Folk Alliance Region Midwest (FARM), an affiliate of Folk Alliance International, will hold its annual conference October 8-11 at the Holiday Inn of Bolingbrook, Illinois, located less than an hour from Chicago. Early registration discounts are still available for those whose forms are postmarked by September 21.

Having experienced a growth in attendance over the past couple of years, FARM has moved to larger quarters this year and also extended the conference’s time frame. Like other regional conference, the annual FARM Gathering provides useful and enjoyable learning and networking opportunities, not to mention plenty of fine listening and performing opportunities for performing artists, presenters, agents and managers, folk DJs, folk societies and clubs, media, and others engaged in the folk music field; they are not intended for casual folk fans.

Booking gigs is the primary objective of some performers who attend these annual conferences, while many presenters and folk DJs come primarily to scout out new artists and those who they have not previously heard and seen in live performance. However, the conference experience is much more than that; it’s really about forging connections and building an acoustic community.

Annie Capps

Annie Capps

“Rod and I have attended the previous three FARM conferences, and I can honestly say that we always recoup our investment by booking a gig or two within the year,” says Michigan-based singer-songwriter Annie Capps, whose latest album with her husband, entitled My Blue Garden, is #10 on the Roots Music Report Folk Radio Chart this week (posted in the Acoustic Radio Waves section of AcousticMusicScene.com). “It’s such a small conference that you will most surely meet everyone who is attending, and the friendships we’ve made with other artists have been as valuable as any relationships we’ve established with venue bookers,” she continued. “We can trace several connections we’ve made at the International Conference back to FARM or someone we connected with at FARM Gathering.”

Official showcase artists performing at this year’s Gathering include Gloria Attoun, Ruth and Max Bloomquist, The Cattails, Debra Cowan, Curtis & Loretta, Amy Dixon-Kolar, Gregory Doyle-Andrews, Mark Dvorak, Tom Kastle, Eric Lambert, Doug Spears and Tangleweed. The showcases are slated for Friday and Saturday nights from 8-10 p.m.

In addition, Concerts In Your Home, which promotes the concept of house concerts to artists and music lovers across the U.S. and beyond, will present a special invitational showcase on Thursday night. Featured artists will include Jeanne T. Arrigo, Floyd King & the Bushwackers, The Edward Groves Band, Barb Barton, Claudia Schmidt, Jan Krist & Jim Bizer, Heather Styka, Beaucoup Shakti, Zach, Joe Jencks, and The Henhouse Prowlers. Artists not performing in juried showcases will be afforded opportunities to strut their stuff during Performance Lane, an open mic of sorts that takes place both during the afternoon and in the evening following the formal showcases. Requests for Performance Lane slots are filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

Late-night jamming and song circles, and daytime workshops and panel discussions also are on tap. Among the workshop and panel topics are “Bore No More: How to Add Snap, Crackle and Zing to Your Musical Performances,” “The Healing Power of Sad and Tragic Songs in Traditional and Original Music,” “Songs of Action in a Couch Potato World,” and “Wearing Two Hats: Performers as Presenters.” Annie Capps, who organized the panels and also serves on FARM’s board of directors, will help facilitate an open discussion on social networking. Fran Snyder, a Lawrence, Kansas-based singer-songwriter and founder of Concerts in Your Home, will be among the panelists discussing “The Growing Importance of House Concerts.”

Although there is no exhibition hall, attendees are welcome to display promotional materials (free of charge) in designated areas. Both a la carte (“Taste of FARM”) and all-inclusive conference registration is available. For more information and registration forms, visit www.farmfolk.org.

FARM 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.