Richard Meyer (Photo by Teddy Lee)

Besides recording half a dozen albums of his own — including The Good Life (1992) and A Letter from The Open Sky (1994) for the Shanachie label, Meyer was engaged in producing concert and radio programs, was a lighting and set designer for theater productions a painter and a sculptor, wrote reviews for All Music Guide, and edited the Fast Folk Musical Magazine, a combination publication and recording that the late singer-songwriter Jack Hardy had founded in 1982 to help document serious, noncommercial songwriting in the U.S. and provide an outlet for many singer-songwriters to release their first recordings. Over the course of 15 years, Fast Folk, which also served as a performing songwriters cooperative/community, published 105 issues and featured compilation recordings of more than 2000 songs by more than 600 writers – including notables like Suzanne Vega, Tracy Chapman, Shawn Colvin, John Gorka, Lucy Kaplansky, Lyle Lovett, and Buddy Mondlock as well as numerous other performing songwriters who never became well known. Meyer also was the prime mover and visionary behind the successful effort to have Smithsonian Folkways maintain and preserve Fast Folk’s 100+ back issues.

“Fast Folk Musical Magazine would not have survived for all those many years without Richard keeping it going,” recalled NYC-based singer-songwriter Judith Zweiman, who recorded and played some duo gigs with him, joined him in the group Folkano, and shared many private jokes and puns. “One of the most creative people I’ve ever known, Richard Meyer quietly kept the Fast Folk home fires burning… The Smithsonian project was Richard’s idea and he made it happen,” she continued, expressing thanks to him “for having the vision to permanently preserve not only your own music but an entire folk scene.”

Folkano (Richard Meyer, Josh Joffen, Hugh Blumenfeld and Judith Zweiman) perform during a Fast Folk Revue at The Bottom Line in New York City (photo: Teddy Lee)

Referring to Meyer as “a librarian and archivist at heart,” Zweiman said “Richard was about documenting an era. This was not about him but about the collective work of a group of people.” Describing him as quiet and unassuming, she continued: “Richard was not a person who tooted his own horn, yet he was the underpinning of what kept Fast Folk going. If Jack Hardy was its public face, Richard was the worker bee. He was the one who organized the recording sessions and put the magazine together. He was a quietly loyal and devoted person who was really supportive of people in very intangible but direct ways.” She noted that Meyer also was a “one guitar guy, who was loyal to his Goya guitar and played it his whole life.”

In a post on his brother’s Facebook page announcing Richard’s death yesterday, Ted Meyer acknowledged the “long, slow and debilitating decline of both his physical and mental acuity from the days when he was singing and writing songs, while noting that “Richard remained Richard pretty much until the end. Though he had terrible trouble getting his thoughts out, on occasion he would gather all his strength and roll out a typically bad pun, and he still loved listening to music.”

Richard Meyer spent the past several years at a New York area nursing home after a rare and advancing form of Parkinson’s disease left him unable to perform and made it impossible for him to live independently. His family has donated his body to Yale Medical School and the National Institute for Health for research, expressing hope that in death he can help others. There will not be a funeral, although Meyer’s family plans to hold a memorial at a future date. “We hope everyone will show up with guitars and be ready to sing one of his songs, or at least one of Dylan’s,” Ted Meyer posted on Facebook. “Either would have made him happy.”

Everett Lilly

Lilly, a mandolin player and singer, and his late brother Bea, a guitarist, first began performing professionally during the late 1930s. They appeared regularly on Beckley, WV radio station WJLS during the 1940s and, subsequently, at an early incarnation of the WWVA Jamboree in Wheeling, WV. After Everett Lilly’s short stint as mandolinist for Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs during the early 1950s, the pair reunited and performed with banjo player Don Stover and fiddler Tex Logan. The group toured extensively throughout the south and also lived and played as the “Confederate Mountaineers” for nearly two decades in the Boston, Massachusetts area. Commenting on the popularity of the brothers’ rich, mountain-flavored bluegrass music in urban Boston and New England generally, the late Joe Val, one of a number of artists influenced by them, had commented: “These guys hit on like a bombshell. Nobody’d ever heard anything like that before.”

The Lilly Brothers toured Japan in the early 1970s, with three live albums stemming from one of a 1973 tour there. They also played the Newport Folk Festival and at New York’s Carnegie Hall among other notable festivals and venues. The brothers were the subject of a 1979 documentary entitled True Facts in a Country Song.  The group was inducted into the Massachusetts Country Music Hall of Fame in 1986, the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA)’s Hall of Honor in 2002, and the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in 2008.

