Summertime in New York State is a great time to enjoy music outdoors. Here’s a sampling of music festivals throughout the state where you can hear some good live acoustic music during July and August.
Folks on the Island
Saturdays in July, 1:30-3 p.m.
Governor’s Island, just off the tip of Manhattan
212-602-0800
www.folksontheisland.com
River to River Festival
Various Dates & Locations in Manhattan
www.rivertorivernyc.com
Folks on the Island is the name of a new American folk festival set over four Saturday afternoons in July on Governor’s Island at the mouth of the East River, just off the tip of Manhattan. The free shows at 1:30 p.m. include Odetta (July 7), ‘Harry Chapin – A Celebration in Song’ featuring Tom, Steve and Jen Chapin, Big John Wallace and The Chapin Sisters (July 14), Richie Havens (July 21) and ‘Ribbon of Highway/Endless Skyway – A Tribute to the Spirit of Woody Guthrie" featuring Woody’s granddaughter Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion, Andrew Hardin, Jimmy LaFave, Lloyd Maines and others (July 28). Free ferry service also will be operating to and from the island.
Folks on the Island is part of the larger River to River Festival that features lots of free performances at locations throughout lower Manhattan. Irish singer Robbie O’Connell performs at the South Street Seaport Museum at 6 p.m. on July 10; there is a modest museum admission fee. The Carolina Chocolate Drops, a Piedmont-style African-American fiddle & banjo group, open for those western cowboys Riders in the Sky at Rockefeller Park, July 25 at 7 p.m. Toronto-based singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith croons at Castle Clinton National Monument in Battery Park July 12 at 7 p.m., while The Flatlanders (Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore & Butch Hancock) bring their Texas-style Americana there August 3 at 7 p.m. Free tickets for the Castle Clinton shows are distributed beginning at 5 p.m.
2nd Annual NYC Main Squeeze Accordion Festival
Saturday, July 7, 2007 – 2-9 p.m.
Riverside Park South, Pier 1 at 70th Street, Manhattan
www.nyc.gov/parks/soh
This event – featuring traditional, contemporary and eclectic squeezebox music from around the world certain to get you and dancing – is part of the larger Summer on the Hudson Festival. An accordion flea market and a mid-afternoon Accordion Kids Corner (to help children learn to play the instrument) also are slated.
Pleasantville Music Festival
Saturday, July 14, 2007 – 12-8 p.m.
Parkway Park in Pleasantville
www.pleasantvillemusicfestival.org
Now in its third year, this festival in the Westchester County community of Pleasantville will feature nationally touring singer-songwriters Jonatha Brooke and Martin Sexton, among other acts, on its main stage. Throughout the day and evening, an acoustic stage will feature performers associated with Tribes Hill, a nonprofit organization uniting musicians of the greater Hudson Valley region and beyond with their patrons in support of a music community … coming together to explore and celebrate human experience through song. Among those slated to do 30-minute sets are singer-songwriter & dulcimer player David Massengill, harmonic folk-rock duo Open Book, singer-songwriter Arlon Bennett, singer-songwriter Rich Deans, 16-year old 2007 Kerrville Folk Festival "New Folk" finalist Anthony da Costa, Danbury, CT-based trio My Dad’s Truck, and Hudson Valley-based duo Gillen & Turk. Adult tickets at the gate are $25.
Great South Bay Music Festival
July 13-15, 2007
Shorefront Park in Patchogue
www.greatsouthbaymusicfestival.org
Although not strictly acoustic, this new festival on Long Island will feature two of the most acclaimed folksinger-songwriters of our time, Richie Havens and Tom Rush, as well as jam band Railroad Earth, and a number of local acoustic artists.
Billed as an “American rock, jam, folk, blues & brews fest,” the festival will include some 35 musical acts on three stages, as well as a “Kidzone,” a Patriots Area featuring a living Civil War encampment, food and crafts vendors. Daily admission for adults is $10, while weekend passes are $25; discounts will be available for seniors and college students, while children under 8 will be admitted free.
Finger Lakes Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance
July 19-22, 2007
Trumansburg Fairgrounds in Trumansburg
607-387-5098
www.grassrootsfest.org/trumansburg
An eclectic mix of contemporary and traditional roots and world music (not all of it acoustic) will be performed by some 80 bands on four stages during this four-day festival that takes place 10 miles north of Ithaca on the west side of Cayuga Lake in Central New York’s Finger Lakes region. Artists range from Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Toure and acclaimed South African musician Hugh Masekela to Grammy Award-winning country singer-songwriter Jim Lauderdale and acoustic punk & old-timey trio The Avett Brothers. Of course, roots rockers Donna the Buffalo, who founded the festival that is now in its 17th year, will perform as well. Also performing will be such acts as Balfa Toujours, The Duhks, The Greencards, The Horse Flies, John and Mary, Mamadou Diabate and Samite of Uganda. A visual art exhibit, juried crafts fair and Friday and Saturday night Cajun and Zydeco dances also are part of the Grassroots experience. Four-day passes are $110 at the gate and $85 if purchased online or via the phone by July 7. Day tickets are available at the gate only and range from $35-45. Although the limited onsite camping is already sold out, there is rough camping at a nearby offsite lot for $40, and free shuttle bus service between the lot and the festival grounds is provided. Organizers anticipate that 12,000 roots music fans will attend the festival, all proceeds from which are donated to organizations that support local arts and education, as well as global efforts to combat AIDS.
Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival
July 19-22, 2007
Rothvoss Farm in Ancramdale
www.greyfoxbluegrass.com
Dry Branch Fire Squad hosts this popular East Coast festival that features four days of musical performances, workshops and jam sessions with a stellar lineup of bluegrass, acoustic and dance acts. Artists include Sam Bush, Nickel Creek, Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives, Peter Rowan & Tony Rice Quartet, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Claire Lynch Band, The Duhks, Tony Trischka’s Double Banjo Spectacular, Uncle Earl, The Waybacks, Crooked Still (Folk Alliance’s Emerging Artists of the year), The Greencards, Pete & Joan Wernick, and the Red Stick Ramblers, among others. Now in its 30th year, the festival features four performance stages – ranging from a natural amphitheater Main Stage to a more intimate Masters Stage – a slow jam tent for beginning pickers, grass roots sessions featuring hands-on workshops, and a four-day Bluegrass Academy for Kids ages 8 and up. On-site tent and RV camping is available.
Falcon Ridge Folk Festival
July 26-29, 2007
Dodds Farm in Hillsdale
866-325-2744
www.falconridgefolk.com
Now in its 16th year, this four-day festival in the foothills of the Berkshires, near the tri-state corner of New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts, features an impressive lineup, as usual. Among the more than 40 acts on four stages will be Marshall Crenshaw, Dust Poets, Eddie From Ohio, Mary Gauthier, The Glengarry Bhoys, John Gorka, Tracy Grammer, Arlo Guthrie, Terri Hendrix with Lloyd Maines, Lucy Kaplansky, Jimmy LaFave, The Lovell Sisters, Lowen & Navarro, Nerissa & Katryna Nields, The Rowan Brothers, Richard Shindell, Dar Williams, and the audience’s choices for the top three “Most Wanted to Return” acts from last year’s Emerging Artist Showcase – Ellis, Red Molly and Pat Wictor (with percussionist Cheryl Prashker).
Besides an Emerging Artists Showcase, numerous Mainstage concerts, musical workshops and song swaps galore, Falcon Ridge features a swingin’ dance tent , children’s activities, and an array of crafts, food and other vendors. However, one of the true highlights of Falcon Ridge, for those who opt to camp on-site and stay up through the wee hours of the morning, are the informal jams and the after-hours song circles (some planned, others more spontaneous) organized by folks associated with Big Orange Tarp, Budgiedome, and Tribes Hill, among others. These late-night sessions — and group camping areas informally established to bring together folks from particular geographic regions or fans of particular artists — help foster a sense of “folk” community and a different kind of festival experience than that enjoyed by those who just attend the Mainstage concerts and other officially sanctioned parts of Falcon Ridge.
Four-day festival tickets are $125 with camping and $100 without after July 1; $15 less if purchased before then. Children under 12 are free, while those ages 12-16 are $55 with camping and $40 without.
Apple Valley Bluegrass and Old Tyme Festival
August 2-5, 2007
Lafayette Apple Festival Grounds in Lafayette
www.cnyba.com
Sponsored by the Central New York Bluegrass Association, this festival, now in its ninth year, takes place 10 miles south of Syracuse. Performing artists include The Backwoodsmen, Carolina Rebels, Cedar Ridge, Sheila Brown and Gospel Way, Hometown Bluegrass, Dave Nichols and Spare Change, Ron and Nancy One Song, and Old Time Bluegrass Singers. Instrumental workshops will be offered on Saturday. Weekend tickets are $35 at the gate ($30 in advance) and include rough camping. Daily tickets also available. Children under 16 will be admitted free.
Richmond Town Bluegrass Festival
Saturday, August 11, 2007 – noon-7 p.m.
Historic Richmond Town on Staten Island
718-351-1611
www.historicrichmondtown.org
Now in its 11th year, this festival features free family-style entertainment and children’s activities on the grounds of New York City’s living history village and museum complex. Bring lawn chairs and blankets, and enjoy the sounds of Jesse McReynolds & The Virginia Boys, Dan Paisley & Southern Grass, Ronnie Reno & The Reno Tradition and Straight Drive.
2nd Annual Huntington Folk Festival
Saturday, August 11, 2007 – 5-10:15 p.m.
