Twenty-four artists/bands have been selected from among hundreds of applicants to perform in the Falcon Ridge/Grassy Hill Emerging Artists Showcase during the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival on Friday afternoon, July 22, 2011, from noon to 4:30 p.m. They are Brooke Annibale, Blair Bodine, Brittany Ann, Ellen Bukstel, Lori Diamond and Fred Abatelli, Friction Farm, Bulat Gafarov, Sharon Goldman, Jason Myles Goss, ilyAIMY, Layah Jane, Devlin Miles, Louise Mosrie, My Brothers Banned, Occidental Gypsy, Karyn Oliver, Pesky J. Nixon, Grace Pettis, Paul Sachs, Putnam Smith, Split Tongue Crow, Suzie Vinnick, Gail Wade, and The Whispering Tree.

The Falcon Ridge/Grassy Hill Emerging Artists Showcase is not a contest, and artists won’t be judged per se, although the audience is surveyed as to which showcase artists they’d like to see return the following year to participate in a Most Wanted Song Swap. This year’s Most Wanted Song Swap will feature Barnaby Bright, The Folkadelics, Chris O’Brien and Spuyten Duyvil.

Among the northeast’s most popular music festivals, Falcon Ridge, now in its 23rd year, takes place July 22-24 at Dodds Farm on Route 7D in Hillsdale, New York, located in the foothills of the Berkshires, near the tri-state corner of New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. The festival features dozens of artists performing on several stages, a dance tent, children’s music and activities, and a wide array of crafts, food and other vendors. Among the artists performing this year will be Brother Sun (the new trio featuring Greg Greenway, Joe Jencks and Pat Wictor), Greg Brown, Buskin & Batteau, Mary Chapin Carpenter, CJ Chenier & The Red Hot Louisiana Band, Mary Gauthier, Tracy Grammer, Jay Mankita, Gandalf Murphy & the Slambovian Circus, Dan Navarro, Professor Louie & The Crowmatix, Red Horse (featuring Eliza Gilkyson, John Gorka and Lucy Kaplansky – each of whom also will perform solo), Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen, Annie Wenz, and Susan Werner.

Those camping at Falcon Ridge and staying up through the wee hours of the morning can enjoy informal jams, mini-showcases and after-hours song circles that help foster a sense of “folk” community and a different kind of festival experience. AcousticMusicScene.com and Tribes Hill (a nonprofit organization uniting musicians of the Hudson Valley region and their patrons in support of a music community coming together to celebrate human experience through song) will again co-host late-night song swaps– an invitational hour each evening, followed by open song circles — under a big white tent. Late-night music also will be featured at other campsites.

More information on the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival can be found at www.falconridgefolk.com and will be posted on AcousticMusicScene.com in coming weeks.