Along with his sons Mark and Daniel, and several other musicians, Lilly had continued performing as Everett Lilly and The Lilly Mountaineers until his death. The Lilly Mountaineers received IBMA’s award for Recorded Event of the Year in 2008, while Lilly received the Vandalla Award, the highest honor bestowed on a West Virginia folk artist, in 2009.

In an email to friends and fans shortly after his father’s death, Lilly’s son Everett wrote: “May he join his brother, Bea, and Don Stover today and may they once again perform alongside the other great pioneers who made this the wonderful music that it is. He lived to do that.”

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made to the Everett Lilly Memorial Fund at City National Bank in Beckley, WV.

[Editor's Note: An article about Earl Scruggs appears in the Bluegrass & Beyond section on AcousticMusicScene.com.]

The April 2012 charts are based on 13,889 airplays from 154 different DJs. The number of spins (airplay) is shown in parentheses.

Top Albums of April 2012

1: “1000 Pound Machine,” Kate Campbell [Large River, new] (58)
“Montgomery To Mobile”
“Wait For Another Day”
“Red Clay After Rain”
“1000 Pound Machine”
2: “Little Blue Egg,” Dave Carter And Tracy Grammer [Red House, 2/12] (56)
“Better Way”
“Hard To Make It”
“3-Fingered Jack”
“Gypsy Rose”
3: “Lay Down, Lay Low,” The Steel Wheels [thesteelwheels.com, 1/12] (55)
“Breaking Like The Sun”
“Rain In The Valley”
“Halfway To Heaven”
“Spider Wings”
4: “An Island Out Of Time,” Molasses Creek [Soundside, 2/12] (48)
“Mississippi Sawyer”
“Scat Reel Set”
“Because”
5: “Some Bright Morning,” Rani Arbo And Daisy Mayhem [Signature, new] (47)
“East Virginia”
“Hear Jerusalem Moan”
“Reason To Believe”
“Travelin’ Shoes”
6: “Voice Of Ages,” The Chieftains [Hear, 2/12] (43)
“When The Ship Comes In”
“Frost Is All Over”
“Pretty Little Girl”
7: “Hickory,” Mariel Vandersteel [marielvandersteel.com, 3/12] (42)
“Hog And Sheep Going To The Pasture”
“3 Forks Of The Cumberland”
“On The Danforth”
8: “Dirt Farmer,” Levon Helm [Vanguard, 2007] (40)
“Mountain”
“Wide River To Cross”
“Poor Old Dirt Farmer”
8: “New Siberia,” Antje Duvekot [antjeduvekot.com, new] (40)
“Ballad Of Fred Noonan”
“Sleepy Sea Of Indigo And Blue”
“Into The City”
10: “Intersection,” Nanci Griffith [Hell No, new] (39)
“High On A Mountain Top”
“Hell No”
“Never Going Back”
11: “Nobody Knows You,” Steep Canyon Rangers [Rounder, 4/12] (38)
“Rescue Me”
“Nobody Knows You”
“As I Go”
12: “Evie Ladin Band,” Evie Ladin Band [Evil Diane, new] (36)
“First Time”
“Got You On My Mind”
“Dime Store Glasses”
13: “Leaving Eden,” Carolina Chocolate Drops [Nonesuch, 2/12] (32)
“Country Girl”
“Ruby Are You Mad At Your Man?”
13: “Sunday Never Comes,” Jackstraw [jackstraw.net, 12/11] (32)
“Randy The Rambler”
“Come On Back To Me”
“Dark And Empty”
15: “The Good Stuff,” Peter Mulvey [Signature, 3/12] (31)
“Everybody Knows”
“But I Do”
15: “Light In The Sky,” Red Molly [redmolly.com, 10/11] (31)
“Walk Beside Me”
“Do I Ever Cross Your Mind”
17: “Borderland,” The Stray Birds [reverbnation.com/thestraybirds, new] (30)
“Come Sunday”
“Down In The Willow Garden”