Chapin Rainbow Stage at Heckscher Park in Huntington
www.fmshny.org
Folk-rock singer-songwriter Steve Forbert, best known for his 1979 album Jackrabbit Slim and its sprightly hit single, “Romeo’s Tune,” and currently touring in support of a new album, headlines this free festival sponsored by the Folk Music Society of Huntington and the Huntington Arts Council. Opening for Forbert is Beaucoup Blue, a Philadelphia-based father-and-son acoustic blues and roots duo.
Preceding the evening’s featured concert at 8:30 p.m. will be three on-stage song swaps featuring talented performers from Long Island and throughout the East Coast. LI-based singer-songwriters Steve Robinson, Glen Roethel and Denise Romas, along with blues harpist Ken Korb and ragtime fingerstyle guitarist Bruce MacDonald, share the stage and kick things off at 5 p.m. Following that, at 6 p.m., Richard Cuccaro, editor & publisher of Acoustic Live in New York City & Beyond, emcees a song swap featuring talented performers from New York City and New England — Meg Braun, Lara Herscovitch, Mike Morris and Paul Sachs. At 7 p.m., AcousticMusicScene.com’s Michael Kornfeld emcees a song swap featuring Phil Minissale, “The Long Island Blues Boy” who’s been impressing people locally with his fingerstyle guitar playing; Danielle Miraglia, a soulful and raspy-voiced Boston area singer-songwriter and Delta blues-influenced guitarist (accompanied by Tom Bianchi on bass); and James O’Malley, a gifted and gentle-voiced LI-based singer-songwriter and two-time finalist in the Plowshares Songwriting Contest. Bring a picnic supper and lawn chairs.
Long Island Bluegrass Festival
Saturday, August 18, 2007 – 12-8 p.m.
Tanner Park in Copiague
631-587-3696
www.babylonarts.org
Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder headline this family-friendly festival, which runs from noon-8 p.m. The festival lineup also includes Buddy Merriam and Back Roads, among others. An all-day pass for adults is $10, while children under 10 will be admitted for $5. Bring a lawn chair.
Roots of American Music Festival
The Plazas of Lincoln Center in Manhattan
August 18-19, 2007
www.LincolnCenter.org
Part of the free annual Lincoln Center Out Of Doors series, Roots of American Music has exposed New Yorkers and visitors to a number of very talented artists over the years, and 2007’s lineup is no exception. Now in its 24th year, the weekend will feature afternoon concerts from 1-6 p.m. on Lincoln Center’s South Plaza and evening performances from 7-9 p.m. at the Damrosch Park Bandshell. Tom Paxton, one of America’s foremost folksingers and topical songwriters, performs Saturday afternoon, as do Jerry Silverman, Charlie Gracie, Sid Selvidge and Rosemary Woods. Saturday evening’s show features gospel group The Dixie Hummingbirds and Sleepy LaBeef’s Country/Rockabilly Rip Roarin’ Jumping Jamboree. Garnet Rogers, a top-notch Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist and interpreter of songs by others, and Diana Jones, an emerging talent on the American singer-songwriter scene, are among the artists appearing Sunday afternoon — along with Chuck Brodsky, Harvest Wind and The Quebe Sisters Band. The sounds of bluegrass will fill Damrosch Park on Sunday night as The Claire Lynch Band, The Andy Statman Trio (which mixes bluegrass with Yiddish tunes and klezmer stylings) and Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder grace the stage. As an added treat, Statman and Skaggs also will accompany each other’s bands as special guests.
International Celtic Festival
Hunter Mountain in Hunter
August 18-19, 2007
www.huntermtn.com/summer_festivals_celtic.html
Artists at this annual late summer weekend festival at the popular ski resort about an hour from Albany include The Barley Boys, Black 47, Broesler Irish Dancers, Andy Cooney, Danny Doyle, Glengarry Bhoys, Donny Golden Dancers, Eileen Ivers & Immigrant Soul, Seamus Kennedy, Liz McNicholl, and the Schenectady Pipe Band. Adult tickets are $12 daily, while children under 12 will be admitted free.
Buffalo Irish Festival
August 24-26, 2007
The Grove at the Hamburg Fairgrounds
www.shannonpub.com/irishfestival.html
Now in its 26th year, this festival will feature musical performances by Glengarry Bhoys (an alt-roots band from eastern Ontario), piper Paddy Keenan, The Dublin City Ramblers, Seamus Kennedy, Greenwich Meantime, Barleyjuice, Scythian, Seanache, The Dady Brothers, Dave North Trio, Trefoyle, Kindred, The McCruddens, Kenny & Samantha Kennedy, and Penny Whiskey. Several Irish step-dancing troupes also will perform. Daily admission is $10 for adults and $7 for seniors and children ages 4-12.
Like/Follow Us!