The 22nd Annual International Folk Alliance Conference is slated for next February 17-22 in Memphis, Tennessee. However, financial savings are in the offing through early registration that is now open, while forms also are available on the Folk Alliance International’s website (www.folk.org) for performing artists to apply for showcase opportunities. The early registration rates and showcase entry discounts apply through September 1.

Ranked among the five largest music conferences in North America, the International Folk Alliance Conference will feature four days of panel discussions and workshops, peer group meetings and popular singer-songwriter critique sessions, as well as 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). Folk University –launched last year to provide both basic and in-depth education on traditional music through demonstrations, panel discussions, oral histories, workshops and showcases — returns, while a new Song School will feature workshops covering both the craft and business of songwriting. As always, the conference will boast a large exhibit hall and plenty of opportunities for networking and jamming. And the city of Memphis and its many music-related attractions beckons just outside the host hotel’s doors.

Regional Conferences Planned for the Fall

Meanwhile, regional conferences of the Folk Alliance International are shaping up for this fall. The Southwest Regional Folk Alliance (SWRFA) holds its annual conference in Austin, Texas, September 24-27; Folk Alliance Region Midwest (FARM) moves its conference to a new location, the Holiday Inn of Bolingbrook, Illinois, October 8-11; the Southeast Regional Folk Alliance (SERFA) gathers at the Ozark Folk Center in Arkansas, October 15-18; FAR-West hosts its conference in Irvine, California, November 5-8, and the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) returns to the Hudson Valley Resort in Kerhonksen, New York, November 12-15. The regional conferences provide useful and enjoyable learning and networking opportunities, not to mention plenty of fine listening and performing opportunities for artists, presenters, agents and managers, folk DJs, folk societies and clubs, media, and others engaged in the folk music field; they are music business conferences and are not intended for casual folk fans. More information on these conferences will be posted on AcousticMusicScene.com in coming weeks and months.

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.