“My Horses Ain’t Hungry”
18: “Bend In The River,” Claudia Schmidt [Red House, new] (29)
“Banana Moon”
“Bend In The River”
“Pretty At The End”
18: “Electric Dirt,” Levon Helm [Vanguard, 2009] (29)
“When I Go Away”
“Growin’ Trade”
“Tennessee Jed”
18: “New Kind Of Lonely,” I See Hawks In L. A. [Western Seeds, 2/12] (29)
“New Kind Of Lonely”
“Hunger Mountain Breakdown”
“Bohemian Highway”
21: “The Plum Tree And The Rose,” Sarah McQuaid [Waterbug, 3/12] (28)
“Sun Goes On Rising”
“Solid Air”
22: “Troubadours On The Rhine,” Loreena McKennitt [Quinlan Road, 2/12] (27)
“Parting Glass”
“Bonny Swans”
“Lady Of Shalott”
23: “Long Ride Home,” Darrell Scott [Full Light, 1/12] (26)
“It Must Be Sunday”
“Someday”
“Trying Not To Love You”
23: “Pink Umbrella,” Cary Cooper [ethereal girl, 10/11] (26)
“Hey Little Violet”
“Drop In The Bucket”
23: “Tilt-A-Whirl,” Drew Nelson [Red House, 2/12] (26)
“Dust”
“Promised Land”
26: “Please Don’t Sell The Piano,” Ellen Cherry [Wrong Size Shoes, new] (24)
“Please Don’t Sell The Piano”
“Impossible Bottle”
“Pickett’s Charge”
27: “This Land: Woody Guthrie’s America,” John McCutcheon [Appalsongs, 11/11] (23)
“Biggest Thing That Man Has Ever Done”
“Howjadoo”
28: “Ends Of The Earth,” Emily Pinkerton [Green Jeans, 3/12] (22)
“Negra”
“Polo Margariteno”
29: “Live At Sundilla,” Dave Potts [Looking Up, 1/12] (21)
“$12.99″
“If I Broke The Record”
29: “Mountains Of Dreams,” Tracy Weinberg [reverbnation.com/tracyweinberg, 1/12] (21)
“Mountains Of Dreams”
“Looking For Trouble”
29: “Safe Crossing,” West Of Eden [West Of, 4/12] (21)
“Coffin Ship”
“Scilly Set”
29: “Tromper Le Temps,” Le Vent Du Nord [Borealis, new] (21)
“Le Diable Et Le Fermier”
33: “In The Time Of Gods,” Dar Williams [Razor & Tie, new] (20)
“I Have Been Around The World”
“This Earth”
33: “Like A Man,” Adam Cohen [Decca, 4/12] (20)
“Out Of Bed”
“Beautiful”
33: “Take The Air,” Jenn Rawling And Basho Parks [Waterbug, new] (20)
“Little Swallow”
“Big Old Lake”
“Oh Delia”
33: “Will The Circle Be Unbroken,” Nitty Gritty Dirt Band And Friends [Capitol, 1972] (20)
“Nashville Blues”
“Earl’s Breakdown”
37: “Chimes Of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan,” Various Artists [Fontana, 2011] (19)
“One Too Many Mornings,” Johnny Cash Feat. The Avett Brothers
37: “The Horse King,” Cosy Sheridan [Waterbug, 10/11] (19)
“Be Outside”
“Don’t Walk Away From Love”
37: “People Take Warning!,” Various Artists [Tompkins Square, 2010] (19)
“Titanic Blues,” Hi Henry Brown And Charlie Jordan
“Last Scene Of The Titanic,” Frank Hutchinson
40: “Colours,” Finbar Furey [Valley, 11/11] (18)
“After Sunday Mass”
40: “New Multitudes,” Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, Anders Parker, Yim Yames [Rounder, 2/12] (18)
“Changing World”
“Hoping Machine”
40: “Row Upon Row Of The People They Know,” The Once [Borealis, 10/11] (18)
“Cradle Hill”
“By The Glow Of The Keroscene Light”
43: “Broadsides,” Atomic Duo [theconnextion.com/atomicduo/, 3/12] (17)
“Key Chain Blues”
“Trickle Down”
43: “Dead Man’s Hand,” Harpeth Rising [Grimm Rising, 7/11] (17)
“Dead Man’s Hand”
“Hey Driver”
43: “Mud And Stone,” Loretta Hagen [Bearfort, 2/12] (17)
