cassette albums Earth Mama, Every Day is Earth Day!, Love Large, and Around the World with Earth Mama, Grass Roots! Christmas Heart, and Under the Rainbow, Magnificent Healing.

 

Joyce grew up on a farm near Cresco, Iowa, where her musical skills appeared at a very early age. She was fortunate to spend her youth in a community with a high standard for public education and support of the arts, as well as a strong ethic of public service. She holds a B.S. degree in Home Economics Education from Iowa State University, where she also gained considerable experience in music, theater and music composition, and an M.A. degree in Earth Literacy from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College.

 

After living in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains where she wrote, performed, founded a community theatre, and worked as a piano technician, she moved to Nashville in 1986 to pursue a full-time music career. In 2006, she and her family moved back to the mountains of Virginia where she continues to write and perform. With over 80 recordings bearing her writer credits, Joyce has had songs recorded by Maureen McGovern, Marie Osmond, Jennifer McCarter and the McCarter Sisters, Wild Rose, Jana Stanfield, Lindy Gravelle and others. In addition, her songs have been featured in movies and on syndicated environmental and activist radio programs around the world. Her music has been used extensively in educational venues and by international environmental and peace organizations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, UNESCO, and International Earth Charter. She has written and recorded commercial jingles, theme songs for a National Park celebration, historic preservation projects and a family festival.

 

In August, 1995 the United States celebrated the 75th anniversary of the 19th amendment which granted women the right to vote. Joyce wrote and performed the theme song, "Standing on the Shoulders," which premiered at official events in Washington, D.C. A highlight of her performing career was singing for a historic Washington, D.C. event for more than 400,000 people from a stage in front of the White House.

 

The owner of Rouse House, LLC, Joyce, along with her husband Richard, lives in Independence, Virginia. She is active in numerous professional music and environmental organizations. Joyce performs regularly for museums, nature and retreat centers, churches, conferences, camps, conventions, schools and health and education associations and continues to write music in many styles for a variety of uses. Her goal is: "Helping Heal the Planet One Song at a Time."

 

Web site: www.earthmama.org