More than 1,600 performing artists, presenters, agents and managers, independent label and recording industry representatives, folk DJs, music journalists, folklorists and educators will converge on Memphis, Tennessee, Feb. 18-22, for the 21st Annual International Folk Alliance Conference.

Ranked among the five largest music conferences in North America, it will feature four days of panels and workshops and four nights of artist showcases, feature performances and hundreds of private showcases that extend late into the night (or early morning hours, depending on your vantage point). Roger McGuinn, former frontman for The Byrds and one of the pioneers of folk-rock music, will deliver a keynote address, while other leading and emerging artists will pay tribute to Phil Ochs and Utah Phillips and honor Cambridge, Massachusetts’ famed Club Passim on its 50th anniversary during feature performance shows. Documentary film screenings and discussions, a children’s music showcase, a special performance by 2008 Mountain Stage NewSong Contest Winners, as well as a large exhibit hall and plenty of opportunities for networking and jamming also are in store for attendees.

Following Wednesday afternoon intensive workshops — including a Folk University, festival roundtable, management training and nonprofit training — the conference kicks-off with an opening party in the exhibit hall. After a special performance by a community jug band comprised of 16 seniors, folks will gather for the Folk Alliance Lifetime Achievement Awards & Honors. Hosted by Folk Alliance President Dan Navarro and longtime Philadelphia folk DJ Gene Shay, this celebratory event will feature appearances by Ray Bonneville, John Boutte, Cary Cooper and Tom Prasada-Rao, Joe Crookston, Si Kahn, Roger McGuinn, Rosalie Sorrels, Amy Speace and more. American folk performers Guy and Candie Carawan, the late activist folksinger Phil Ochs, and the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago will receive the 2009 Elaine Weissman Lifetime Achievement Awards, while other awards and honors also will be presented. Those not attending the conference can catch the awards program live, beginning at 7 p.m., on XM Satellite Radio’s The Village.

Hundreds of performing artists will showcase their talents in feature and private showcases after the awards show, while hundreds of Performance Alley and private showcases are slated over the next three nights. Workshops and panel discussions on a wide range of topics, peer group meetings, block-booking sessions for presenters, and a popular singer-songwriter critique session are scheduled during daytime hours, while the city and its many music-related attractions beckons just outside the host hotel’s doors. As if that and the exhibit hall were not enough for registrants to choose from during the day, a number of private showcase hosts also have slated afternoon performances in their hotel rooms.

Folk Alliance International 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 on the nonprofit organization and the conference can be found at www.folk.org.

Editor’s Note: I will speak as part of a Saturday afternoon workshop-panel discussion on “Marketing Your CD.” Singer-Songwriter Glen Roethel will perform in several private showcases with his folk harmony trio Gathering Time, as will singer-songwriter Joe Iadanza, who also assists with AcousticMusicScene.com.