“I’m Gone”
“Money”
43: “No Yodeling On The Radio,” Karen Collins And The Backroads Band [Azalea City, new] (17)
“No Yodeling On The Radio”
“Parallel Lines”
43: “Otter Creek,” Ken Kolodner And Brad Kolodner [Fenchurch, 1/11] (17)
“Otter Creek”
43: “Patience In These Times,” George Mann [Running Scared, new] (17)
“One More Beautiful Song”
43: “Red Curtain,” Still On The Hill [Termite Tracs, 2/12] (17)
“Don’t Mean Northin”
50: “Earl Scruggs And Friends,” Earl Scruggs [MCA, 2010] (16)
“Country Comfort”
“Foggy Mountain Rock/Special”
50: “Foggy Mountain Jamboree,” Lester Flatt And Earl Scruggs [Columbia, 2005] (16)
“Earl’s Breakdown”
“Flint Hill Special”
50: “the good in goodbye,” Madison Violet [True North, 9/11] (16)
“Cindy Cindy”
“Goin’ Away”
50: “Home By Dark,” Steve Gillette And Cindy Mangsen [Compass Rose, 1/12] (16)
“Birdsong”
50: “I Carry All I Own,” Caroline Doctorow [Narrow Lane, new] (16)
“Way Out West”
“Dust Devils”
50: “Let It Burn,” Ruthie Foster [Blue Corn, 1/12] (16)
“Titanic”
50: “Promised Land,” Gina Forsyth [Waterbug, 2/12] (16)
“Promised Land”
“What I Did On Mardi Gras Day”
50: “Rockin’ The Uke,” Cathy Fink And Marcy Marxer [Community, 11/11] (16)
“Blues Stay Away From Me”
“Dark Eyes”
50: “Steamboat In A Cornfield,” Truckstop Honeymoon [truckstophoneymoon.com, 12/11] (16)
“Cowtown Blues”
50: “Stories To Keep,” Donna Adler [donnaadler.com, 1/12] (16)
“Michelangelo”
“If My Life Were A Book”
60: “Deeper In The Well,” Eric Bibb [Stony Plain, new] (15)
“Money In Your Pocket”
60: “Gold Rush Goddess,” Melody Walker [Self, 12/11] (15)
“Gold Rush Goddess”
“Family Band”
60: “Live At Eddie’s Attic,” Adler And Hearne [Spring Hollow, 3/12] (15)
“Stranger In The House”
“Hundred Years From Now”
60: “Resurrection Moon,” Audrey Auld [Reckless, 2/12] (15)
“I’d Leave Me Too”
60: “Rhubarb Trees,” Anne Hills And David Roth [Wind River, 11/11] (15)
“May The Light Of Love”
“Rhubarb Trees”
60: “Roadside Attractions,” Chris Lavancher [chrislavancher.bandcamp.com, new] (15)
“Bus Ride West”
“Revelation Road”
60: “Seeds,” Dennis Warner [Main Trail, 2/12] (15)
“Old Love”
“Seeds”
67: “Three,” The Refugees [Wabuho, 1/12] (14)
“Can’t Stop Now”
“Catch Me If You Can”
67: “Dance Of The Robots,” Steve Quelet [stevequelet.com, new] (14)
“Dance Of The Robots”
“Passing Through”
67: “The End Of The Beginning,” John Flynn [johnflynn.net, 1/12] (14)
“Crazy As Ever”
67: “Gypsy Girl,” Kat Goldman [katgoldmanmusic.com, new] (14)
“Just A Walk Tonight”
“Moving Pictures”
67: “The Harrow And The Harvest,” Gillian Welch [Acony, 6/11] (14)
“Scarlet Town”
“Way It Goes”
67: “Hello Cruel World,” Gretchen Peters [Scarlet Letter, 1/12] (14)
“Dark Angel”
“Hello Cruel World”
67: “In Good Company,” Bill Evans [Native And Fine, new] (14)
“Distance Between 2 Points”
“Follow The Drinking Gourd”
67: “Like The Devil Does,” Miss Quincy [missquincy,net, new] (14)
“Dangerous”
67: “Nothing’s Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now,” Justin Townes Earle [Bloodshot, 3/12] (14)
“Am I That Lonely Tonight”
67: “Ramble At The Ryman,” Levon Helm [Vanguard, 5/11] (14)
“Ophelia”
“Weight”

