Kris Kristofferson | AcousticMusicScene.com

Joan Baez to Receive Woody Guthrie Prize

by Michael Kornfeld on Jul 23, 2020 • No Comments

The Woody Guthrie Center will honor singer-songwriter and activist Joan Baez with the 2020 Woody Guthrie Prize during this year’s virtual edition of the Philadelphia Folk Festival. Baez, who has performed at the festival numerous times, is slated to accept the award on August 16 in recognition of her groundbreaking career and impact on humanitarian causes over the span of 60 years. [Click on the headline to continue reading this article.]

Featured / News - U.S. National

Online Tribute to John Prine Premieres June 11

by Michael Kornfeld on Jun 10, 2020 • No Comments

Family and friends of John Prine will share memories of and songs by the internationally acclaimed and revered singer-songwriter during Picture Show: A Tribute Celebrating John Prine on Thursday, June 11. The online celebration of his life and music will stream on Prine’s YouTube channel and Facebook page, as well as Oh Boy Records' Twitch channel, at 7:30 p.m. EDT/6:30 p.m. CDT/4:30 p.m. PDT and can be replayed through Sunday. A songwriter’s songwriter, who toured and plied his craft for nearly 50 years, Prine died April 7 at the age of 73 from complications of the coronavirus (COVID-19). [To continue reading this, click on the headline.]

Acoustic Radio Waves

FAI Folk Radio Airplay Charts – April 2020

by Michael Kornfeld on May 13, 2020 • No Comments

John Prine, an internationally acclaimed and revered singer-songwriter who died April 7 at the age of 73 from complications of the coronavirus (COVID-19), was the top artist and had both the top two albums (The Tree of Forgiveness and John Prine), as well as seven of the month’s top 10 songs, on folk radio during April 2020. So say charts compiled by Folk Alliance International based on radio playlists submitted to FOLKDJ-L, an electronic discussion group for DJs and others interested in folk-based music on the radio. [The monthly top albums, songs and artists charts are posted on AcousticMusicScene.com, with permission. To view them, click on headline.]

Awards & Contests / Conferences of Note / News - U.S. National

Folk Alliance International Honors David Amram with Lifetime Achievement Award

by Michael Kornfeld on Feb 23, 2017 • No Comments

Noted composer, conductor, multi-instrumentalist and author David Amram received an Elaine Weissman Lifetime Achievement Award during a star-studded International Folk Music Awards Show, Feb. 15, on the opening night of the 29th Folk Alliance International Conference in Kansas City, Missouri. The late activist songwriter Malvina Reynolds (legacy) and prolific Canadian folklorist Helen Creighton (Business/Academic) were also named as recipients. [To continue reading this article, which includes more information on the awards and on the conference, click on the headline.]

Awards & Contests / Conferences of Note / Featured / Festival Focus / News - U.S. National

Folk Alliance International Hosts Conference, Camp and Festival, Feb. 15-19, in Kansas City

by Michael Kornfeld on Feb 11, 2017 • No Comments

“Forbidden Folk,” a celebration of activism in art, is the theme of the 29th Folk Alliance International Conference that takes place, Feb. 15-19, in Kansas City, Missouri. Billy Bragg, a Grammy Award-winning British singer-songwriter and activist, keynotes the event and also headlines the second annual Kansas City Folk Festival that caps it. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]

Awards & Contests / News - U.S. National

Nominees Named for 2017 Grammy Awards

by Michael Kornfeld on Dec 7, 2016 • No Comments

Nominees in 84 categories have been named for the 59th Annual Grammy Awards to be presented by The Recording Academy on Sunday, February 12, 2017. Of particular interest to readers of AcousticMusicScene.com are the nominees for awards in the American Roots Music Field that will likely be presented prior to the live broadcast airing on CBS television stations that evening from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Lori McKenna leads the nominees in the American Roots Music Field with three nominations. [To continue reading this article and see the list of nominees in the American Roots Music Field, click on the headline.]

Acoustic Radio Waves

Roots Music Report Folk Radio Chart, 01-01-10

by Michael Kornfeld on Jan 1, 2010 • Comments Closed

Roots Music Report compiles weekly radio airplay charts for various roots-related genres. These are based on spin totals reported by music directors and DJs from more than 400 terrestrial and Internet radio stations. The latest Folk chart is posted here with permission. [To view the current folk radio airplay chart, click on the headline.]

News - U.S. National

Stephen Bruton, ‘the Soul of Texas Music,’ 1948-2009

by Michael Kornfeld on May 11, 2009 • Comments Closed

Stephen Bruton, an Austin, Texas-based guitarist, songwriter and actor, has died at age 60, after battling throat cancer for more than two years. Bruton died peacefully in his sleep on May 9, at the Los Angeles, California home of his childhood friend, musician and producer T Bone Burnett, who considered him “the soul of Texas music” and with whom he was working on the soundtrack for Jeff Bridges’ film “Crazy Heart.” [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]