Top Songs of April 2012

Earl Scruggs

1. “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” (17)
by Earl Scruggs
from “Earl Scruggs And Friends”
2. “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” (14)
by Lester Flatt And Earl Scruggs
from “Foggy Mountain Jamboree”
2. “Wait For Another Day” (14)
by Kate Campbell
from “1000 Pound Machine”
4. “Montgomery To Mobile” (13)
by Kate Campbell
from “1000 Pound Machine”
5. “Flint Hill Special” (12)
by Lester Flatt And Earl Scruggs
from “Foggy Mountain Jamboree”
5. “Just Breathe” (12)
by Willie Nelson
from “Heroes”
5. “When I Go Away” (12)
by Levon Helm
from “Electric Dirt”
8. “Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” (11)
by The Band
from “The Band”
8. “Titanic” (11)
by Ruthie Foster
from “Let It Burn”
8. “Wide River To Cross” (11)
by Levon Helm
from “Dirt Farmer”
11. “1000 Pound Machine” (10)
by Kate Campbell
from “1000 Pound Machine”
11. “3 Forks Of The Cumberland” (10)
by Mariel Vandersteel
from “Hickory”
11. “Alabama Department Of Corrections Meditation Blues” (10)
by Kate Campbell
from “1000 Pound Machine”
11. “First Time” (10)
by Evie Ladin Band
from “Evie Ladin Band”
11. “Mountain” (10)
by Levon Helm
from “Dirt Farmer”
11. “Please Don’t Sell The Piano” (10)
by Ellen Cherry
from “Please Don’t Sell The Piano”
11. “Red Clay After Rain” (10)
by Kate Campbell
from “1000 Pound Machine”
11. “Titanic” (10)
by Leadbelly
from “Leadbelly’s Last Session”
19. “Ballad Of Fred Noonan” (9)
by Antje Duvekot
from “New Siberia”
19. “Better Way” (9)
by Dave Carter And Tracy Grammer
from “Little Blue Egg”
19. “Hog And Sheep Going To The Pasture” (9)
by Mariel Vandersteel
from “Hickory”
19. “Le Diable Et Le Fermier” (9)
by Le Vent Du Nord
from “Tromper Le Temps”
19. “Paradise” (9)
by John Prine
from “John Prine”
19. “Rain In The Valley” (9)
by The Steel Wheels
from “Lay Down, Lay Low”
19. “Titanic” (9)
by Pete Seeger
from “Headlines And Footnotes: A Collection Of Topical Songs”
also “American Favorite Ballads, Vols. 1-5″
19. “Up On Cripple Creek” (9)
by The Band
from “The Band”

On Saturday, May 5, from 4-8 p.m., WFUV (90.7 FM) in New York, and streaming online at wfuv.org, will celebrate the life and 40+-year career of the pioneering veteran New York radio DJ. Since 2001, that had been the time slot of his popular show, “Mixed Bag,” which derived its name from that of the classic Richie Havens album.

Pete Fornatale in the WFUV studios.

A passionate champion of singer-songwriters, who loved folk and folk-rock music and vocal harmonies and liked to delve deeper into albums, Fornatale originated “Mixed Bag” in 1982 on WNEW-FM (a legendary New York rock station whose staff he joined in July 1969, just weeks prior to the Woodstock Festival). “Mixed Bag” moved to WXRK-FM (K-Rock) in 1989 before returning to WFUV, the Fordham University station where Fornatale’s radio days began 25 years earlier. He loved the idea of having come full circle. As a 19 –year-old Fordham sophomore in 1964, the Bronx native created the station’s first free-form rock and roll show, “Campus Caravan.” It was during those years that he first interviewed a duo named Simon & Garfunkel, with whom he’d later forge close bonds and about whom he’d write a book (on the making of the classic 1968 album, Bookends) and do a series of multimedia presentations.

Like many others here in the New York metropolitan area, I was very saddened by Pete Fornatale’s death. In the days since his passing, I’ve struggled to find the words to express my feelings. Many of his legions of fans have been sharing their thoughts and memories on a fan page established in his honor on Facebook and have been flooding WFUV with personal reflections and expressions of sympathy. For its part, the station and its on-air staff have been paying homage to Fornatale in the days since his passing through moving, heartfelt, and often tear-provoking tributes both on-air and online. I’ve choked up numerous times listening to his former colleagues play songs that reflected his musical tastes, at times interspersing them with recorded clips of Fornatale. As one fan posted, WFUV conducted a “virtual wake” for the beloved DJ during the days following his death – recognizing how much his fans needed to mourn him.

Although I did not really know him as well as others did, Pete Fornatale was an integral part of my life. He introduced me — and many others — to some wonderful artists whose music has become the soundtrack of our lives. I had the pleasure of interviewing him for both The New York Times and a group of Long Island community weeklies in 1989 as he marked his 20th anniversary with WNEW-FM and later as he moved “Mixed Bag” to K-Rock. I continued to listen to him on the radio through his stint there and up through his last show on WFUV earlier this month.

His “Mixed Bag” Program Took an Eclectic and Adventurous Free-form Musical Approach

An anomaly during an age of streamlined, homogenized, strictly formatted FM rock radio, “Mixed Bag” did not adhere to any standard playlists. As its name implied, it was eclectic and adventurous. Pete employed a more free-form musical approach, programmed thematically, and featured album cuts along with interviews with the artists making the music. As such, he was kind of a throwback – in a very positive sense – to radio personalities in the early innovative days of FM radio. Fornatale, who viewed himself as a conduit between listeners and artists, told me in 1989 that “To me, the beauty of FM had always been the contribution of the individual on the air making the selection of music to play for the listeners.” At that time he aptly described his show as “a lightning rod for the performers who make the music and the audience interested in the music,” noting that “Mixed Bag” appealed to “a community of listeners that come to share their mutual interest in a particular kind of expression and entertainment.”

Fornatale viewed music as a bridge from the past to the present and expressed delight in the knowledge that his show was also helping to bridge generations “Mixed Bag,” he said, was dedicated to keeping alive the music that’s been around for a while – “that great catalog of folk, folk-rock and acoustic music from the last quarter of a century” – while also exposing the new music that some of those established artists were making and providing “a means of exposure for the totally new generation of artists choosing this medium in which to express themselves.” Through “Mixed Bag, Fornatale certainly helped launch the careers of –or at least bring considerable recognition to — a number of newer folk artists through the decades.

Over the years, I’d also seen Fornatale and exchanged greetings at various concerts; the Hungerthons that he hosted for World Hunger Year (now WhyHunger), on whose board he served; and at library programs on such topics as the history of rock n’ roll, Woodstock, and Simon & Garfunkel — which also were among the subjects of books that he wrote. In late December, I enjoyed a multimedia presentation that he gave on Simon & Garfunkel at the Port Washington Public Library (with Art Garfunkel as his special guest). Pete also joined folk-rock duo Aztec Two-Step as host and narrator during its ”Simon & Garfunkel Songbook” shows.

Here’s a link to a video clip from one of “The Simon & Garfunkel Songbook” shows that took place earlier this year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6nELLJNLpg

“I feel blessed that I got to know him and to hear him on the radio,” Aztec Two-Step’s Rex Fowler told WFUV’s John Platt in a recorded interview that aired on Platt’s “Sunday Breakfast” program on April 29. Describing him as “truly a visionary and the quintessential progressive FM radio disc jockey,” Fowler said: “Pete Fornatale raised the IQs of progressive FM deejays and raised our IQs and awareness as listeners. In my opinion, Pete will live on in the music that he was so passionate about.”

In a blog post on WFUV’s website, Platt, who worked directly with Fornatale and produced “Mixed Bag” for more than a decade, starting in 1985, at WNEW-FM, wrote: “Part of what made Pete special was that he was a product of a particular moment in time, as he often noted himself – the moment when the FCC mandated that FM stations not simply simulcast what was airing on AM and when there was an explosion of artists creating exciting new music that couldn’t fit on AM. It was a time when it mattered more how you put the music together and could talk about it than how mellifluous your voice was. Let’s face it; Pete would have never been hired on an AM station. Neither would I.”

On this week’s “Sunday Breakfast,” a program he has hosted for 15 years, Platt paid tribute to Fornatale – playing music he hoped would resonate as a way of saying farewell to a friend, interspersed with excerpts from recorded conversations with such notable artists as Roger McGuinn, Graham Nash, Tom Paxton and Peter Yarrow that he had elicited in the days since Pete’s passing.

“There has been such an outpouring of affection, love and respect for Pete,” Platt said, noting that hundreds of people had shared their thoughts on WFUV’s blog. For his own part, Platt noted how he and Fornatale were first brought together in 1985 and described Pete as “not so much a mentor as a big brother in some ways.”

“I had already been doing radio professionally for 16 years by then, so I was hardly a neophyte, but I definitely learned a lot from him about the structure of a radio program and the art of interviewing. Pete was one of the best interviewers ever. He said it was about establishing trust. He was always prepared, and he listened. When you do that, good things happen. Those are lessons I still follow.” When Fornatale interviewed artists, it felt like a conversation, Platt recalled. Noting that he was in the studio when his colleague interviewed some of the greats at WNEW, Platt acknowledged, “It was really a privilege to be able to produce interviews like that.”

More Artists Share Their Reflections on Pete Fornatale

Many of the artists whom Pete interviewed — or, more accurately, engaged in conversation — over the years shared similar sentiments. “When we would talk together, the nature of our discussions would be very personal, deep and revealing, They were the kind of in-depth discussions you rarely hear in the media,” said Peter Yarrow in recorded remarks. “Pete was as much a friend and an ally as he was a media person. He was very special to all of us.” Similarly, Roger McGuinn, a frequent guest on “Mixed Bag,” told Platt: “He was always so supportive and positive. He seemed so laid back and casual, but he was very professional all the time. That’s probably why he attracted such a large audience. They probably felt like I did – that they were listening to a friend.”

Calling Fornatale “the voice of New York radio for so many years,” Graham Nash referred to him as “a gentle giant” who was “very grateful for his career in radio and wanted to pay back… He certainly had a singular vision about how radio could communicate about music and good ideas.”

Tom Paxton reflected: “Pete was part of the community. He was as much a part of this music as the musicians.” Calling Fornatale “an evangelist,” Paxton continued,”He loved his opportunity to spread this music, to send this music out to new listeners.”

Pete Fornatale enjoyed engaging in conversations with artists as much as they appreciated him. In a 1989 interview with me, he described “Mixed Bag” as “a different breed of cat than whatever else is on the radio … not only because of the content of the show, but also in the method of presentation.” Both, he believed, “must be preserved and given the opportunity to breathe and grow and discover and enlighten and inform and, hopefully, above all, entertain.” Seated in the living room of his former home in Port Washington, Long Island, he related how much the guest segments of the show meant to him: “I love the idea of radio as a medium of live music. To know that you’re hearing a moment as it happened — just the artist, the microphone, and you in your living room or bedroom listening — that, to me, is one of the purest moments that you can have. And for me, its doubly, triply exciting because I’m sitting there in the room with the artist. No club, no concert hall, no concrete stadium is ever going to give you the sense of closeness to the music as I’ve been privileged to get by doing the show.”

Likewise, I and generations of New York area folk and acoustic music lovers were privileged to be able to tune into “Mixed Bag” over the years. Pete Fornatale will be sorely missed but will live on in our memories and in the music that he was so passionate about introducing to us.

A concert in tribute to Pete Fornatale will be held in the near future. His family has requested that contributions be made to WhyHunger in his honor. For more information, visit www.petefornatale.com.

Lake Susan in Montreat, NC (Photo: Michael Kornfeld)

The newest of the five regional affiliates of Folk Alliance International, SERFA (www.serfa.org) exists to promote, develop and celebrate the diverse heritage of roots and indigenous music, dance, storytelling and related arts in the Southeastern United States. Its annual conference is a primary means of doing that. This is the second consecutive year that it is being held at the same location, a beautiful and tranquil spot nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains. This year’s conference opens with workshops, followed by dinner and a three-hour open mic on Thursday and concludes on Sunday morning with a continental breakfast.

Billy Jonas peforms during the 2012 Folk Alliance International Conference (Photo: Neale Eckstein)

A number of artists have been selected by a panel of judges to present official showcases from 7- 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. Slated to perform on Friday night are Annie and Rod Capps, Dave Gunning, Roy Schneider, SONiA, Sam Pacetti, The Stray Birds, Mitchell and Harris, Honor Finnegan and Jon Vezner.

SONiA (Photo: Jake Jacobson)

Editor’s Note: During the 2011 SERFA Conference, I participated in a panel discussion entitled “Performers and Presenters: Partnering to Help Pull in People”. This year, in addition to being part of the “Resources for Working Musicians” session, I will again be a mentor offering advice and counsel on public relations, strategic communications, websites and social media, and other topics of interest to performing artists and presenters.

Washington Area One-Day Mini Conference, May 5

The following artists have been selected from among more than 60 applicants to perform during the Washington Area One-Day Mini-Conference in Bethesda, MD: ilyAIMY, Rob Lytle, Andrew McKnight, M.S.G. – The Acoustic Blues Trio, Kevin Neidig, Claudia Nygaard, Karyn Oliver, Chana Rothman, Sally Spring and LisaBeth Weber. Named as an alternate is Angelo M.

Amy Speace (Photo: Robert Berkowitz/RSBImageWorks)

Boston Area One-Day Mini-Conference, June 2

The following artists have been selected from among 70 applicants to showcase their talents during the NERFA One-Day Mini-Conference in Boston: Richard Berman, Karin Blaine, Sam Chase, Beth DeSombre, Honor Finnegan, Sharon Goldman, Loretta Hagen, Phil Henry, Long Time Courting and Claudia Nygaard. Nancy Beaudette was named as the alternate.

The juried showcases will take place in the Lipke Auditorium on the UMass Boston campus and will cap a day of workshops, panel discussions, music and networking. Topics to be discussed during 75-minute workshops include “How to Shine as an Emcee,” “Marketing and Promotion for Artists and Venues,” “Fair Trade Music 1000” and “Building Community.” An “On the Griddle” instant song critique sessions also is scheduled.

Alastair Moock (Photo: Mara Brod)

About NERFA

NERFA is part of the larger Folk Alliance International, an association that aims to foster and promote multicultural, traditional and contemporary folk music, while strengthening and advancing organizational and individual initiatives in folk music and dance through education, networking, advocacy, and professional and field development. More information and online registration forms for both events may be found at www.nerfa.org.

Editor’s Note: As vice president of NERFA’s board of directors, I’m co-coordinating the event in Boston with my NERFA board colleague Kathy Sands-Boehmer, who also serves as vice president of the Boston Area Coffeehouse Association and books artists for the Me and Thee Coffeehouse in Marblehead, MA. Scott Moore, a house concert presenter and president of FOCUS (a nonprofit organization presenting and supporting folk and acoustic music in the Washington, DC area),is coordinating the event in Bethesda. As organizers of these events, we hope that attendees will find the learning, listening and performance opportunities to be both useful and enjoyable, and that many will seize the chance to make and build on already existing connections and help our folk-acoustic community to grow and flourish.

Scheduled to perform (in order of performance) at the Threadgill Theater on the Quiet Valley Ranch Campgrounds in the Texas Hill Country on May 6, from 1 to 4 p.m. are Terry Penny (Newfoundland, Canada), Paula Held (Austin, TX), Alison Lumley (Austin, TX), Jon Troast (Nashville, TN), Andra Suchy (Minneapolis, MN), Burke Ingraffia (Point Clear, AL), Edie Carey (Chicago, IL), Whit Hill – The Postcards (Nashville, TN), Miranda Dawn (Austin, TX), Poor Mans Poison (Hanford, CA), Nicolette Good (San Antonio, TX), The Hems (Austin, TX), Daniel Makins (San Angelo, TX), Talia Segal (New York, NY), Robin Macy & Kentucky White (Belle Plaine, KS), and Lindsay May (Vancouver, BC, Canada).

The YaYas are two-time Kerrville New Folk finalists.

New Folk Finalists slated to perform on May 27 include Lizzy Ross (Pittsboro, NC), JA Carter III (San Antonio, TX), Michael Jerome Browne (Montreal, QC, Canada), Mikaela Kahn (Denton, TX), The Sea The Sea (Madison, CT), Alicia McGovern (Salt Lake City, UT), The Selkies (Ipswich, MA), Paul Sachs (New York, NY), Scott Phegley (Nolensville, TN), Dan Weber (Vancouver, WA), Annie & Rod Capps (Chelsea, MI), J Wagner (Austin, TX), Anna Dagmar (New York, NY), Korby Lenker (Nashville, TN), The YaYas (Mohegan Lake, NY), and Michaela Anne (Brooklyn, NY).

After performing, six songwriters will be selected as 2012 New Folk Winners by judges Cary Cooper, Seth Glier and Nathan Hamilton. The six will receive cash honorariums and other prizes, as well as the opportunity to return the following weekend to perform during a Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Winners concert at the festival on Sunday, June 3.

Now in its 41st year and geared towards singer-songwriters of various musical styles and their fans, the Kerrville Folk Festival is the longest continuously running festival of its kind in North America. In addition to concerts each evening, Kerrville features “Ballad Tree” song-sharing sessions, campfire jam sessions, concerts and activities for children, organized canoe trips on the Guadelupe River and Hill Country bike rides, a professional development program for teachers, as well as a three-day songwriters school and instrumental workshops.

The Kerrville Folk Festival runs for 18 straight days – Thursday, May 24– Sunday, June 10. For a complete festival schedule and additional information, visit www.kerrville-music.com.